I know most people won’t be doing their own painting of the sills, but I thought it might be useful to some that have access to the equipment or are just curious about the automotive painting process and what it takes to paint plastic parts. First off, let me say I’m a total amateur and this is the first thing I’ve ever painted on a car with a spray gun. Everything is fairly easy, but the plastic prep process takes a very long time (5+ hours). The painting takes a total of 10 minutes. I have the Aero bumper so I did not paint have to paint the front, but with this DIY, the process would be explanatory. I painted the lower sills, lower portions of the mud guards, and rear bumper which remained on the car for painting.

Equipment needed:

Air Compressor with at least 13 gallons - 1.5HP (my compressor is 26 gal./1.5 HP)
Inline water/oil separator for compressor (without the separator, you could get fisheyes in the paint from water condensate)
Spray gun – I used a $35 Husky siphon feed “detail” spray gun



10mm socket and ratchet
Various screwdrivers
Automotive clip removal tool ($5 from the auto parts store)
P-400 automotive scuff pads
Masking Tape
Plastic sheeting
Half-face respirator with organic vapor cartridges
Automotive soap
Cleaning pad
Isopropyl alcohol
Nitrile gloves
Paper towels
Tack cloth

Paint Supplies:

Graduated paint container
Can of adhesion promoter
Paint Hardener
Paint reducer
OEM factory paint – the factory paint is single stage. That means it have both a base color and clear built in. I used higher end PPG materials, about $100 total and I have a ton of paint left and I only bought a pint and that was amount smallest available.


Step 1- Removal of door kick plates
1) Front kick plates – simply grab either edge of the plate and carefully pull upwards. There are three clips holding them in.

2) Rear kick plates – remove the round clip (see pictures) by pushing in the middle part of the clip and then pry out with thin flathead screwdriver. Next, lift the plate from the back and lift up, pulling towards the front of the car.





Step 2 – Remove mudguards, if equipped

Step 3 – Removal of the rear lower ¼ fascia
1) Remove the 10mm bolt under the fascia.

2) Push the fascia forward towards the front of the car and it will release.

Step 4 – Removal of the side sills
1) Remove the 6 10mm bolts from the lower portion of the sill and remove the two screws on each end of the sill in the fender wells.

2) Using the clip removal tool, carefully remove the 8 clips that attach the upper portion of the sills to the body. See picture.



The picture below shows the sills and rear fascia removed.





Step 5- Cleaning the panels, Wash with soapy water then just water
1) Wash all the panels with hot soapy water. Use as hot of water as you can tolerate. Wash all sides of the panels because you don’t want to have dirt blow off the panel when you’re painting. It is very important you adequately clean the panels. The washing is needed to remove water soluble contaminants. The ways to test if the panel is clean is run water over the panel. If it beads, it’s not clean. The next test is to take a gloved finger and run it 6” down the panel. Run water over the panel. If you can see where you ran your finger after the water runs then the panel isn’t clean.

2) Wipe the panels down with isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol will remove non-water soluble contaminants.

3) Scuff the panels with the P-400 pads. Scuff in a horizontal motions, then vertical, then circular. Do not use heavy pressure. When you’re done, the panel should look flat and have no shine.

4) Wash the panels with hot water, then alcohol wipe, then go over the panels with a tack cloth.

Step 6 - Car prep and home prep
1) Tape and sheet off all parts of your car that you don’t want overspray on. The paint gun really doesn’t generate a lot of overspray, but you need to protect the car.

Car 50% wrapped


2) Tape off the doors and vents in your garage to keep the vapors out of the house. Auto paints are very volatile and the odors linger for a long time because the paint off gases for about 8 to 10 hours.

Step 7 - Adhesion promoter application

Spray each panel with two light coats of the promoter, waiting 5 minutes between each coat. The promoter will go on hazy and dry fairly clear. The promoter is a must if you want the paint to stick to the plastic. The promoter will be ready to paint in about 20 minutes.

Step 8 - Paint
1) Mix the paint. For my paint, I needed 4 parts base, 2 parts reducer, 1 part hardener. Fill gun.

2) Set the compressor to about 50-55 psi and adjust the spray pattern and material feed of the gun accordingly. Spray the paint on a piece of cardboard to get the correct pattern.

3) Using a side to side motion, not breaking your wrist, apply the paint. Walk the length of the panel. Don’t let your arm span the distance. DO NOT use the painting method commonly shown on auto TV shows where the tech is applying the paint in a side to side motion breaking their wrist. This is incorrect will apply more paint to the middle and less paint to the sides.

2 hours to prep the bumper and 2 minutes to paint



4) Let the paint flash for 10 to 15 minutes and apply a second coat, then wait another 10 to 15 minutes and apply a final coat.

5) The paint will be dry to the touch within 2 hours, but the paint will still be very soft. If it’s cold outside (less than 70 degrees), the paint will take longer to cure. Be VERY careful in handling the panels because the paint will be soft for at least 8 to 10 hours.

You’re done. Keep in mind that the sills have a very faint grain pattern which mean achieving a total gloss finish is nearly impossible. The finish I got was exactly what I wanted which is semi-gloss.



Before – gray nastiness and tiny OEM exhaust tips



After with 2007 Altima Fat Body tips

 

Looks good and also a very clean G

 

Ghetto Garage paint job. Sad. Infiniti you pay for, but can't afford to take it to a shop to get it done right.

So Ghetto Paint job
Electrical tape over door handles to make them black
Ghetto Grill Paint job

Otherwise looks better than it did. And you have some paint on your tip on the muffler it looks like near the back of it. I hope you put some flex agent and extra extra clear to prevent chipping.

This is my opinion and I have the right to express it.

 

^^^ troll ftmfl

 

Ummmm....your 2006 sedan had a ghetto painted grill too so what's that say about you

1) I did it myself because I wanted to nor did I want to spend the $400 to have a shop do it. I had the equipment so why not?

2) Yes, dust and particles do have the potential to have gotten in the paint since I wasn't using a paint booth, but these are the lower sills. They will endure a lot of abuse, nor will they have gloss finish since the plastic is slightly grained which refracts light. If you were to see the paint up close, you'd see there are no flaws other than the ones that were already in the plastic from 6 years of life on the road. I cleaned my garage prior to the start of work and the air outside was very still. The panels were prepped far more than most shop ever would do.

3) I did not use flex agent because according to my research and discussions with the paint vendors, the usefulness of flex agent is debateable and it can cause paint application issues. Also, all these panels are in areas that will indure very little flex, if any at all.

4) The paint used is factory code KH3. It is a combo of base and clear. It's a one application process. I had the option of doing base coat then clear coat, but I chose to stick with the way Nissan does it plus it's easier and a bit cheaper. Three light coats is what I used.

5) There isn't one particle of overspray on the tips because the tips were removed from the car during the painting process.

I hope that addresses all your concerns.

 

Dont sweat it dave...people always hate on others that do for themselves..and i might add a damn good job...i think i will follow suit on this. Keep it up!!!

 

Yea I tried it, but also replaced it with a factory one about 1-2 months later because it didn't look all that hot.

Well, I have a friend that owns a body shop, and I know for a fact it is recommended to have a flex agent on items like those to prevent cracking, or chipping. It helps.

 

You wish. lol.

 

Just a FYI, you can get a total gloss if you put clear coats over the top of that and also wet sand it down and polish it. Others here have done this.

 

I like it

 

well, i owned a body shop for 5 years, and would never put flex agent into paint for door sills (technically-rocker covers). those parts do not have a risk of being flexed or bumped as front or rear bumper covers do. also, flex agent does not significantly help with chipping--and neither do extra coats of clear. an adhesion promoter would be a better alternative.

good work for someone who has never done this before. dont let people who don't know what they are talking about try to bring you down. you used eqiupment as close to professional as you had access to and did your research beforehand. be proud of your results.

 

I guess it's possible that you could do multiple heavy coats and then hit it with a lot of clear, then knock it down with wet sanding and polish. I have never done wet sanding and polishing like that, but I do understand the process and steps. I just don't have faith in my skills when it comes to that type of finishing. Additionally, the glossly effect is not waht I wanted because I don't like glossy lower sills/rockers on darker cars because at certain angles and lighting, the plastic panels will show their natural waviness and I think it cheapens the look.

 

That means a lot coming from a professional. I appreciate it.

I choose not to do the flex on the lower bumper cover because I figured if I were to bump into something, I'd probably bump into it in the upper portion of the bumper. And if I did bump something, the paint would be screwed anyways. I swear the paint on black cars scratches and mars if you just think about it

 

who cares.... At least he's contributing something useful. I give props to those who take the time to document the process for us to learn from. Its easy for you to slam someone with worthless comments but when was the last time you took a few hours to snap some pics and do a write up for the forum?

DaveB good work.. Thanks for taking the time to post this up for us to see.

 

About 2 years ago I did many DIY's. LOL