Hello everyone. Just curious what these "patch" like areas are on my rear quarter panels are for or from. I have a 2004 G35 Coupe. They are right in front of the rear wheels. They used to be light brown but I was able to clear them up with a good rubbing compound. They are cracked due to age I'm assuming. I am able to chip away at them but it's very tedious and I do not want to ruin my paint.
My guesses are: They are some sort of scratch guard? or a previous owner had aftermarket side skirts?
There are no other patches towards the front or anywhere else on the car. I attached a few pictures.
Anyone else have these?

Thanks in advanced!

 

It's paint protection film, a.k.a "clear bra". I can't say why it's dried out and cracked that bad, but the stuff is designed to be removable. If your car is like mine, there is also some clear bra on the rocker panel just below the door sill plates.

There are videos on YouTube showing how to do it, or you could take it somewhere that does clear bra. If I recall, you basically just heat it up with a heat gun or blow dryer and slowly peel it away. It probably won't be much fun since it's all cracked into pieces.

 

infiniti calls it a stone guard. you can buy from them for about $20. as the car ages that happens its pretty normal urs is a bit excessive tho lol its a bitch to peel off. if u plan to remove it give yourself a lot of hours possible the whole day to remove it

 

I do not have anything below the door sill plates. Are yours thick? Mine are not the like the typical "clear bra" thickness. Like I stated in my previous post, I am able to chip away at it but, no peeling can be done whatsoever.

 

I saw the posts about the stone guards but didn't think that is what this thing was. It looks similar to the ones on the rear diagrams on Infiniti but, still doesn't seem right. The diagrams for the front fenders represent the stone guards as the inner fender liners.
My car has been in every weather condition possible so, I'm sure it's just heavily "weathered".

 

There's 2 theres supposed to be a triangular piece above the square piece u have. It's a fkn stone guard Wat other answer u want? Urs is dry and rotted they all turn like that eventually with age some quicker than others depending on where the car spent most of its life. Go on the Infiniti parts search u can see it there

 

Right...that's been established.
No triangular piece above it, just the old ugly one on the bottom.
Must be unpopular...I never saw a G with these before, whether new or old.

 

i always thought they all came like that from the factory with both peices. either the previous owner removed it or that area was repaired for something and the shop didnt put it back on. is it missing on the other side too? if so the owner probably removed it thinking its jus decoration or something. when the cars brand new it removes like a sticker real easy.

 

Yes, the other side is only the bottom half as well. Just as ugly and cracked as this side.
I'm the 4th owner so I'm sure one of the previous ones messed around with it. It's just a pain in the *** to remove with how thick and cracked it is.

 

yes it is. when i did mine, the triangular piece, it was not a good day. be happy the lower one is half the size lmao

 

Here's an old pic of my car, there's supposed to be another one actually on the quarter panel. It's there from the factory to help prevent rock chips on the curvy part of the quarter panels.

If yours is missing then either a) the car has been repaired/repainted, or b) previous owner peeled it off because is was starting to look a little crappy. The official name if you wanted to search for Infiniti replacement parts is "PROTECTOR-REAR FILLET" RH part is 78816AM800, LH part is 78817AM800
Parts for the side skirts are PROTECTOR-REAR SIDE RH: 78876AM860, LH: 78877AM800

 

Hi All, I know this is an old thread, so maybe there are mods that can help out if no one else answers. I have an 07 G35 that this happened to as well. I'm thinking about doing it myself with a heat gun, but have a few questions:

What is underneath the cracked part? Is it just regular paint? Can it be damaged by taking off the clear bra/protector fillet?

Ideally I'd like to paint those panels a different color to have cool accents on my car, but I'm a total noob at car stuff so I'm hoping you can help me with both sides. Also going to post this as a new thread just in case, since this one is so old.

Thanks!

 

Underneath is the same paint and clearcoat as the rest of the body. I've never removed mine as they're still in good shape, but I'd have to think there is a possibility the paint could be damaged, especially given the age of these cars. Personally I would try a hair dryer on the highest setting before a heat gun at it's lowest. If you're going to use a heat gun though be real careful with the lower stone guard that is applied to the plastic side skirt.

 

Got it, thanks for your input, especially the hair dryer advice

So let's say I'm able to get off the cracked pieces without much trouble and have new ones to replace them. If I wanted to paint the underneath and then apply the new ones, are there any specific types of paint I need to get and is it possible to only get a small amount? Would some kind of wrap be better?

Also, why is the lower stone guard more tricky?

Thanks again!

 

Autobody painting is beyond my skillset so I won't comment there. All I was saying about the lower stone guard is that it is on a plastic body part, and not metal like the quarter panel, so be extra careful when using a heat gun or you could warp or melt the side skirt. If you're completely clueless with the heat gun you could also damage the paint on either body panel.