Tried to PM the PDF's, without them stored on a server somewhere, I can't send a file in a PM. I did copy and I'll paste the text here.
Painting the Cladding Black by Tom R.
I have a Silver Birch ST and wanted it to be not like all the rest out there. I originally wanted the Cladding painted the Silver Birch, but now that the 04's are like that, I decided I wanted to do the black. I will attempt to describe the details involved with painting the Cladding.
Materials Used:
1 Container "Simple Green",
1 Greenie Scrub Sponge,
2 Cans of "Dupli-Color" Adhesion promoter (CP199 Adhesion Promoter)
4 Cans of "Dupli-Color" Bumper Coating (FB105, Flexible Black Bumper Paint).
Total cost, about $30.00
First, Proper preparation is an absolute must. I removed the 4 EGR Fender Flares, the 4 Molded Mud flaps, the 4 Lower Body Side Cladding pieces and the Rear Bumper Cover.
I started off with cleaning and scrubbing down the parts with Simple Green and used a Greenie Scrub pad to make sure I got everything real clean. After washing everything once, went back and washed it all again just to be safe. Last thing you want is the paint to come off because of a poor adhesion.
Let everything dry, and lay it all out in an area where you can work free from dust and bugs. Start by painting one piece at a time with the Adhesion Promoter, this stuff dries really fast, so by the time you get to the last piece, the first piece is ready again. The Adhesion Promoter is actually a Clear Primer. I put the first coat on fairly thin, the other 2 coats were put on nice and wet. I did about 3 coats on each piece.
When it is all dry and ready to be painted, start by applying a half coat of the black and move on to the next piece. I found out on some test pieces that the old adage "many thin coats are better than one thick one" is very true when it comes to durability and adhesion of the black paint. Each piece I painted, the paint was applied very thinly and was done the same way for each subsequent painting. I think it was about 6 or 7 times for each piece, so that should equal at least 2 nice coats.
The Front Lower Bumper Cover was painted in place using the same techniques as above. Mask off the Upper Bumper Cover as well as the front fenders and the front wheels.
After letting everything dry for several hours, install all the pieces.
Side Cladding Removal and Installation by Tom R.
The side Cladding is held on by:
(2) Phillips screws in the rear of the front wheel well (not shown),
(2) 1/2" nuts attached to "T" bolts just in front of the rear wheel well under the vehicle,
(7) Round Push Retainers attach under the cladding and through the lower seams of the body,
(20) "T" & "A" Retainer clips along the top of the cladding hold the cladding into the lower body.
To remove the Cladding...
Remove the 2 phillips head screws from the front wheel well rear area first, (White arrows)
Next, go to the rear of the cladding and remove the two 1/2" nuts securing the rear cladding and the fender well front plastic trim piece (The trim piece is attached to the rear portion of the cladding by several pop rivet type fasteners, it is easier to remove the rear section with the wheel well trim piece attached), the nuts are accessible from under the vehicle. (Green Arrows)
Next, use a small socket to push with, come from under the vehicle and push the seven round retainers out, or if you have a clip retainer removal tool, pry the retainers out. (Yellow Arrows)
Finally, the twenty "T" - "A" clips have to be pried from the body using gentle but steady force on the cladding, they will either pop out of the body or come loose from the cladding, if they come loose from the cladding and remain atached to the lower body panel, I found rotating the connector while pulling gently was the easiest way to remove the clips left in. (Blue Arrows)
Installation is the reverse of removal procedures.
Rear Bumper Cover Removal by Tom R.
The rear bumper is held on by (4) Phillips head screws in the wheel well, (White Arrows), (2) Stainless Steel Metal Rivets at the rear corners underneath the bumper, (Blue Arrows), by the (2) step pads, and the round bumper hitch plug cover.
Remove the two screws from each side in the rear wheel well,
Next remove the step pads by prying them up gently, they are in there pretty stout, I used a flat blade scraper/putty knife wrapped in masking tape to prevent scratching the bumped cladding, broke the scraper and had to resort to using a wide bladed flat head screwdriver with a cloth under it,
Next comes the two metal rivets, these are difficult, I had to cut them off with a Dremel tool.
Remove the hitch hole plug cover by prying upwards.
When the bumper cover is loose, open the cover at the wheel well sides and slide it back a little bit, the License Plate illuminators are still attached, you can get enough room to reach down between the bumper and the plastic supports and twist the bulb sockets, they will come right out. The Illuminator housings will still be attached, you can remove them if needed by pressing the tabs from the inside and pushing the Lamp housing outwards.
One note on the rivets... the actual rivets are made out of stainless, I tried to drill it out, but eventually it just spins in the hole, plus it gets hot when trying to drill it out, so hot in fact that the actual bumper cover material starts to melt around the rivet, so when it got hot, I just pulled the cover down, and after the cover was removed, I went back and used my Dremel to cut the rivet off. I even tried using vice grips to hold the rivet so I could finish drilling it out, but the actual black bumper that is underneath the cover is plastic as well, and it melted the same way. I just pulled the rivet out and will use stainless bolts and nuts to refasten it.
The fasteners on the step pads are unreachable from underneath the bumper, so I don't think you can get any squeezing in on the retaining tabs... when I removed my pads, I actually broke off a couple of the retaining tabs, they will still work, but I got plans to reorder another set.
Installation is the reverse of the removal procedures.
