Mark_w

When i recently bought my sapphire cosworth,the only fault i could find with it when on a ramp was that a few of the plastic clips were broken either side that hold the side skirt on.
The owner then produced a brand new bag of genuine ford clips and rivets to renew both sides,so i thought no problem.
Today i decided to replace them and what a shite design they are.I drilled the old rivets out and then rivetted them onto the offside side skirt,which resulted in 2 breaking while doing that.
I then gently pushed the clips onto the sill resulting in another broken clip so i drilled a hole and cable tied it.

I then moved onto the nearside and while drilling the rivets out and rivetting the clips on,i heard another two pings and the clips flying off from the offside i already had done
I broke 3 on the nearside so cable tied them,and at the end of the day i made not much progress
What a shite design they are,very brittle and not up to the job

regards mark

charlie luciano

iTrader: (3)

Yes mate I hear ya, I had a go at replacing these poxy fooking clips on my car and same as you, whilst fitting ones I had already done they started to ping off as I went around the car

They are a crap design and need to be made out of something that has a bit of give and is flexible


Luciano

rapidcossie

i bonded my side skirts on

charlie luciano

iTrader: (3)

very good.................but what happens when you want to get them off


Luciano

JTECH James

iTrader: (13)

i pop riveted an alloy "L "across the bottom of the skirts on the inside so they dont sag

£8 both sides ,job jobbed

Ridgey

iTrader: (5)

I had nearly a full set break, annoying and very expensive

charlie luciano

iTrader: (3)

I hear that too round about a nifty a side iirc, we should put our heads together, make some out of suitable material, sell em and make a few quid



Luciano

foreigneRS

you should have warmed them up with a hot air gun before fitting them

Ridgey

iTrader: (5)

I filed the inside of mine so they were not too tight, so they all fitted but the following few days you find them in bits on the floor. Heating them up is not the complete answer to the problem.

JTECH James

iTrader: (13)

the problem is the sills edge swells up with age/corrosion, and the clips are very brittle

years ago deflex were going to make poly ones ,but then they went tits up

charlie luciano

iTrader: (3)

Agreed heating them softens to fit but once cool brittleness comes back


Luciano

Mark_w

I have just found the bill and the previous owner paid £89.99 on ebay for these genuine ford items Heating them up will not do anything as i left them in the sun for a hour before fitting.
There is no rust on my sills either and they are like new,so thats not the problem,although the filing out sounds ok,they are still to brittle as the force of the pop rivetter closing snapped a few of them

I have already thought of making L shaped brackets from stainless but its going to be awkward on how they fit onto the sill lip,but will have a look another day

But take this as a warning,do not pay £90 for the kits on ebay as you may be disapointed

regards mark

Karl 3dr

iTrader: (9)

I also have been ther, done that etc....

I've had 2 sets now and i've tried everything mentioned here, heating them up, filing the gap bigger, etc, 1 of them pinged off and hit me in the eye!!

Now decided i'm gonna make my own either from ally or stainless.

They are shit!!

tabetha

Just use 1/2" wide 18 GUAGE(1.2mm) stainless to make some brackets.
tabetha

foreigneRS

leaving them in the sun is hardly the same as heating them with a hot air gun, which does help to fit them, although as mentioned they will go brittle again once cooled. not a problem though if you rivet them to the skirt first and then fit to sill.

still break easily if the sill skirt is hit by anything though

Turbosystems

iTrader: (5)

drilling holes in your car and pop riveting with ally rivets will cause corrosion