Ok I have tried and tried to get these darn things to stick to the side of my car on the tops, but it only results in failure. They stick for a couple days then start to peel away from the rear quarter panel and front fender.

I have done everything I can. I have bought a degreaser to clean the body and the stickiest 3M tape I could find at a body parts supply store. I have cleaned away all glue with goo gone and then the degreaser. Doing the same thing to the side skirt. Applied new 3M tape. The stickiest stuff that I could find that is not cheap to mind you.

For some reason my drivers side seems to be sticking real real good and no problems there but I'm having problems with the pass side skirt. I think the problem is the damm skirt is like 1/4" longer on top on the rear portion of the skirt on the top and there is a very small gap between the door skin and skirt.

Yet on the drivers side there is a nice 1/4" gap that looks good between the skirt and door panel. But is extremely tight on the pass side even though it doesnt touch the door skin.

Can someone give me some advice on what I should do. I have adjusted the pass side skirt to a point where it lines directly up again the body and fender but maybe I will have to remove it and do it again b/c the drivers side has been stuck good for months. Maybe I will give it one more try. Give it a good cleaning and degreasing and more 3m tape.

But what is with no gap on the pass side? RKsports mold screwed up? could this be causing the problem? b/c it isnt the same as the drivers side?

I need some suggestions here people. what are you people doing to make these things stick? Should I remove it and clean it and re-apply it since my drivers side has stuck so good?

Sorry if it is kind of a long message. Just trying to get all my thoughts out b/c of the frustration I am having with the pass side skirt. I will try and reply back as soon as I can and to maybe get some pictures tomorrow. But it is hard since I dont have internet access at home.

Regards,

Jarid

i hear ya, my streefires sides are doing the exact same thing. it blows, cant figure it out, hope someone can help ya out here....

urethane adhesive or windshield adhesive.. very messy but very strong..wear gloves and carefull where you apply.. cause taking the @!#$ off sux..


<a href="http://www.whiteboy.ca"><img src="http://www.whiteboy.ca/images/whiteboysig.jpg" border="0" target="_blank">

I wouldn't go quite that far White Boy thats like permenent and can't evar be removed.

I had close to the same prob with another car and it drove me crazy too. What I finaly
came up so far knock on wood has held perfectly for almost a year now.

Use the 3 M tape thats green not the the red stuff. Then clean the area and spray it down with brake clean. This wont hurt the door on paint but you should do a test area on your RK part before you go spraying it. I wouldn't want to be responcible if you spray it down and it starts to melt or anything. Tho the one I did didn't seem to mind. Then just
stick it on. As for the shape being a problem I ground it down a little with a dremel and then sanded it smooth. Just be carefull and it should come out fine.

hope this helps.


Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.

adhesives are cheap. and not made to last the 3m tape is just to get
the sides aligned .then you drill holes in strenght spots ( front fender rear quarter&
about two in the middle) buy a rivvet gun and get to town hope this helps some

im having the exact same problem. my driver side holds fine, but the passenger side refuses to stay on. it really only lets go on the front part there, right next to the door, but at the back(near the wheel well) it holds fine. is it something in the mold of the skirts? it must have been bowed in the mold or something if this is a common problem. ive tried re-taping it like 3 times now, but i always use the red tape. i guess ill try the green/white tape.

team drift- where did you grind the skirt down a little? in what area?




<A HREF="http://www.cardomain.com/id/eazy716"><IMG SRC="http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/eazy716/personal_pic.gif" BORDER="0"></A>
Fred Ohlson "The people that devised this cruel attempt at
acceptance and fame burn in there honda civics

Urethane adhesive like White Boy said. It holds very well......

The 3m tape I use is gray with red backing on it, get some 3m adhesion promoter, clean it up well, let it dry and cool in the shade, then stick it on should stick nicely , if its not rubbin its just getting it to stick properly.



http://www.aplusperformance.com
http://www.modified-motorsports.com

the only right way is the more permanant way... maybe mess up the paint but u got to do what u got to do


-----------------------------------------------------

98' Pontiac Sunfire SE

Hey people thanks for the suggestions. See I measured the top rear part of the passenger side and like I said it's about 1/4" longer then the drivers side. It doesnt rub on the door when it closes or the door skin but it is pretty darn close. And you cant grind it down b/c there is nothing there to grind off b/c It's to thin.

Like I mentioned before the drivers side one has been stuck on good for many months. I have adjusted the pass side and played with it so I guess what I'll have to do is clean it all up again and maybe look for this other 3M tape with the green. ill go back to the body shop supply store.

As for using the break clean on my paint "no thanks". I thought I was doing the right steps for application but it seems that I'm doing someting wrong. But my drivers side is stuck on like a mother f*cker. so who knows!!!!

I think that I will have to try and remove it. Clean things up then do some more test fitting. Apply more tape and give it one last shot.

Is anyone else's pass side skirt longer then the other on the rear quater section then the drivers side? I'll get pictures to what I mean. Also I think I may get out the dremel this time and make sure the skirt is level so that it sits totally flush against the body or to remove some excess urethane.

Is there anyway of securing them from behind? my car is a GT and there is three holes in the quarter panel from the stock GT sides. Can I get to those holes if I remove the inner plastic peice from inside the car? Then I could just screw them in from behind and never worry again. Also for the front as well, I think there is one hole in the fender. I guess I could remove the inner fender liner and screw that one in to.

Ill get pictures,

Regards,

Jarid

Thats cool. only trying to help. And brake clean wont hurt you paint. Its designed to remove all the oil and crap from your brakes and leave no residue at all. Cause anything that can cause your brakes to not work.... well just wouldn't work.

Good Luck.




Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.

Ok here are the pictures of the uneven skirts. First I will show the drives side. Which has a nice gap between the skirt and the GT door skin. Please dont mind the dirty car it has been raining here non stop for days on end and havent had a chance to wash the car.


Now onto the 1/4" larger passenger side that is so damm close to the door panel and the one I'm having problems getting to stick properly.


Arrrrrrr....I'm ready to scream. I'm going to the body shop supply store tomorrow b/c it's pay day and I'm also going to do some more test fitting and going to get it damm thing stuck on this time.

Like mentioning before the drivers side has been stuck on for a very long time real good. Hopefully when I do it this time it will be on for a good damm long while. I will ask the parts guy there what I should be doing when cleaning it to be sure that I'm doing it the right way. I'm sure I am as they sold me the stuff in the first place. Clean, Degrease the area apply the 3M tape to etc etc...

Anyway does anyone else have this fitment issue? The pass side longer then the drivers side? I mean gap wise?

Regards,

Jarid

My passenger skirt did the exact same thing...


<img src="http://www.j-body.org/registry/heywire81/car_sig.jpg">

My passenger skirt is there too. It's a faulty mold. I'm trying an experiment that a friend of mine who does bodywork suggested- its a Urethane kit, park it in direct sunlight- start early in the morning and periodically rotate the car to keep direct sunlight on the kit- this should soften it enough that when you use your adhesive on it (provided you keep it in the sun after the adhesive is on) it will actually retrain the piece to fit. I really hope this is good advice 'cause it's what i'm trying tomorrow. I'll give y'all an update on how well it works.


I may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but at least I'm a pretty color

Was the side twisted from shipping?

That is one of the problems I have seen frequently on sides.

The "right" way is actually depending upon the use of the car, if you use the car as a daily driver i suggest a method that makes it easier to replace down the road.

If it is a Sunday driver/show car then remove your inner panel and use screws, or go with urethane adhesive, but removing urethane adhesive with "USUALLY"
removes the paint it was applied to.

Well, so far so good. I left the car in the sun til about 4:00 this afternoon, good hot day too. Put the 3m red on, and voila- the skirt stuck. I just checked it a few minutes ago and it's still holding. I'll let y'all know if it comes unstuck later on this evening once everything cools down.


I may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but at least I'm a pretty color

Thanks for the update JD. Thanks for the information as well Kross. I dont think I will be using urethane adhesive on the sides. I'm going to go to the body shop repair supply store tomorrow and see what I can find and the try and get the Green 3M stuff. Also I think I may do more test fitting on the side as well. I will try the leaving it in the sun all day trick to but it has been raining here for the past couple days and it seems I may have to wait but IMO it shouldnt really matter since places like body shops and so forth do this in all kind of weather.

Ill try and give some updates with pictures in the next day or two.

Anyone else have any suggestions? does the screwing method from inside the car work? Has anyone done it and have pictures? Or maybe instructions on how to remove the inner panel by the back seat? I have never taken that part out yet.

Regards,

Jarid

Ok,

I'm bringin a old post back from the dead.

Still dealing with the same issue on my pass side skirt. A week ago or so I took off the side skirt. I bought some new 3m tape. Gray with the red backing. Also picked up some 3d adheision promoter in the little wet nap style packages (which I never used before so I thought this was a good thing) I cleaned up everything with glue remover. I did some test fitting and some fileng on the top/back side of the skirt to make sure it sat flush against the body. I test fit and filed a bunch of times. I made sure the skirt fitment was like a glove agains the body.

I cleaned everything up with goo gone, then used rubbing alcohol on it. Then some degreaser I had then I used the 3m adheision promoter on the skirt front part and back. Then applied my tape. Stuff seemed to stick to it REAL good.

So on the body panel I did the same routine. Cleaned all up with goo gone. Then de-greaser and rubbing alcohol and then used the 3m adheision promoter then got it in the right place and stuck it on. It seemed to just stick like a MO FO right away. After that I havent really paid much attention to that side of the car.

BUT, now I knotice that it's starting to pull away from the panel again. This is really starting to PISS ME OFF. My car parks in the sun all day long at work. I think the panel expands/contracts with the weather. Or urethane does. B/c when it is warm out like it is today my door seems to rub on the side skirt. When it's cool out there is a nice gap and it doesnt rub. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? The side skirt is expanding/contracting with the weather. This is driving me crazy.

I have a GT so there is the holes there in the body panel. Can I get to those from the backside/inside of the car to put some screws in there from behind? If I pop off that inner panel. How do I remove the seat belt thing to get it off? Anyone have directions how to do this or even if I can get to it from behind?

frustrated,

J

I had the same problem with my new streetfires. I ended up using the windshield urethane from partsource. Has held up very good, and i went thru a ton of tape and adhesive promotor before doing it

What they said also as for cleaning up the mess. Use some Goo Gone with a few cloths to wipe them out.

Its messy, take your time!

It came out awesome on mine! Holds up great and looks sharp!

You can ask any local windsheild replacement shop to toob you one of those for about $10

So your saying just to screw it and urethane them on. With all this trouble and time and money I have spent on tape and adheision promoter on the dammm skirts I should have just urethaned them on in the first place. Ill check out part source on this week and maybe a window shop if I can to see what they have to offer for products.

If you get urethane goop on something how hard is it to remove? what do you use to remove it? What happens once it hardens if you have to remove the sides (not saying that ill have to). I'm not saying that they wont stick but dear god the luck I have you never know. How do you remove this stuff once it hardens? With a dremel? grinder?

Regards,

J

Oh ya I forgot. What about screwing them in from behind. I do have a GT so the holes are there in the quarter panel. Are the holes accessible from inside the car with the inner rear seat panel removed? How do you remove the seatbelt bracket thing? Also I dont like the idea of urethaning them in b/c what if the paint on them gets pretty rough one day and I want to get the sides repainted right?

Regards,

J

have you tried adjusting where the sides are screwed in. when i first screwed mine in i noticed the top piece along the fender was further off than i liked and i was worried about the tape sticking and holding, so i unscrwed the bottom screw and pulled the bottom out a bit wich caused the top piece (the area that runs along the fender) to be pushed closer to the fender then i screwed the bottom back in and i havnt had an issue with it since. now i did have issues with the door strike pieces, we ended up screwing those on from the backside and i havnt had any issues with them since.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography

I have tried adjusting the bottom screw point so that it sits flush against the body. I'm going to have to rip it off again and so more test fitting. I did alot of work to get it to fit properly the last time around. I will try more adjustments AGAIN.

Another question, Can you screw in the rear peice through the stock GT body panel holes from inside the car. Does anyone know?

Regards,

Jarid