Restoration of inner fender Splash Shield

[TomoHawk]

Ok,

So I've gotten the one inner fender, or "splash shield" as Mr. Humble calls it, off the car and after a couple more cans of brake cleaner, I'll have all the dried-up rubber stuff off.

There are a few cracks in the old thing, so I think I'll put a patch on the backside with some GOOP. I can probably mold a patch for a corner with some heat and a piece from a 2-liter bottle, or is there a better material you can get easily, like at a DIY store? The holes where the attachment bolts go have been enlarged to the size of the bolt heads, so those will need a reinforcement too.

But after I get all the repairs done, do I need to coat the exposed part with something? Probably something flexible with a satin finish. Some black bumper paint maybe?

thxZ

[Zs-ondabrain]

That peice is rarely ever seen. if you paint it, it'll be for your your own personal viewing.

It's plastic, so trying to protect it would be pointless. I did the same with mine, brake cleaner, new bolts and some tire dressing to make it look all pretty and such.

Dave

[TomoHawk]

Oddly, I get a surprising number of people looking in my front wheel wells at the more fancy car shows. Maybe they're expecting some fiberglass parts like a kitcar?

Yes it's plastic, but after so long (FL car) it's gotten slightly inflexible or brittle (especially in the corners and the wheel flange where the clips are.) I gotta handle it with great care while cleaning.

I was thinking of using the same kind of treatment for the rear wheel wells so they match.

thxZ

Edited July 10, 2010 by TomoHawk

[EScanlon]

You can get oversize fender washers in nylon to help hold it in place with the original bolts.

FWIW

E

[TomoHawk]

A trip to the recycle yard and a hole-saw will take care of those. I'm thinking down the road when I will need to remove the forward bolts to change a headlamp.

How should the forward-bottom edge (under the headlamp) attach or seal to the body? I found it hanging down, so it could scoop up dirt or water as you drive.

I'll be installing E's drainage tube on both sides, btw.

thxZ

[MEZZZ]

I have my whole rear suspension out. WHile back there, I cleaned as much of the old crud, (dirt, grease, old undercoating) off that I could. I did this from the driveshaft tunnel to the rear panel.

Then I sprayed it with a Rustoleum product that is basicaly a paint with rubber in it. It dries flat and really cleaned it up, especially the wheel arches. I ran out and had about 2 sq. feet to paint and needed 1 more can. I mistakenly bought their undercoating instead of the rubberized paint (cans look the same). I didnt notice it until (obviously) I started to spray.

Long story short, this stuff went on really nice. Dries hard, a little sheen to it. I went out and bought more and ended up re-doing the entire rear with it.

Sorry for the long story but to your point, the plastic inner fenders on the front. I will use it on them as well. They are out of the car (I rebuilt the front end last fall). It should really clean them up. I think you would like the outcome.Oh, and the stuff is alot cheaper at your local Walmart rather than a part store.

They have 3 products, rubberized paint, undercoating and a truck bed liner, they all look similar (tall cans).

[TomoHawk]

Please tell us exactly what the Rustoleum product is? It might be the same product I used on the sill scuff plates.

Edited July 11, 2010 by TomoHawk

[geezer]

After reading about the Rustoleum product in MEZZZ's post I went to Walmart for only the second time ever. I wanted a durable, flexible, bedliner type coating to use inside my cowl/wiper motor cavity, where I had to repair the rusted out "chimney" and surrounding area. Anyhow, they didn't have any Rustoleum products but did have the same tall cans of the same type of products, undercoating, stone shield and bedliner. These are sold under the name of "Rust Check". I bought 2 cans (467 g each) of the bedliner coating and have done a sample piece to test it out for flexibility, durability and adhesion properties. Claims to give an 8-10 mil thickness with 2 even coats. Additional thickness can be achieved with more coats. It is a Canadian product with a website listed (www.rustcheck.com) and sells for $9.99 plus $1.30 HST a can. Seems reasonable if it pans out. I didn't see the bedliner on their site though, must be new. Anyone used this yet? I thought maybe it might be useful for the purpose of protecting the inner fenders also.

[TomoHawk]

The product I was going to use on my splashguards is the Duplicolor Truck Bedliner TR250 (http://www.duplicolor.com/products/truckbed.html) and you can get it in a 16 oz. spray can, quart & gallon for spray-on, and a roller kit. It has a texture a little leather, goes on somewhat thicker than paint and stays flexible.

Finding it would be the difficult thing. The usual places I have gotten it from before only stock the Rustoleum products now, and the Walmart website doesn't have any automotive products at all.

Edited July 12, 2010 by TomoHawk

[geezer]

That looks to be a good choice. Duplicolor also has the CP 199 Adhesion Promotor, which would be a good idea to use beforehand for covering plastic parts with the bedliner.

[TomoHawk]

If you can spray the Duplicolor stuff on right, You can get it smooth enough to look nice, (the splash guard is too "plastic-looking,") but not rough & runny like undercoating.

And that brings me back to the original question of what should the texture of the inner fender splash gaurds be like? I still lean towards a wrinkle-type finish, but the chevy/hot-rodders insist on a smooth glossy finish (like Chrome. :tapemouth )

Edited July 12, 2010 by TomoHawk

[MEZZZ]

The "paintable" one is what I used first. It went on fairly smooth but had a little texture. It dried pretty flat. I used that under the entire rear of the car after removing the suspension and gas tank (after cleaning, wire wheel and wire brushing)

The "professional" undercoating is the one I bought by mistake. I just grabbed a can late at night at my local Walmart. When I started to spray it, I knew something was wrong, it went on totally different. Thats when I realized I had picked up the wrong product.

After looking at it the next morning though, I liked the look so much I went out and bought more and resprayed all that I had done with the "rubberized" paint. It dried hard and fairly glossy. Maybe I am biased with it because I am comparing it to how the car looked before but it really turned out nice IMO. (the stuff I liked it is the photo on the right, its hard to see the "professional grade" written above corrosion resistant)

Edited July 12, 2010 by MEZZZ