painting rockers - what did you use?

[Spaz]

alright my rockers need a new coat of paint. i know tj and a couple others have re-done theirs i just want to know what you guys stripped off the old stuff with and what kind of paint you guys used to repaint them....and possibly part numbers if you have them.

btw my car is black if that makes any difference

thanks alot

-cam

[KenC]

I used some goof-off to clean all of the tar and crap off of the panels before I painted them. Then I used rubberized undercoating spray. 3M makes some nice stuff. Make sure you have an entire day to let the car sit because the paint takes a long time to dry; and if you even smudge it a bit it'll look like crap.

[OldUser1]

When I asked TJ he told me:

I used Marhyde from Discount Auto Parts. Basically, all I did was used rubbing alcohol to clean off the rockers, masked them off, and sprayed. I have some tips:

I masked all the way up the door. That was overkill. The undercoating comes out in a very straight spray, and there is no overspray. If I were you, I would just use strips of masking tape to go up almost to the door moldings.

TAKE IT EASY WITH THE PAINT! It's VERY heavy, and it runs VERY easily. It will also build up and look chunky. Go VERY easily at first, and then give it some time and do one more coat to fill in any missed spots. Thats about it, your car will look brand new after you do it!

[bimmerphile]

I have a pdf tech article if you want, my web server is down so I can't upload it right now.

[Nick325is]

I did my rocker panels a few weeks ago because they were getting really chipped and starting to show surface rust. Basically, the process went as follows:
1. Wash rocker panels.
2. Sand entire rocker panels until all old paint was off with 80 grit sand paper with a sanding block.
3. Rinse rocker panels off with hose and then dry.
4. Wet sand rocker panels with 220 grit sand paper until smooth and then rinse and let rocker panels dry.
5. Mask off doors and all other exposed paint with tape and newspaper.
6. Apply several coats of primer to the rocker panels.
7. Sand rocker panels with 400 grit sand paper.
8. Clean rocker panels again and then let dry.
9. Apply several coats of black paint to the rocker panels and let dry.
10. Wet sand with 400 grit sand paper and then wash and let dry.
11. Apply several coats of clear coat and let dry.
12. Sand clear coat with 600 grit sand paper and then again with 1000 grit.
13. Clean rocker panels and then use 3m scratch remover on rocker panels until smooth.
14. Let everything sit for awhile and then remove masking materials.

I used the duplicolor paint to do this as I could not afford a pint of PPG or sikkons paint. The rocker panels look really good and haven't chipped yet. I will post close up pictures soon.

Nick

[Spaz]

I have a pdf tech article if you want, my web server is down so I can't upload it right now.

i'll take you up on that...if your on aim i'll message you.

maybe you can post it here for the rest of the crew too :)

[bimmerphile]

http://myweb.cableone.net/crtolson/kickpanel%20refinish.pdf

[Spaz]

thanks kris...you have every freaking article don't you?

[Nick325is]

Sorry if my write up was too detailed...just went through all the steps.

[Spaz]

Sorry if my write up was too detailed...just went through all the steps.

no worries man it will be a help also..

where did you get your paint. was it exact match?

[bimmerphile]

http://myweb.cableone.net/crtolson/kickpanel%20refinish.pdf

hehe, something like that.


Yay for printing to pdf built in to the OS :-D