Just wondering if anyone has painted the black wheel arches/sideskirts/front and rear spoilers to match their car color, instead of installing the aero kit? How does it look, etc?!!! Thanks!

 

I did both - the aero kit and the arches. Check out my Gallery.

Things you need to be aware of:

- the rear arches will chip easily. Be prepared for that.
- consider buying new arches instead of using the ones on your car. When they pull them off, they warp slightly. When you put the old ones back on, there will be gaps in the arches. If you do use the ones off the car, you might need some adhesive between the arches and the body to close the gaps. Another good reason for using other arches is that you can let the paint cure for a few weeks and then get them covered in anti-chip film before you fit them. That is how I'd do it if I were to do it again...
- there is a bit of labour involved in the work. The body shop will have to put several layers of high-fill primer on the arches, with a sanding-back between each layer. They will then put another layer of primer on, then then several layers of paint. If they don't use the high-fill primer and just paint over the arches, the finish will be 'rippled' and not match the paintwork.

It looks sweet and I'd do it again if I get another mini. It makes the car look lower and the body look 'fuller'. It works best on metallic colours. I know of two people with a black mini that have had it done - and it looks great!

I reccomend putting the aero skirts on the car, instead of the whole kit. They make the car look quite a bit lower and meaner. If you do that and put the aero grilles on the front, it'll look sweet.

If you do go for the aero grille, consider colour-coding those too. If you don't know what I mean, see the pic below:

 

Here are a few pics of my car...

 

Thanks guys...they look great!! Hey motorsports_3, those are the stock pieces all around, right? Except for the aero grille of course? Right? That looks nice, if I hadn't started this thread, I would have thought that was the aero kit!

 

Here you go, this is what I was talking about before. It wouldn't stand out much on a PW mini, if the primer was white like mine:

 

look great guys, you've got me thinking.

 

Don't hurt yourself!

 

Does anyone have a pic of a CR with painted skirts??