Molding options when doing S4 sides...

[audiFUEGO]

I know this topic has been beat to death but I searched and only came up with a few threads worth anything, and maybe 5 useful pictures... so here it is.

I want to install S4 skirts... but I'm unsure about what can be done with the moldings.

Can I keep the A4 moldings or do I NEED to get the S4 moldings for the skirts to fit?

If I was to shave the moldings, obviously I would shave everything from front to back... I'm guessing the doors can be repainted from the middle bumper down, but what about the fenders? Does everyone repaint the entire front and rear fenders just to shave those tiny pieces?

If someone who has shaved theirs could give some insight as to how much time the prepping would take (I plan to prep myself) and also what is involved...

Thanks!

[A4 Effort]

From what i've seen, you can use the regular A4 side-mouldings with the S4 skirts. Not sure if you need to shave them any, so maybe someone else could chime in

[20A4Audi1.8t01]

Yes as I have done and biketsai you just trim the rubber lower mouldings, doesnt look too bad. I may shave them later down the road if I really care that much.

Im sure biketsai will chime in with pics from his install, he did a real clean job!

whosandy shaved his own mouldings on his B5 might wanna hit him up

[bbkid43]

yes there is some trimming that you need to do if you intend to use a4 molding with s4 skirts. My moldings were falling off so when i installed my s4 skirts, I shaved my moldings as well.

First off, if you decide to shave the moldings, the s4 skirts will not match up perfectly to the body. There will be some parts where the door sills are still visible because they would have been covered up by the lower moldings. You also need to cut off tabs on each end of the skirts. To get the skirts to fit the body better, I used plastic body filler to extend certain parts. As for the doors, you need to shave the 7 metal pins on each door. this is very easy to do with a dremel. Next there is 5 holes in the doors that need to be WELDED up.

For the paint, I had the body shop paint from the middle door moldings down and had the sections of the fender and rear quarter blended in.

Here's a recent pic of how they turned out on my car....Winter mode sucks

[biketsai]

Your lucky you have a black car. We can just trim. I'll post some pics later. Or just IM me
-chris

[20A4Audi1.8t01]

looks pretty clean bbkid!

[audiFUEGO]

Thanks for the info everyone..

Chris if you could post some pics of yours that be great... you didn't shave yours completely right? I really want to shave it since imo it looks the cleanest but if there is a huge difference in the amount of work involved between shaving and not shaving I may just keep them...

If i do keep the A4 moldings, i just have to trim off a little bit from the bottom of the moldings?

[20A4Audi1.8t01]

If i do keep the A4 moldings, i just have to trim off a little bit from the bottom of the moldings?

Correct!

[dubbin.t.rex]

bbkid43 do you have any frontal pictures of that molded a4 front bumper? I think I might do that when I graduate, sorry to thread jack

Just to clear stuff up if you install S4 door blades there is only trimming on the side skirts right?

[Lazer Viking]

i just trimmed my a4 molding when i put mine on, im going to shave them off soon

[audiFUEGO]

I'm guessing you trim off the bottom? What do you use, a razor? Do you remove the molding first or trim it while its on the car? How much trimming is needed?

[michael66899]

Just wanted to bump this thread for more pics and info. I'm getting some S4 skirts and really want to shave the middle and lower door molding. I got hit pretty lightly on my drivers side right where the doors meet so insurance is taking care of it, but I think I'll just pay the difference to have them paint from there down on each door. I can do all the prep work myself so it shouldn't be too expensive. And hey bbkid43 how much did they charge you for the paint work? any pics of your prep work? And how come you didn't shave the middle molding as well?

[A4Rob]

Shave your moldings and use a black 3m trim to stick on the bottoms of the doors. I did that and it looked just fine.

[iwearpro]

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/ext47.shtml

Here is a lil write up on doing this...I dont know if anyone needs it or not but I found it helpfull..

[rocky.ca]

i got s4 lower door mouldings for cheap so i went that route. Out the door i had a complete set of oem skirts, lower door mouldings and hardware for 650 canadian had them installed and painted for another 500 bucks, insurance paid for everything so im not complaining

[biketsai]

Since you have a black car just do what we did to cut the length of the molding. I'll be on AIM later so I'll send you some pics. Looks flawless