arhces and side skirts

[SpikeyG40]

hey guys, i wonder if ya could help me, i was wondering how the G40 arches are held in place, anc more importantly, how the side skirts are held in place

are the arches held the same way as the under arch thingys are held to the bumper? (they are like a small clip with a hole in the middle and pin is pushed into it which expands the clip and holds it in place)
am i likely to need some other way of putting the arches on, such as double sided sticky tape etc.

if anyone has got any pics or advice it would be really useful

cheers
doug

[polo_GT]

I think the arches are just rivitted on and the side skirt bits might be just glued on like the rubbing strips. Do you know how to remove the rubbing strips form the arches?

[SpikeyG40]

wot do u mean? the rubbing strips are held onto the body by a sort of double sided sticky tape ( i had to reattach one of mine once before) remove the rubbing strips from wot?

if ya mean that little bit of rubbing strip on the arch, they should just pull off with a bit of force, that wot we had to do when i got a new wing!

[hardhitter]

The arch trims are riveted in places, as are the sill skirts. You would need to drill holes in the correct places and rivet them into place.

IMHO, I think yours would look best without any plastic trim etc. Remove the door strips and it would look really clean and smooth.
Lower it, colour code the bumpers and tail grab handle and you would have a really smooth looking Mk 3.

[polo_GT]

Remove the rubbing strips from the door and all the way down the side. The rubbing strips are moulded into the arch and can't be detached without leaving a scag in the arch.

[SpikeyG40]

cheers for the advise mate, but i think i will leave the bump strips in place. my car stays up a tight drve way and i am forever banging the door on the wall! i hated not having bump strips on my old polo so these are a sort of god send! if the surcumstances were different, i probably would remove them!

also, as i have had the side re sprayed removing the rubbing strips would mean a colour differation in the paint n would look a bit odd!

[optima21]

yeah the arches and side skirts are all rivetted on, but I've modified mine so that they now screw on so I cant remove them to check for rust. This link tells you how I did them.
http://www.porka.net/modules.php?name=X ... &tid=13309

[dub envy]

dude, what rear arches are they? Cos you havent got the side rubbing strips, and I thought if you removed them you were left with holes in the rear arch??

[optima21]

I've just got the standard arches and modified them, all the instructions are on that guide. You do get left with big holes, but you just fill them with fibreglass bridging compound and use some duck tape ove the gap as a backing so you get a rough shape.

I dont use the skirts either, my sills have been repainted the same colour as the main bodywork.

Once the arches were modified they were sprayed with textured bumper paint using a compressor and spraygun not aerosols

[SpikeyG40]

i have got the side rubbing strips, so there shouldn't be any problem (i hope) i thought all Gt's and G40's came with side rubbing strips!

[polo_GT]

Gt coupe and G40's all come with arches and rubbing strips. Can you take the arches and strips of without leaving holes in the sill or the arches. As i want to take mine off for the smooth look.

[optima21]

yeah you can but there will probably be loads of rust under the arch trims and the paint may be a slightly different colour under them together with the rubbing strips, so to get them to look god you may need to respray your motor