Rock Protection - Wheel Wells

[Gumball]

There seems to be as many methods of protecting the insides of wheel wells from rocks as there builds. My concern is that with the sticky tires that I'm using, I will likely be throwing some rocks at the inside of the fiberglass with considerable force. Just as an added protection from "stars" in the paint made by those flying rocks (over the usual bed liner), I have added some closed-cell foam.

I used black neoprene yoga mat material from Wal-Mart and 3M General Trim Adhesive (Part No. 08088) that is heat and moisture resistant. I will follow-up with some bedliner for the rest of the wheel wells, particularly in the area around the front at and below the headlamps.

After trimming to fit, I cleaned the material well with preps-all (grease and oil remover) and a thorough bath with hot water and Dawn dishwasher detergent. Once they were dry, the side that was being glued to the body received a scuffing with 80 grit sand paper to take the top, shiny layer of rubber off. I applied two coats of the adhesive to the mats and the body and pressed them in place using a roller once they had tacked-up.

Here are a couple of photos:

Rear:



Front:

[Jeff Kleiner]

Nicely done Chris! Do you have any plans for rear fender spats? After I started running stickies the sandblasting effect took it's toll in 2 locations; the front two tubes of the sidepipes and the flare in front of the rear wheels. Blasted through the ceramic coating down to bare metal on the pipes and thru the gelcoat to fiberglass on the flares! I put a set of FFR carbon fiber spats on the body 4 or 5 years ago and they are standing up to the abuse (for the pipes I just hit the fronts with BBQ black a couple or 3 times a year). The CF ones wouldn't really be appropriate for yours but stainless or even leather would---your paint is too pretty to let it get pocked up

Jeff

[Gumball]

Do you have any plans for rear fender spats? The CF ones wouldn't really be appropriate for yours but stainless or even leather would---your paint is too pretty to let it get pocked up

Jeff

Hey Jeff - thanks for the compliment.

Yes, my car has spats. I used the aluminum ones that Brian A. was making a few years ago. A friend once told me to always buy something when I find it... not when I need it... and that turned out to be a good idea as I don't think these are available anymore. At least, not specifically for the Mk 3 bodies. I cut them down a bit, though, so I expect a bit of "patina" from that sandblasting effect.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Well, there ya' go! You're already on it!

Jeff

[Al_C]

You know, you could just avoid crappy roads...

[Gumball]

You know, you could just avoid crappy roads...

No way... I live in Illinois - that's all we have.

[Gumball]

Today was a fun day... spent it on my back having black goo drip on me.

I used Dupli-Color Bed Armor to cover the remaining exposed area inside the wheel wells. I marked the location of the splash guards, then removed them and taped everything off. It actually wasn't too hard to apply, but I did have to use a brush instead of a roller as I wanted better control of how much went on with each coat. Two fairly thick coats and it was done - but total time was about six hours with all the taping, scuffing, applying, and cleaning.

One of the nice things about the Dupli-Color stuff is that it cleans up with water, so the few drips that made it past my tape to the paint wiped off easily.



This shot shows the outer edge of the neoprene pad that is in the top of the wheel well - I used the bedliner to seal the edges of the pad for added protection.