Spaceme1117

For those people that have installed side skirts on their car and left them unpainted, how are they holding up? How are you maintaining/protecting them?

I have ordered a set of ACS Composite side skirts in primer black and am debating on whether I should paint them or leave them as they are but apply some sort of UV protectant such as 303 Aerospace Protectant or other.

Thanks.

jbc1995fb

Interesting thought.... .

I've always wanted side skirts and a front splitter but hear and see the photos of cracked pieces. Like most things, those threads get the attention, but I'm sure there's hundreds or thousands of C6 Vettes out there driven oftern without getting messed up but no one makes a thread about those.

So.. to add to the OP thread...list which brand you have and how long have you had them installed.

Thanks,
Jason

SixAddict

I’ve had splitter, spoiler, side skirts from C7 Carbon, painted gloss black fiberglass and they’ve been holding up for the better part of three years. The rear fender section of the side skirt has a little stone rash on them but the skirts themselves have held up well. I guess if I installed front splash guards this wouldn’t be an issue.

c345vette

Also to add : What finishing matches the factory better.: primer, gloss black or carbon flash

Spaceme1117

That is what I am trying to decide currently.

I ordered ACS Composite side skirts in primer black so it should have a matte black finish. I am considering just installing them as they are but putting a protectant on such as 303 or AmmoNYC Frame Pro Trim Coat which is a ceramic coating for rubber/plastic trim.

The other thing I am considering is to paint the side skirts in Carbon Flash. I would paint them myself.

Reason I am leaning to leaving them in the primer black is that it should match the rest of the plastics of the fender and liners and it is obviously simpler. And coating them should protect them from UV damage but painting them would do the same thing.

I will likely mock them up and see how they look first.

As for a front splitter, I don't think I will go with one as I know it will just get torn up. Going to stick with the simple plastic splitter.

PMPerformance

flat black natural finish from EOS matches the oem plastics perfectly.
natural finish has nothing to get damaged whereas paint can chip or flake

I outline this in my install video and I got this finish for that exact reason.
I would look silly to have gloss or carbon side skirts and front lip and matte black “mud flaps” and rear valence

Adding Morimoto tails and EOS Lip/Side Skirts to my Grand Sport
https://youtu.be/FzA101U5SNo

Budarooski

100% correct! I recently installed and EOS front splitter in unpainted plastic...it matches the other trim perfectly. $179!! If I damage it, no biggie...for that price I won't lose sleep over it.

BadAV

Over 3 years on my ebay cheapies; I suspect they cheap ones are all from the same Chinese factory. They still look like they did the day I installed them, and all I do is wash them with the rest of the car. The car resides in a basement garage when it's not being driven.

Spaceme1117

Well, I received my ACS side skirts in. And looking at them, I decided to go ahead and paint them in Carbon Flash Black Metallic. I had purchased a Paint Express kit which included the base coat and clear coat.

The side skirts are resin not ABS plastic. They were already painted in primer black which is a matte finish but I could see that this matte finish would not have stayed that way for long as there were already shiny spots in the finish just from rubbing on the interior of the shipping box.

Just did a quick scuff with some 800 grit paper, cleaned, then painted. So far seems to have come out looking pretty good.

I'm not going to paint the vertical deflectors as they are just a hard type of plastic.

Need to wait a couple of days for the clear to cure, then I will wet sand and polish and then mount on the car.

Will post pictures shortly.

tommyc6z06

I'm not a 'waxer type', so I just went for cheapie EOS. matches the rest of the plastic, fender liners,etc pretty well.
Besides a bit of fitment issue with the rear wheel deflectors (easily resolved), I think they were a no-brainer at the price.
It did cross my mind that they might crack if something flicked up, so I did line them with a layer of Gorilla Tape on the underside...but that's just me being ****.

Rebob0510

I have extreme online store plastic ones and I wrapped them with Avery Dennison SW 900 Matte Black Vinyl and they are holding up really well. I also used Black headed aluminum 3/16 rivets to mount the side skirts/rock guards on vs the tiny screws they send them with and they are rock solid and do not flex at all. The black rivet heads in the wheel well blend in and almost look factory