seriously this guy is tripping ***** about painting his lowers, lol... its the easiest DIY out there. stop telling people there info is useless when there the ones with the painted lowers, and your the one freakin out about it still cruisin with gray lowers, lol

 

and if you shave allthe body moldings there are alot little holes behind then that you will have to fill but it sounds like you probably would have to have that done too cuz its more complex than just painting the lowers and you cant seem to figure that out....

 

Sorry... I didnt mean to have an additude... and im fully aware that alot of people do paint their rubber sideskirts... however i live in CT and the salt from the roads sort of messed up the rubber... so painting over it wouldnt last long for me...

which is why I was wondering how to remove them so I can replace them with the s4 ones which are made of a thicker harder material.

 

My car is from CT too, and I noticed some possible salt damage to my side lowers only. I'll take it to a body shop and if they cant paint em as they are or they cant sand em to a point where they can, i'll go s4 sides too.

 

Heres a post a made in another thread about painting sideskirts. I figure it will help anyone who reads this even though its late:

*****SIDESKIRT REFINISHING*****

1) Clean well with hotcarwash soapand water and allow it to dry

2) Clean with a Grey Scotch Bright Pad (3M.7745), and wax and grease remover (FIV.5900), Plas-Stick Universal Plastic Cleaner (DUP.2320S), or if you're really on a budget; rubbing alcohol will work after a few applications. To test if you've cleaned it enough, sprinkle some water on the surface. Does it stick or run off? If the water sticks you've done a good job and the part is ready to be painted. If it runs off, you need to use the solvent based cleaner again. At this point you've removed all the water based contaminants such as dirt and dust as well as all the solvent based contaminants such as oil, grease, wax etc.THIS ENSURES GOOD ADHESION

3) Mask off any areas you do not want to get paint on. Always mask from a body line. This means that if you’re repairing the bumper…no matter how small an area, the entire bumper should be exposed. This will keep you from making a tape line when you spray the paint. Of course, this only applies if the part is still attached to the car.

4) *THIS STEP CAN BE SKIPPED IF THE PART IS ALREADY PAINTED AND NOT OEM*. Spray flexible primer (SEM.39133) on the entire piece. Try to make the surface as evenly coated as you can. The goal while you are coating any area with primer or paint is to achieve "hiding". Hiding is a term which means "The minimum thickness at which a film will completely obscure a black and white pattern". Basically, you apply coats till you can't see what’s under it anymore. In this case, you will apply primer till you achieve hiding over the black plastic/e-coat. Wait 10 minutes between coats and about 45 minutes for it to become sandable.

5) Lightly wetsand the area smooth with 1000 grit sandpaper (3M.32021). "Wetsanding" is a great technique which helps smooth the surface, and eliminates primer and paint dust in the air. This will help you later when you start to coat with your basecoat paint. Drysanding actually makes sandpaper behave like a more course grit. This is because without a flow of water, the grits that come off the sandpaper and the primer/paint dust all stay under where you are sanding. As you sand you are rubbing those grits against the surface too. Using water makes the paper act more true to its grit. Wetsanding is done by sanding in a continuous flow of water. This can be done with a garden hose or a wet sponge and bucket of water. In the garden hose technique, you simply hold the hose in one hand and sand through the stream with the other. With the sponge technique, you frequently dunk the sponge in the bucket of water and squeeze it above where you are sanding, creating a flow of water. Using a hose, however, is much easier.

6) After the surface has dried, you are ready to paint with your basecoat (www.paintworldinc.com).Apply 2 - 3 even, medium wet coats till you achieve hiding over the primer/old paint. Some colors cover better (White) and others take more coats (Red). Adjust accordingly. Whileeach coatis wet, a good way to tell if you have enough on the surface is if you can clearly see yourself in it. This means thefilm is smooth and even and it will stay that way as it dries.Don't apply too much though, you'll run or sag the paint. Again, 10 minutes between coats and about 45 minutes to dry. DO NOT SAND THE BASECOAT. If you are using a high quality 2-stage Urethane like DuPont ChromaBase, you do not need to sand between coats of paint.

7) Apply 2 - 3 even, medium wet coats of clear (DUP.A7480S). Yet again, 10 minutes between coats and 45 minutes to dry. If there are imperfections in the clear, wait 24 hours and then wetsand/buff if you have to.

Congratulations! You've just finished painting your sidskirts!

Just a couple moretips:

DO NOT wax, buff, compound, or go to the carwash for 30 days. This waiting period will allow the paint to fully cure and get to maximum strength. If can't wait for a showcar shine, use a good glaze (3M.5990) on the area. Glaze will give you a temporary shine while you wait. If it rains you will have to reapply the glaze.

If you are NOT painting the entire piece, I recommend DuPont Clear Coat Blender (DUP.A-19301S). The clear coat blender is used to melt the edge of the clear into the surface of the car. This produces a much cleaner, invisible, and professional looking repair. Simply spray on your clear and while it’s still wet, mist a thin coat of the blender around the edges. After 10 minutes you can apply a second coat of clear and follow with the blender again. Be sure to wait 45 minutes for the clear to cure before touching it.

I hope this helps you as well as anyone else that reads it.

Sincerely,

-Mike

 

^^^^^ Kickass DIY ^^^^^