Ok, so I thought this might make a nice DIY since I've seen a number of people here express interest in getting some aftermarket door sill covers to protect their Fit's sills, which are just the bare paint and really susceptible to getting scratched it seems. There are a few varieties of sills being sold by the vendors here and other places -- Mugen, Mugen knock-offs, JDM Honda, Last Station, etc. All are pretty much the same thing -- flat panels that are stuck on with some kind of adhesive tape/backing. This is good because with a little effort you can apply them yourself and save some money, which is what I did. Here's how to apply them:
**** STANDARD DISCLAIMER -- neither I nor FitFreak.net is responsible for any damage you do to your car following this DIY. While the install is not difficult, you can botch it if you're not careful, so be forewarned now. If after reading this you don't feel confident enough to install these yourself, by all means go to a dealer/professional installer to have it done. It's money well spent compared to doing an F'd up job. That having been said, let's get going!
** Please read all the steps below thoroughly first before starting to apply your door sills. It pays to know in advance what the next step is so you don't get confused once you start and blow the install.
ITEMS YOU'LL NEED
- 1 set of door sills (I bought the JDM Honda ones b/c they're JDM and made for the car, any adhesive backed sills are fine though)
- clean, damp rag to wipe off the car's door sills
- another clean rag to wipe the door sill area w/ alcohol
- bottle of rubbing alcohol to use to degrease the sill area. Don't use anything stronger or you risk damaging the paint, you've been warned.
- felt pen (optional) to mark the sill area to help align the door sills when applying. Make sure you can wipe it off when you're done. Use at your own discretion.
INSTALL
1. Ok, as you can see here, the door sill area gets pretty dirty with everyday use, thus the need to do some quick cleaning before applying your new sills. Be warned, if you skip this step and just stick them on, you may end up regretting it later when they start to pull up from the dirt/oil/etc not allowing the adhesive to stick properly and strongly. It only takes a minute or two to clean the sill, so it's time well spent.
2. First, wipe down the sill area with a water dampened rag like this. Make sure you get all the dirt/dust/ etc that's there, or like I said above, your sills won't stick as well as they should.
3. Next pour some rubbing alcohol onto a clean rag and wipe the sill area down again like above. This gets rid of the oil/grease/grime and leaves the paint really clean so the door sill's adhesive grips as best as it can. Be careful not to touch the cleaned area with your fingers or another dirty rag, or you'll have to clean it all over again.
4. Take the door sill that was made for the door that you're working on and test fit it to see where you want to apply it and how it fits/lines up. DON'T take the backing off just yet, or you'll be stuck (literally) with the sill maybe where you didn't plan it to be. Anyway, just lay it on the sill area and move it around 'till it looks right to you and balanced in the space. Once you have it where you like it, you can use your felt pen to put just a small dot on the car where the front end of the sill is so you can line it up again when you go to apply it for real. DON'T draw a line around the sill because it's not necessary and if you can't clean off all the ink you'll end up with that line around the sill forever, which looks like crap -- you only need a tiny dot. I personally didn't use a pen when I did my sills, but I mention it for those who may need a guide when applying their sills so they line up. Again, use at your own discretion!
5. Here's a photo of the back of the sill. It's just paper over the adhesive like any sticker you've ever seen/used since you were a kid. Be careful though, as the glue on these things is not like any glue on other stickers. It's REALLY strong, and once stuck you ain't getting it off without a fight or damage to your paint, perhaps. Caution is the word of the day with this stuff, so take your time with the next steps of the install. You've been warned!
6. Peel back about 1"-2" of the backing off of the door sill, like above. DO NOT peel it all off or you're screwed, just an inch or so is all that's needed.
7. Next, take the tab you just pulled back and fold it at a right angle to the side of the sill that's AWAY FROM THE CAR, thinking as if the sill were installed. See the above pic.
8. CAREFULLY lay the sill in place and line it up in the sill area so it looks like when you placed it there originally to test fit it. If you used a dot, then line the edge back up with the dot to get it where you had it before. DO NOT PRESS ON THE SILL YET WHERE THE BARE ADHESIVE PART IS, OR YOU MAY END UP WITH A MIS-STUCK SILL! Only once you are TRULY satisfied with the placement of your sill, should you then press on the adhesive part to start applying the sill. I cannot stress this enough -- only stick it once it's where it needs to be, and do so carefully so as not to upset the alignment of your sill on the sill area. If you don't follow this advice then you'll screw the pooch, and good-bye Mary to that nice professional-looking install you dreamed of. Honestly, be careful!
9. Ok, we're in the home stretch now! As in the photo, while holding down the sill so it doesn't move, CAREFULLY pull the backing out and away from the sill area about 1"-2" at a time, then press down the newly exposed adhesive part to the sill area. Continue to remove the backing in this way until you've reached the end and it's all off and the sill is all stuck in place. Once you've got it all off, Congratulations!, the hard part is over and you can relax and breathe easy. Another word of caution, though -- DON'T just yank the backing away in one shot, or you risk pulling your sill out of alignment and getting it mis-stuck where you didn't plan on. You do this and again, bye-bye pro install.
10. Now the easy part -- using the shiny side of the paper backing you just removed, firmly press and rub it back and forth over the whole length of the sill like in the photo above. Using the shiny side insures that you don't scratch the sill or paint, and also lets you apply a lot of pressure while rubbing to insure that the adhesive is well stuck and in contact with the sill area under the sill appliqué. Once you feel you've rubbed enough, you're done! Not too bad, huh?
11. Step back and admire your work and newly installed sill. Looks good, doesn't it? And you did it all yourself! Go back to step 2 and repeat for the other 3 sills, and once that's done you've finished the lot. All told, it took me about 30 mins to do, and that was even taking pictures while doing it. Sweet!
