Last week I dropped the ST side skirts off at work to have them wrapped in 3M. Since the Focus is winter driven I didn’t want the countless rocks taking the paint off as they were kicked up by the wheels, so I arranged to have the wrap put on. The ST skirts would also require the removal of the front mud flaps, meaning more crud would be sprayed down the sides of the car. I intend to pick up some aftermarket mud flaps for winter use, once I find a set that I like.
On Friday my co-worker called to say they were done, so I quickly headed down to get them. As soon as I got home I grabbed the tools and started on the swap.
The passenger side was first; with the skirt removed I then had to pop out the clips one by one and the area was wiped down while I had access. I only broke one clip during the whole install, not bad! I had lots of spares so I wasn’t worried.
I had stopped at the car wash on the way home so that I could work on a clean car and better check the paint match. Did I mention it was cold? That’s frozen soap under the side skirt.
The clips were swapped to the new ST skirt and the ST-specific white clip was added.
These little flaps were transferred over as well. They go on the rear of the skirts, and snap into place. Once the passenger skirt was installed I then moved to the driver’s side.
Installing the skirts was pretty easy, the clips snapped into place and the rest were added underneath to hold the bottom in place. When I wrapped up it was pretty late at night so the next day following the auto show I took a few pictures showing the finished product. The car got a little dirty driving around that day, but fortunately it wasn’t too bad considering the weather.
At this point I still have the rear mudflaps on, which will come off at a later date to match the front.
With Yellow Blaze a perfect colour match is likely never going to happen, but I’m pleased with how well the skirts match the paint. The variance changes based on light and the angle at which it’s viewed, just like the bumpers. I reasoned that as long as the difference was the same as or less than that of the bumpers to the body, I’d be okay with it. It is.
Next I need to decide on a plan for the rear valence. Driven is under two months from now so with shipping, prep, paint, and install needing to be accounted for, I’m running out of time.
-Bill