I was debating whether to put this here or in the detailing forum, but I hardly ever read the detailing forum and I don't really know those people. So, YOU GUYS get to say to yourselves "Aw geez! Not another stupid Reverend Sam thread."

I'm trying to make my car extra pretty, so I decided to try to blacken my wheel well liners. In the past I've sprayed them with the tire blackening type stuff that seems to work for a few days, but it doesn't last. So this time I took a different approach and just removed the liners altogether. They are very simple to remove; you just jack up the car, remove the wheel, and there are a few different types of fasteners around the edge of the liner that you remove. Once those are out the liner pops right out with a little bit of bending and twisting.

Here is the stuff I chose to use. It's made by Duplicolor and it's designed to be used in areas like the wheel wells where there will be lots of water spray and stuff.



And here is what my liner looked like before. This is AFTER I scrubbed it with a scrub brush and a solution of trisodium phosphate. Before I cleaned it it looked especially ratty.



After cleaning it really well I took it out back into the woods because I didn't want to get the spray-on coating on anything (hence the leaves in the picture). After spraying it with the coating and allowing it to dry, this is what it looked like!



And here's a closeup. The Duplicolor stuff is very thick and rubbery and it dries to a coarse texture. I'm going to let it dry for another week or so before I try spraying it with water or cleaning it. I don't want to cause it to come off prematurely. But I think it looks great! It really darkens the wheel well to make the shiny wheels stand out.

 

Looks great Sam

Those liners married up with clean shiny wheels, painted hubs / calipers on a clean car will all help to make her stand out even more from the crowd

 

It turns out my caliper paint job isn't holding up like I had hoped. I just bought myself some cheap caliper covers just to see how they look (they were only $20). If the caliper covers look the least bit cheesy or cheap then I'm going to remove the calipers altogether, take them apart, remove all of the existing paint with a sandblaster, and then powder coat them. Harbor Freight has a powder coating system for only $70, and with a 20% coupon that's in the back of every car magazine I could get it for only $56. The powder is only $4, so for about $60 I could powder-coat my own calipers.

Speaking of shiny wheels, however, that's on my list, too. My current wheels all have a little bit of curb rash on them. I found a few threads on here about repainting the wheels, and I'll be tackling that some weekend in the near future. Plus, the ding remover dude is supposed to be coming to get rid of the two tiny dings later this week! I can't wait. They didn't bug me at first, but the longer I've owned the car the more they nag at me.

 

Will your wife's cakes taste good after you use her oven?

On repainting wheels": I would think Duplicolor would have a special wheel paint and a matching clear coat. My other car's wheels are painted with a mixture of heavy silver (aluminum) and black metallic. They were professionally refinished with a touch up gun while on the car (masked off.)

 

I'd love to be able to touch them up, but I don't think I'd ever be able to get the paint to match exactly. And that's unfortunate because I love the color. There are a few other threads where people fixed the rash with JB Weld, sanded the entire wheel, and repainted with Duplicolor wheel paint. I might go that route, although I don't think any of the rash is deep enough to warrant the JB Weld.

 

Rev, you know I was going to do this exact job when I had my suspension all torn apart...at my sister's house (they had a bigger garage and air tools) figured might as well since the wheels were off the car at the same time. I even got as far as cleaning them up with an industrial cleaner and a power washer. Got them dried up and ready to spray, went to my box o'stuff where I had packed all my chemicals, grabbed the can, and sprayed... upholstery glue. Yup, grabbed the wrong can. So, put the old ones back on, and saved it for another day. Maybe next weekend.

BTW, you did re-coat your rears too, right? Taping up the fender edge is the only PITA, but it looks good when youre done, and cleans dirt off much easier after. I also add the foam tire dressing after a good detail for a little extra blackness.

 

Sam - are these dings in the body? If they are, I'd like to know how this job turns out. I've got the same thing bugging me as well, one ding in the bonnet and one on the boot, right where somebody would inadvertently slam it down if they didn't know you can just let it drop from a short distance (I just love this car). You can only see them if the sun is right, hence it just bugs me.

 

I'll probably do them later this afternoon. It's been such a nice day here I had to take the car for a drive. I didn't want to mess with tape, so I just pulled the fender liners out. But that reminds me, I think I figured out a good way to spray my convertible top with protectant. I'm just going to open the top slightly, put lay the plastic film over the windshield, and then close the top. I'll do the same with the windows, I'll just roll them up on the plastic film. Then all I have to tape off is the rear window and trunk lid.

I have one ding right in the middle of the hood (bonnet). It also has a little scratch in it, but it isn't creased. The other ding is a tiny, tiny little ding on the left rear fender, just above and slightly behind the wheel well. It's barely noticeable, but it still bugs me.

 

I've heard a number of Forum members say they've got a few dings on their cars--and it obviously bothers them. If you have one of the late model aluminum bodies, I assume you'll have more dings (than steel.)

Most new car dealerships have ex-body shop guys coming in one day a week doing
dentless dent repairs--mostly on used cars. If you know someone at your local car dealership, they can tell you who to contact and when they're in the area. Some of these guys do remarkable work--some better than others.

Dent Doctors often travel to other states/locations for weeks on end when they have tornadoes, hurricanes and hail damage--fixing used cars.

My Ford dealership has another traveling body shop guy coming around doing bumper cover repairs and paint touch up's. He bondos cut bumper covers, and shoots excellent paint out on the back lot. Your local body shop may be very hesitant to admit these guys exist--trying to hold you up to paint full fenders, etc. for relatively small scratches.

 

As quoted by Bamaman
These guys do exist. but the quality may not. All they care about is the looks of the car on the lot, not if the paint job will last. They may not do the prep work properly for the paint to adhere. That's why you will see a lot of cars with flaking paint six months later. They know that once that car is sold there is no guarantee.
A reputable Body Shop will guarantee their work.
Doug
2001 XKR Silverstone

 

The fender liners are always polyethylene or polypropylene which defy adhesion to virtually all coatings. You need to flame abrade the surface very lightly with a butane torch prior to coating (keep flame and coating steps VERY distant). Position the torch about 3-4" from the part and basically give it a very light dusting, almost as if you were applying a light primer coat of paint. This will activate the surface and help it adhere to most paints. This is the same type of plastic used on bumpers so the "bumper black" paints should adhere better than most. There are also adhesion promoting primers available at body shops, but I have found their performance varies.

I had real good luck with paintless ding repair on my XK8. They cant work miracles but if the paint is still there and not directly opposite an attachment bracket it is amazing.

 

very informative thenaz007, thanks for sharing. Though I don't have a torch to 'prep' the liner, I'll probably just opt for a quick sanding of the surface, maybe take a steel wool to the corners and valleys. Then a pre-paint wipe (have a few extra from a kit I bought) and then spray the rubber on.

 

If you do it, just wipe it down with lacquer thinner and paint. The thinner will clean and slightly dissolve the very upper surface for a good prep. I just use a stuff called "Black Wow" I got from a Mini Cooper parts supplier (Mini Mania). Rubbing this stuff on is easy and it lasts a long time. It is pretty pricey but a little goes a long way. I use this stuff on all my cars and bikes, it is almost like paint except it sia very concentrated silicone like material. The spray undercoat is slightly tacky and attracts dirt, so it won't stay real black real long. When it does get dirty, it is the devil to remove.

 

LOL! I discovered that the rear wheel wells don't have liners. No wonder h20boy was explaining about masking things off.

I hate masking things.

 

Reverend, I'm curious how the rubber coating on the front liners held up when you had to flex/bend the liner to get it installed again. did it crack or pull away from the plastic?

 

Not at all. And I haven't washed the car since I reinstalled the liners, but the spray on stuff seems to be holding up well so far. It isn't peeling or flaking. I'll wash the liners in the next day or two and let you know how it is holding up.

 

Hey , I like your threads Sam , those are very informative . You're a mighty Sam ,kudos to you

 

I am jealous of what is - if we are honest - a stupendously nerdy project When I first saw your post, I though "nah, I could never be bothered to do that", but I've been thinking about it all morning and now I want to do mine, too! I just washed my car and couldn't stop looking at the cruddy liners

In all my years on car enthusiasts' forums, I think this has only been beaten by a guy on a BMW board who removed the tyres on his 5 Series twice a year to clean inside the wheel rims.

Keep up the good work, Rev

P.S. I never wander away from this section, either, so well done for posting it here.

 

I don't know if this applies here but in the past on my classic car projects you would dye plastic and vinyl parts. The prep materials were different but the dye was applied the same way as spray paint. If done correctly you could take a vinyl covered seat that was not torn and had good bolsters and foam and dye it to look brand new. Same with the plastic trim parts. And the stuff would hold up forever! I think Eastwood sells a line of dyes I know most classic car supply houses have it.

 

OK Rev....now its time to jack her up and start polishing the undercarriage . Here is some inspiration:

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