Painted Rocker Panels

Seen a couple like this, matter of preference. 13's have it, 05-09 GT's only had it.

I kind of like the black breaks up the body color, and from years of touch up nice to not worry about chips.

yeah the black on the bottom helps hide how tall this car is.

I like it. I did it at a body shop when an idiot side swiped my car. It was worth about six hundred dollars I think. I think it looks great:bigthumbsup Makes the car look lower and more upscale I think. And it pronunces the lines more.

I like it but I think it wouldn't matter much on black.

I think just painting the rocker panel looks foolish. I think the black plastic looks best on black cars, as it accents it with the matte style. I would do body color on almost any other color though, and I would do it all the way around, not just the sides...:nono:

I was thinking of going all the way around but I would have had to pay extra for that and I didn't want to do my front all silver because I wanted the contrast, and I couldn't do just the back all silver and leave the front white cause than that would look weird. Either way the painted rockers look better than unpainted regardless and a lot of cars have the painted sides but not the front and back. It makes the car look longer from the side and shorter from the fat back where it needs it with it staying black. When I get a gt500 rear diffuser I'm gonna paint it silver around the diffuser and leave the middle with the indents black and when I get a boss 302 lower fascia ill paint that silver and finish the look all around.

I didn't want to pay the extra money on stock parts that ill eventually change out. The rockers I won't ever change out and I got them done for free so why not? The front and back I would have had to pay for and i would rather paint the aforementioned parts rather than my stock stuff. A lot of people have looked at it because my car is the only 2012 with the painted rockers I've seen and for free it definetly provides a positive impact in the look of the car as is even IMO. Here's another pic of my car next to my friends 5.0 without them painted


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You can get a rear fascia from stage3motorsports i believe that they paint to your color. Or CariD i cant remember. I believe LMR has the side rockers in a smooth finish so you can paint them to match the body...think about 225 each tho. Itll add up with paint, but it will look lower and give it a nice bodykit

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I think it looks fine either way. Whether it makes the car look fat is irrelevant. Either the car is a fatty or it's not. Paint won't change that. The main reason I don't like the idea of painted side skirts is the rock chip factor. I suppose there are methods they can use to toughen it up so this might not be a problem.

I say go for it.

I personally like it better with the black plastic, especially on the lighter colors as it does make the side of the car look fat.

Hehehe...the side of the car IS fat! :shigrin

i jsut wrapped mine with carbon fiber and it looks great with my carbon fiber hood

V6 Cannonballer said:

Hehehe...the side of the car IS fat! :shigrin

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I know what you mean. Can't you just hear your car saying this: 'Does thse newly painted body color rocker panels make my side look fat?" :gringreen

Blaseleblanc said:

I think just painting the rocker panel looks foolish. I think the black plastic looks best on black cars, as it accents it with the matte style. I would do body color on almost any other color though, and I would do it all the way around, not just the sides...:nono:

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I have to disagree. Painting the rockers on Powerwhee's car has done two things in my opinion. It's made the car look less cheap. Lot's of cross model plastic = cheap production planning in my eye. Secondly, it made the center of the car look thicker, or taller which is good, but leaving the rear end alone has made that part look thinner. The two together give it a more balanced look. This is how they should have come from the factory.

Tim

For a daily driver I'd leave them matte black. I was detailing the car and there are already some knicks in the plastic. If I'd painted them and now had plastic showing through I'd feel ill...

Ehh that depend's as you just said there are knicks in the plastic so if you get a knick you'll get one. but driving for about 2 months now I haven't seen any sort of rock chip's in the rocker panels. and they treat it with some kind of clear coat that is resistant to rock chips and all that stuff. when i touch the rockers they feel like they have an invisible barrier of wax on them at all times. i dont know, im not to knowledgeable on the technical aspects of painting. but it is supposedly hard to color match the rocker panels with the silver and any bright color so be sure to go to a good body shop to do it.

mine came out great for free but i dont think i would have ever been able to pay 600-800 dollars for them. alot of people do like them though, i notice stares from other 2011-12 v6 owners, because let's face it black plastic all around IS a sign of cost cutting. a black panel painted body color wasn't because it would make the car look fat if it was painted, it was because they didn't want to paint it and incur additional fees that didn't need to be incurred. very few cars still have black surrounds instead of body color. on top of the "black" turning grey very quickly and than it just looked very cheap. this is actually easier to maintain because the rockers stay silver they don't go from ok looking black to cheap and faded grey in like 2 days. than you have to bust the armor all out again and i still have to live with that in the back fascia

If you get some good mudflaps I don't think you would have as much of a problem. I haven't seen a black car with them yet so if anyone has any pics post it if you can!

I like the contrast.. my cars theme is black and blue so it goes with it. I like not worrying about chips with going to the track and what not.. and also I think the car looks taller with the rockers painted.

also if I painted the side moldings, id have to paint the chin spoiler and gt500 diffuser.. idk not my cup of tea. I like the way it looks in matte form.

Your car's theme looks amazing bluebyu. I feel like because of your theme the black rocker's are okay, but mine looked worse with the rockers IMO. And I don't think the black rocker's being grabber blue would hurt your theme either honestly IMO

Yeah if you sand down your rockers, spray them with adhesion promoter/primer then paint them (2 coats base), and do like 1 light coat, and 3 heavy coats of clear they should stand up pretty well to chipping, no more or less than the rest of the car. (enamel not lacquer paint).

I am doing mine in the spring when I paint my car after I do the FI.