On my day off I..

[AnthonyTDCi]

had a look a the ugly grey strip on the rear bumper and inspected how to remove it.

for anyone who wishes to do this mod it should only cost about $70 and all paint was purchaced at autobarn. there are no tools required but youll need strong fingers to release the clips. the clips are rather stiff and need some pretty forcefull pushing to remove it.


this is what it looks like without the grey strip. the hardest clips to remove are the end ones.


preping the strip:




finished product:



let me know what you think.

anthony

[Bucknaked]

Looks like it should have come from Factory. Looks great. Nice job

[819_FLY]

yeh that looks very good. But my car is black, so im guessing silver would be bad hahaha

[DragonMesh]

did you prime it up first? and how did you deal with the texture in the plastic?

i just had my rear strip and side ones done for my sedan and it cost me 250 to have texture removed and painted... i'll post some pictures when its day

[Mullett]

That's freaking sweet! Did you do any prep work apart from the primer? And, was it a generic paint, or did you get it mixed? If you got it mixed, I'd love to know what the paint code is for the silver Focus :P

-RM.

[DragonMesh]

And here is the sedan

[BlackLS]

Black hatch:

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=69029

[AnthonyTDCi]

i gave it i bit of a sand before priming it. it still has texture on it unfortunatly....but i will be doing it silky smooth as soon as i have a few days off in a row.

i got the can mixed from autobarn. just told him it was pure silver and he said yep i can do that.

[RJO89]

That looks great mate. They should really come like that from the factory. Mine looks crap. It's got wax on it from the last time I waxed it! Same as the door handles. Damn base model :P. Looks good though mate. Gotta be happy with that!!!

[skriblz06]

looking awesome man. might give this a try soon, makes the car look wayy more cleaner. Did the clips feel like they were going to snap when you tried taking it off? Anyone know if the side strips on the LS focus can be taken off as well? Anyways great work *thumbs up*

[AnthonyTDCi]

umm...no not really. probably do it on a warm day so the plastic is flexible.

i did it by myself, but i would recommend having someone on the other side to keep hold of the strip while the first 3-4 clips get removed by the other person.

[BlackLS]

I used a combination of long nosed pliers, multigrips and a flat bladed screwdriver to get mine off, laying underneath the car doing it from the back.

[Mansal]

Me like! Must do the same with the plastic grey bits on my blact LT!

[BlackLS]

Side strips have guiding holes and are double sided taped in place I believe. If you masked your car well enough, you could probably paint it on the car.

[819_FLY]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

Side strips have guiding holes and are double sided taped in place I believe. If you masked your car well enough, you could probably paint it on the car.

Yeh I could just cover my lights and windows and spray the whole car.... no need for paint protection anymore hahahaha.

Hmmmmmm MATTE BLACK!!!!

[Turbodiesel]

Looks good, I could have had that done when I bought mine but I decided to do the spoiler instead. The black spoiler really does "spoil" it I think, that shouldn't be too hard to do yourself either.

[DragonMesh]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

Side strips have guiding holes and are double sided taped in place I believe. If you masked your car well enough, you could probably paint it on the car.

yea those things are stuck on pretty well... took me a good 3 hours to get it all off with some grime remover... i ordered a rubber pinstripe removal wheel but it arrived after i had got it all off.

Pinstripe Remover Wheel

mine were soaked in a cleaning solution before primed to remove any wax and crap

[AnthonyTDCi]

Originally Posted by Turbodiesel

Looks good, I could have had that done when I bought mine but I decided to do the spoiler instead. The black spoiler really does "spoil" it I think, that shouldn't be too hard to do yourself either.

yeah that will be my next thing to do. Not looking forward to removing the interior panels though.

[Mullett]

I'm gonna go right ahead and assume that you've gotta pull the roof lining off the rear to get to the fastenings for that spoiler?

-RM.

[RJO89]

I thought you just had to open the hatch and undo two bolts on the tailgate. But I've been wrong before!!

[Mullett]

I like your version better, I'll go with that :P While we're on the topic, how about taking the little panels on the wing mirrors off?

-RM.

[Turbodiesel]

Originally Posted by Mullett

I'm gonna go right ahead and assume that you've gotta pull the roof lining off the rear to get to the fastenings for that spoiler?

-RM.

I'm not entirely sure, I had it done with the body kit and mouldings but it shouldn't be too hard.

The reason I didn't do the rear strip was because I thought it might look "too silver" at the back.

While we're on this topic, does that black plastic strip on the rear bumper have a purpose or is it just purely cosmetic?

[RJO89]

Originally Posted by Mullett

I like your version better, I'll go with that :P While we're on the topic, how about taking the little panels on the wing mirrors off?

-RM.

They're easy to get off. Just get a thin screwdriver in between the gaps and they pop off. They have to be easy to get off so that you can easily replace the globes.

[RJO89]

Originally Posted by Turbodiesel

While we're on this topic, does that black plastic strip on the rear bumper have a purpose or is it just purely cosmetic?

Considering where it is, I'd just say it's cosmetic. I had a larger one on my old car (a 91 TR Magna), that was for a purpose. I didn't know what that purpose was until my brother backed into a fence and put a dint in it. Then left it in the sun on a hot day and the dint popped out again! But looking at the size and placement of the one of the focus, I'd say it's purely cosmetic.

[Mullett]

Originally Posted by Turbodiesel

Looks good, I could have had that done when I bought mine but I decided to do the spoiler instead. The black spoiler really does "spoil" it I think, that shouldn't be too hard to do yourself either.

Did you have the spoiler done? If so, do you have pics?

-RM.

[Turbodiesel]

Sure did

It's not as glossy as the body because of the texture, still matches pretty well though.

[BlackLS]

I love seeing this car

[BlackLS]

Originally Posted by Mullett

I like your version better, I'll go with that :P While we're on the topic, how about taking the little panels on the wing mirrors off?

-RM.

2 bolts showing, there are 4 more under the tailgate trim.

[Mullett]

Originally Posted by Turbodiesel

Sure did

It's not as glossy as the body because of the texture, still matches pretty well though.

That's wicked man, much awesome. I have much to paint on mine...it's a CL :P I wish I could do the door handles, but i don't thinkthe paint would last...

-RM.

[skriblz06]

I know this may sound stupid, but would anyone be able to give some steps on how to go about painting the side strips. (eg what type of sand paper, primer) Im totally noob when it comes to painting stuff, never done it before. used: