Topic: Fixing / glueing side skirt on Mazda 3

[Slow_lane]

A bit of a silly question I will admit.

One of the side skirts on my Mazda 3 has been removed a couple times during some repairs that were done. It seems that the plastic side skirt has become deformed a bit with all the pulling and prodding. The clips are all attached but it does not sit flush along the side. It drives me nuts.

If I apply some pressure to the skirt it will sit flush. I was thinking about using duct tape to pull it flush and apply a neat bead of white exterior caulking along the edge to hide the gap and adhere it flush to body. Not sure if caulking will have the strength to stop the skirt from popping out again.

Not sure what kind of caulking to get.

Anyone think this might work.

[mrthompson]

White silicone window & door caulking, perhaps?

[bridgecity]

I would get new fasteners and try that first. Maybe they are stretched out from past removal. Fresh ones might home the trim in tighter.

[HeliDriver]

You can buy it at Cdn. Tire.

[KD]

^  This! 

Don't use caulking! 

[rrocket]

And before putting the tape on, make sure everything is really clean.

[Slow_lane]

The last guy to do some rust repair / painting said that buying new clips would not do any good as it seems the side skirt itself is malformed. Most likely from being mucked about with so much.

Not sure how tape would work. The top edge of side skirt is about 1/8 inch thick (or less). Not a lot of surface area to adhere to. Maybe I will take my chances with caulking or just forget the whole thing.

Thanks for your input

[HeliDriver]

Fix it properly, leave it as-is, or just take them off completely. But don't go ghetto with the caulking! 

[rrocket]

The last guy to do some rust repair / painting said that buying new clips would not do any good as it seems the side skirt itself is malformed. Most likely from being mucked about with so much.

Not sure how tape would work. The top edge of side skirt is about 1/8 inch thick (or less). Not a lot of surface area to adhere to. Maybe I will take my chances with caulking or just forget the whole thing.

Thanks for your input

The tape is extremely strong.  You just have to make sure both surfaces are very clean.

[johngenx]

The tape is extremely RIDICULOUSLY strong.  You just have to make sure both surfaces are very clean.

Did a repair on the neighbour's kid's beater with that stuff, and holy crap, does it work!  His lip spoiler "mysteriously came undone" (ie he curbed it) and his Dad bought that tape and it's still going strong about a year later and gawd only knows how much more abuse.  I helped with the repair and thought "oh, that'll last two minutes."  I wuz wrong.

[HeliDriver]

I'm a real 3M slappie - they make awesome stuff.

I have a giant roll of 3M VHB tape (Very High Bond, which is probably similar to this stuff) that I use for all kinds of repairs and projects, and it's never let me down yet. I also have a roll of 3M polyurethane protective tape that has a million and one uses. Both are fantastic products.

[Firm]

I'm a real 3M slappie - they make awesome stuff.

I have a giant roll of 3M VHB tape (Very High Bond, which is probably similar to this stuff) that I use for all kinds of repairs and projects, and it's never let me down yet. I also have a roll of 3M polyurethane protective tape that has a million and one uses. Both are fantastic products.

I agree. I am yet to be disappointed by a 3M product.

I'd try the tape first....like Ron said clean both surfaces extremely well first - use acetone or something similar to remove any grease/wax. If the edge is too thin to tape you may need to remove the entire skirt and fabricate some rubber blocks that you can then glue (Gorilla Glue) to the backside of the skirt....Then use the tape to tape the blocks (and skirt) to the car.