"best" Method To Remove Sideskirt Paint

[supark]

So I tried a couple methods to remove my sideskirt paint over the last couple days. First time I used a scouring pad along with Castrol Super Clean and just kept on spraying and scrubbing - this took about 2 hours for one side alone! This also left my sideskirt kind of cloudy from the microscratches from the scouring pad, so I went over it with rubbing compound to get the luster back.

Then, after reading about a couple other methods I got a bunch of paper towels, more castrol super clean, a hard bristle cleaning brush and a toothbrush. I stuck the paper towels on the sideskirts by wetting them with the degreaser, after spraying them a bit every once in a while for about 10 minutes, I would remove about 2 foot sections at a time and start scrubbing with the cleaning brush and voila - I was able to get most of the paint off in about 30 minutes. I used the toothbrush to get rid of the last few crannies. Feel like a dumbass for not doing it this way before, but hey at least I didn't spend another 2 hours on the other side!

I'm wondering if I should go over them with some clear coat to make them a bit more lustrous and give them an extra layer of protection... has anyone noticed that the exposed body color paint is any less durable?

[Delmarco]

I've heard plenty of times that clearcoat is recommended to restore a nice shine to the newly exposed paint on the skirts. Be sure to wash all the castrol off first though.


Uhm...one question; what is the color and year of your car?

Because a few of us in the E36 forum tried the same technique with the paper towels but some, like me, found that they were sections where they were NO paint at all under the grey...just the base metal of the car frame.

Someone has a theory that it depends on the year and the color of the car. It could be that later 1995-1996 E36 cars do not have paint under the grey and earlier 1992-1994 E36 cars have paint-vice versa


Post pictures if you have....

[ghettozn]

I got paint under my 1992 318is, but i got a metal section, which i had to paint, on one strip near the wheel. So its weird O.o

[Delmarco]

Originally posted by ghettozn@Oct 30 2004, 08:05 AM
I got paint under my 1992 318is, but i got a metal section, which i had to paint, on one strip near the wheel. So its weird O.o

[snapback]221166[/snapback]

Same thing happened to me when I started removing my skirts (on my car of course) Now I gotta finish removing them and repaint the metal sections. Another option I was thinking was reapplying a fresh coat of the grey material over the current rotting faded grey so it looks new and shiny there. I've seen some newer Audi with grey side skirts and it don't look so bad.

[supark]

Originally posted by Delmarco@Oct 30 2004, 05:32 AM
I've heard plenty of times that clearcoat is recommended to restore a nice shine to the newly exposed paint on the skirts. Be sure to wash all the castrol off first though.


Uhm...one question; what is the color and year of your car?

Because a few of us in the E36 forum tried the same technique with the paper towels but some, like me, found that they were sections where they were NO paint at all under the grey...just the base metal of the car frame.

Someone has a theory that it depends on the year and the color of the car. It could be that later 1995-1996 E36 cars do not have paint under the grey and earlier 1992-1994 E36 cars have paint-vice versa


Post pictures if you have....

[snapback]221157[/snapback]

I have a 93 325is - decided to hold off on the clear - too lazy to mask off the entire car for a couple little pieces...