Detailing Inner fender wells???????

[Jack]

I use a 50/50 mix of simple green and water. If there's tar splashed up there use some WD-40 to get that off first. For a little extra gloss, shoot a little amour all on a towel and wipe it down to finish up.

Jack Janney
'97 RT10

 

[Jeff Torrey]

I use Meguire's tire Gel- satin finish on both sides. Works well for me.

 

[speedshftr]

clean them with soap and water and rag.then shoot formula 2000 all over and rub it in.it looks new when done but it will pick up dirt very easy/at least your tryin though

 

[Matt M PA]

I soak both front and rear wheelhouses with spray glass cleaner, and wipe them with a towell. They can then be "dressed" with Zaino tire dressing. I have also used Protectant 303 in this area. Bear in mind that they may attract dust a bit more than before. Avoid any use of Armor-All (Harm It All) or any other protectant with silicone; it's bad for them. I would finally suggest against putting any type of a dressing on the back side of the hood.

 

[Gerald]

WD-40

 

[Snake Bitten]

<FONT size="5">POSERS!</FONT s>

<FONT size="1">Zaino tire dressing works awesome on all black plastic!</FONT s>

 

[GTS Dean]

Full strength Simple Green. Spray on a damp surface, scrub with a medium-stiff brush, hose off. Repeat if desired.

Scrubbing bubbles sound interesting. Someday, maybe.

 

[opnwide]

Just put my car in the Austin Custom Car and Hot Rod Show Jan 3,4,5 and I used Orange Solvent to clean above and below what you normally see. This will leave an invisable film which is OK for most people. If your car is being judged, when you get to the show just spray and wipe with water and you'll get the white glove approval.
I detailed the fender wells underhood with Zaino detail spray.

 

[RedEnuf93]

I would not spray Armor All on any fiberglass parts, expecially under the hood. My -63 Vette hood was weekly detailed with armor all and after 2 years the armor all penetrated thru the fiberglass and caused bubbles all over the hood. Anyone wants to have pictures, I can send them. I like Armor All all over the car, wheel wells, plastic, rubber, tires, but will never again put it under any fiberglass part. I am not suer what happened, since the hood was nicely painted satin black under and it still bubbled. My hood does not look good under either, but I have left it as is. If you have a good product to do this, I will be happy to soak it in it!

I learned another interresting thing about armor all too. Harley tires looks good with Armor All on them, but are not worth a sh** while cornering. (The solution seeped into the contact areas)

Lauri

 

[KenH]

I just went through this a couple of weekends ago. I went the full strength Simple Green route and some brushes and it cleaned up nice. I also hit it with some armorAll, but now I'm rethinking that decision after seeing Lauri's pics. I also discovered some time ago that putting Armorall on a bike seat is pretty stupid as well.

One thing that worked well while doing this in the garage was to get one of the inexpensive black tubs from a home improvement center designed to mix small quantities of concrete in are around 2' x 3'. I could slip it under the suspension as I cleaned it and it did a good job of collecting all the gunk and I could use a squirt bottle to hose things down without it getting on the garage floor. A drip pan would also probably work, but would be harder to move without spilling. If your doing it outside, you won't have to worry about this.

--- Ken

 

[FRANK RT/10]

No really your great but this post made me take all my wheels off and clean my fenderwells. The problem is they looked so good then I had to clean all the suspension and brake parts, then they looked so good I had to continue to clean the underside of my car, well you know on and on it goes. I guess a Viper owners work is never done......

<FONT size="6">I HATE YOU GUYS!!!</FONT s>

 

[GTS Dean]

Oh, you mean like this?

 

[Matt M PA]

Wow Dean! I thought I was the only one who was retentive enough to pull the wheels and detail the suspension several times a year. Of course, I also wash and wax the bottom of the car too. After all my years of showing restored Mopars, I guess the "clean" bug doesn't go away quickly. Would you agree that I may even take it a bit too far, Rocketman?

 

[SSpeed Racer]

I found out that power steering fluid works great and leaves a nice sheen after wiping down!!!!

Found this out after I blew a power steering line at Sear Point last month!!!

John

 

[KenH]

GTS Dean or anyone else who has done it, how hard is it to get the inner fender liners on and off?

-- Ken

 

[GTS Dean]

Ken,

The first time, it's a little bit of work. The lower rear mounting bolt for the coolant tank is a pain to get to. Removing the blower housing first helps somewhat. The coolant header tank will need to be tied off to the engine somehow because it's heavy. I use either a string or a long tie-wrap.

When you remove the washer fluid reservoir, take the hose loose from the ****** near the wiper motor, then stick the free end back into the reservoir top. Otherwise, you'll leave a trail of washer fluid all over the car and the garage floor.

Some of the nylon push fasteners that hold your wiring harnesses to the driver's side well can stay if you think it through. Tie-wraps can be pushed through the holes, around the factory retainers, back out the holes again and zipped down tight.

You need to drill off the rivet heads with a 3/8" or 7/16" bit. Be careful when they come loose that they don't walk across the fiberglass and gouge it. Next, use a 1/8" drift punch and drive the pin out of the center of the rivet shank. Finally, drive the shank into the frame rail with a 1/4" drift punch. The remnants will rattle around in the frame rail and finally collect at the base of the downtube on each side. Use a hefty screwdriver to open the bottom up just a bit to let them escape.

When you're done with your detailing, I strongly recommend using the type of nylon reuseable rivets that you see on the battery box cover in the rear fenderwell. These are available in quantity at most any auto parts store. That way, you can remove the fender wells quickly, with a minimum of fuss in the future.

Seems like I have mine out once or twice a year.

 

[KenH]

Dean, thanks for the very detailed info. I was eyeballing it, but I wimped out which is probably good since it sounds like it is a little more complicated that I thought it was. I'll have to take a closer look next time I have the wheels off.

--- Ken