grey skirt removal question

[Shanarchy]

OK, I am attempting to remove the gray paint from my side skirts. This is not going quick at all. In fact I am seeing no results!

I am using Castrol super clean degreaser. Is this the right stuff? I sprayed it on there good and starting working on a section with a kitchen type brush as recommended. After about 20 minutes I have NO results. I then tried the paper towel method. I let that sit for a good 2 hours and I am still not getting anyone of the gray off.

How long time wise should it take before you start to see results of the gray coming off? I've used a kitchen type brush and a sponge with the brillo side. I do not want to be too aggressive, but is there something I am missing???

[jijacob]

From what I have read, it takes HOURS of scrubbing.

[Shanarchy]

I may be way too ADD to do this. I think I've searched and read every post on this but just can seem to find an approximate time of how long before you see ANY results.

I'm half tempted to try something a little more aggressive, but don't want to ruin the pain underneath.

[patmcd]

And now you know why I just painted mine black instead of trying to remove that stuff.

[e36bmdub]

i have an idea...just get some m3 sideskirts!

[schwarzII325is]

i actually attempted to do this using a degreaser when I first got the car. I applied paper towels onto the side of the car, and reprayed them after every 25 minutes for two hours. In the region I did this, the black come off really quickly. The one region I had taken the black off in 10 minutes of scrubbing. At the same time, I had gone beyond the paint of the car, and I scratched it causing the paint to turn yellow with dots. I opted not to ruin the whole side of the car, and have in my posession two oem side skirts. hahah.

if its your only option do it. If not, get some side skirts or paint it.

gluck

[EuroCar]

Heavy duty degreaser and a brush works great for me man. Kitchen brush, scrub down really well and wipe off everynow and then with a towel. It took 2 hours for both sides.

Use some elbow grease man! lol im 6'2, 150lbs, so i am by no means hulk.

It takes a while to get through the top coat but once you do it weant pretty easily for me...

5 dollars vs 200+ dollars. Big difference to me, and it worked great

[Flavcool]

Wow I didn't know you could just scrub it off! So they painted it gray OVER the original paint? WTF would they do that?? :confused

[Shanarchy]

5 dollars vs 200+ dollars. Big difference to me, and it worked great

My thoughts exactly! I think that removing the grey for $10 worth of materials is a better mod than buying side skirts and painting them. The side skirts obviously look a little better, but I would rather spend the money else where.

[patmcd]

Wow I didn't know you could just scrub it off! So they painted it gray OVER the original paint? WTF would they do that?? :confused

Only on the side skirts. The front and rear bumper gray is not over the regular body paint.

[Shanarchy]

What about acetone? Does anyone on here have any personal experience with it? I see on this DIY http://home.earthlink.net/%7Efrankie66/cars/diy/E36_paintmatching.html he uses acetone. I just don't want to go too aggressive.

[Octane]

I attempted this a few weeks ago. I didn't get anywhere and didn't have the patience to scrub for hours. Now I'm scheduald to go in this week for painting.

[e36fosho]

i tried this with some goof-off and a rag and after about 2hours of scrubbing i got one side skirt done. its too much work im painting them this week

[karlow]

Sure, you can use MEK, Lacquer thiner, acetone, maybe carb cleaner, or a grinder if you don't mind removing all of the paint. On some cars the grey may have been repainted with grey paint. I will give one of mine a try. There is quite a bit of gey missing already.

KP

[bimmerplease]

I actually tried this about a week ago and it took off a very small spot. At the rate I was going it would take about 6 hours! I think I'll just sand and paint them...

[Shanarchy]

Sure, you can use MEK, Lacquer thiner, acetone, maybe carb cleaner, or a grinder if you don't mind removing all of the paint. On some cars the grey may have been repainted with grey paint. I will give one of mine a try. There is quite a bit of gey missing already.

KP

I have a strong feeling that mine may have been repainted. I think I am going to attempt acetone next....

[nbirru]

Best thing to do is to just sand them down and repaint. Even if you get to the paint layer there is no clear coat and the condition is pretty crappy anyway.

[kidRiot]

Wasnt there an indepth "guide" somewhere on how to remove the paint?

I'll probably just paint them. Theres a way to remove the side skirts right? Hows this done. I want to remove them and take just the side skirts to a painter, and have them just paint them (professional stuff/grade).

[Sam Hamm]

aircraft remover from advanced?

[Shanarchy]

Wasnt there an indepth "guide" somewhere on how to remove the paint?

I'll probably just paint them. Theres a way to remove the side skirts right? Hows this done. I want to remove them and take just the side skirts to a painter, and have them just paint them (professional stuff/grade).

They are actually rocker panels, not side skirts, so you can not remove them. The M's came with true side skirts.

There is three different DIY links off of this for the grey removal.
http://www.geocities.com/e36rulz/DIY.html