skotx

My previous-owner-installed side skirts are installed with rivets. There are one each in the front and rear fender wells, and three in the door sill. Anyone got any advice on how I can remove the skirts without destroying them or the car? The three on the sill are inaccessible from the rear.

Thanks...

Comptech

drill them out. and be very careful

1revn3rdgen

iTrader: (27)

You have to drill them out thats the only way i know.

BigIslandSevens

iTrader: (4)

do you have some pics of the size rivet used? I am getting ready to put on a kit for someone and was thinking of using rivets. Just curious. Thanks,
Dave

And yes drill the center out of the rivet and it will pop off the top.

skotx

Thanks for the tips guys.

I don't have any pics, but the rivet heads are probably a bit smaller than a dime. It looks as though the ones on the door sill were sprayed (Montego Blue) with the skirts. Probably a good way to go if you want a semi-permanent install.

BigIslandSevens

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the reply. I am molding the kit on and the rivets would allow me to use alot less MUD to make everything flush.Rather than a screw head that needs to be built up to level. Thabks again.

t-von

iTrader: (8)

What do you use to mold on a body kit (fiberglass & bondo)?

travisorus rex

I would use bondo to mold the kit to the body.
I would use rivets to hold the kit to the body.
I would slightly drill the rivets to make a small indetation and fill those with fiberglass resin.

Hope that helps.

BigIslandSevens

iTrader: (4)

I use bondo to do the molding. Glass tends to crack to easily if your not carefull. So does bondo but it is easier to repair IMO, Not to mention that even if you were to use glass to mold with, you still need to even everything out with a lite coat of bondo. As you don't want to sand on the resin

T-Rex-- Why do you recommend drilling a slight indentation and then filling with resin? Curious about this idea and the reasoning behind it. Easier to smooth over? Thanks for the ideas as well for the rivets.

skotx

Well, five rivets in the sideskirt seemed to hold it on pretty well from my experience. Now I have to deal with 4+ years of a covered up body panel (dirty!)and my jacked up jacking rails are visible. Dang.

travisorus rex

Well, I just received my body kit from LT1-7 and did a mock setup. I put all the parts on the car to check for fitment so I could make the proper adjustments.

The rear bumper is a C-west and is connected at the stock mounting points as well as the rear wheel well. The part that is wrapped around is supposed to be held on with side-molding tape. This was my plan as the fitment was close enough (or so it seamed to me) until......

My cousin moved here several weeks ago and is an avid Volkswagon fan as well as a fantastic body repair guy (I have seen his work and it is beautiful). He came over to look at the car and give me some tips/pointers. He noticed that the rear bumper bulged out a little where the double edged tape would be placed. He recommended the rivets, drilling and resin as a filler. He pointed out that the side-molding tape would probably hold it. I didnt like the idea of having to remove the bumper to remove the tape in case "probably" didn't work. We then proceded with the rivets. Once the bumper was securely mounted, he took a drill and O-SO-CAREFULLY drilled just enough out of the tops of the rivets. We then used resin (it bonds to the fiberglass bumper easier than Bondo) to fill it in. Sand the bastard down and the bumper is now permanent.

Sorry to ramble on like this but hopefully I answered your questions.

TRAV

t-von

iTrader: (8)

Does anyone have access to any videos or info regarding molding body kit parts?