They don't need to come off, but they should. Buy a panel remover kit to get the plastic clips off. Plan on getting all new clips. You can pop the door side of the clip, just don't wanna break the panel side that holds the clip. I don't recommend cheap tools generally, but Harbor freight has a panel remover kit for next to nothing.

http://m.harborfreight.com/5-piece-auto-trim-and-molding-tool-set-67021.html

http://m.harborfreight.com/6-piece-panel-trim-removal-tool-set-66188.html

When painting off the car, the plastics should be painted in the same orientation that they hang on the car. So they should be hung in a manner that simulates being installed or there about for paint. Don't want the paint to lay down different than the door or you will see it clear as day when you reassemble.

Good luck.

And sharpen a long flat blade screw driver. If they don't wanna pop out you can slap them with the driver a couple times, rubber mallet. Shouldn't give you too much fuss unless the car has been in the garage it's whole life. Stupid sun!

Edit: keep a spray bottle near, If painting in a garage or shop and not a booth. Spray the floor down occasionally, keep the dust from migrating. If you get anything in the paint, nib it out and fix before the clear.

Be prepared to find some rusty rockers as most 2Gs that have never had the skirts off surely developed rust underneath. Best thing to do in that case is to cut the rust out and weld or cut it out and POR 15 everything and paint over it. Fairly easy to pull them off once you get the first couple of clips off. Good luck.

Panel clip part # MB696120. I got a pack of 20 off eBay for $5 shipped. Just had to wait a couple weeks since they came from China.

Thank you everyone for your input )) I will be painting in the garage, but I have some experience painting. I just have never painted an ENTIRE CAR instead of just parts. But I appreciate your wisdom. Lots of good points. And a trip to harbor freight coming up soon!!

PlanZero said:

Panel clip part # MB696120. I got a pack of 20 off eBay for $5 shipped. Just had to wait a couple weeks since they came from China.

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Just bought some myself. Thanks for the part number, very handy!!

My car project proceeds. Dents fixed, body stripped down. Damn I didn't realize how much work this would be And I haven't even gotten into stripping the main car, although the body is in fantastic shape so very little rot to fix.

Make sure you mask your trim when sanding. Looks pretty good, all and all. Fun stuff. What paint are you going to use?

StevetotheH said:

Make sure you mask your trim when sanding. Looks pretty good, all and all. Fun stuff. What paint are you going to use?

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The car is going to be the same color that the Subaru WRX's often come in which is called "World Rally Blue Pearl". I think its going to look sick

Tomorrow the project continues, hopefully by the weekend we'll have shot all the paint. Sand blasting and sanding all day tomorrow.

Be carefull sand blasting it can warp the metal from the heat. I am a body man and when I do complete I pull everything off even cut the 1/4 glass out paint the jams ect.

There are attachments for a pressure washer that would turn it into a media blaster. It's an option if you are worried about warping. No dust is also a good thing.
Here's an example: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_8520_8520

Got the car torn down to basically nothing The only rust on this car was found under the passenger door and under the hatch on the back where the water drains out in the middle. Had to weld in some new steel there and blasted and then sealed up the passenger door. Almost time for paint. Fun project just never thought it would take as long as it is taking!! No wonder the body shop wanted 6000-8000 dollars for this job. My brother and I have 5 full days into it and we haven't even shot paint yet.

^^^^I find all my projects like this turn from 'I get to do it' to 'I have to do it'. It gets fun again on the reassembly.

Have you gotten a beater hood to do some testing? If not I would highly recommend doing so. Spray it just like you would the car, clear and all. Two bird kinda thing, you can practice wet sanding on this as well before taking it to the car.

I highly recommend you watch the Eastwood videos presented by Kevin Tetz on youtube. lots of good tips and tricks to get the job done right!

It's a long process, take your time because it's all about building up too that final finish. Would love too see pics when finished!

Just take your time prepping and buy extra panel clips and you'll be golden

Project continues again after taking some time off to build a database for a client. Damn side work takes my time, but is also what funds these eclipses

Next we'll put the doors back on and then roll it outside and sand it down. I think its going to be sick sexy when its done. This color is amazing.

You're right about that color, man. It looks great so far!

I used to have a WRX with that paint color, can't wait to see the finished thing on your dsm

So far lookin good, what brand of paint are you using? And what clear?

While you have the trim off do yourself a favor and spray all the black parts like the window trims and whatnot. I used a red scotch brite on mine then coated them with vynal and fabric spray paint when I sprayed my car about 4 years ago and it still looks great.

Almost a full year later my car is repainted and put back together. Some of these pics were in another thread, but I'm still proud of the work I did. I think I have a solid 20-25 days into this paint job between the tear down, rust removal, weld in new steel, painting, and then putting it all back together again.





Only thing left to do is to put the lower trim on now that I finished sanding it last night and put the rear brake lights in.

I will say its a huge learning experience. I enjoyed it. Getting ready to fix a Spyder GST that had a rear quarter panel crash. Going to turn that a candy orange

BTW this is the original car before I worked on it

Not sure if you mentioned it, but what brand of paint and sprayer did you use? I'm considering painting my (now gf's) Tsi when I move to my new house with a much bigger garage. She works at home depot so I was looking at some Husky sprayers.