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View Full Version : Wheel Well Liners



SCFFR
07-20-2013, 05:03 AM
I took Gumball's (Chris) recommendation and bought one of the yoga mats from WalMart to make wheel well liners for my MkIV. Although the mat was $50, the material is perfect for the car.......a dense black foam pad with a nice pattern and there was enough material to do all four wheel wells.

I made some paper patterns first before cutting out the first piece. Getting one large piece to fit was extremely difficult because of the curvature of the wells. I was concerned that it was going to take more pressure to get one piece stretched into place than the glue could hold so decided to split the piece in the middle. That turned out the be the right choice. I needed to cut a large quarter moon piece out of the edge of the second piece to get it to fit flush with the first so the curvature was a bad as I had thought.

Learned a good lesson on the first piece. I wiped down the wheel well (which I had already coated with Dupli-Color bed liner) and foam with some lacquer thinner. I coated the well with Weldwood Contact Cement but sprayed the foam with 3M Super 90. I had used this combination on much of my upholstery and it worked great. I pressed the foam into place and it stuck but I noticed a few bubbles after a minute or two that got bigger. I pulled the foam off and the back was perfectly clean. The layer of Super 90 was stuck to the bed liner but none on the foam.

I then figured that I didn't completely clean off any release agent that was used on the mat foam so I wiped it several times with prep solv and lacquer thinner. I then coated brushed on a small spot of the Weldwood cement and let it dry. Unlike the Super 90, it was definitely stuck to the mat so I went ahead and finished coating the mat and stuck it in place. I can say that with using the Weldwood on both the foam and wheel well, its not going to come off.

I realize that this will be overkill for most of you depending on the type of roads that you will drive. However, I have a 700' gravel driveway that leads from my house to the county highway. The gravel is pea size and gets stuck in the tire tread until I get on the road and pick up speed at which time it flies off for the next quarter mile.

Ron

198531985419855

Gumball
07-20-2013, 10:34 AM
Rock on, man... that stuff is great!

rlampman
07-22-2013, 06:49 PM
Looks great! It looks like you used some kind of molding on the edge, what is it? Also, did the bed liner not do enough to protect the body or with your driveway are you just looking for that extra protection. I was planning on using bed liner on mine.
Rod

riptide motorsport
07-22-2013, 07:47 PM
Nice work..............I use a pair of compression shorts I found in the lost and found at the gym!!

SCFFR
07-23-2013, 05:09 AM
Thanks guys.

Rod - there's no type of molding............that's just the edge of the mat. If I recall from the box, it is 6 mm thick (about 1/4").
I did coat the inside of the body with Dupli Color bed liner (brushed on) and put three coats in the wheel areas. Normally that would be more than adequate but as I mentioned, I have a long gravel driveway to get over until I get on the highway. I can hear rocks beating on the underside of my daily drive for at least a quarter mile. It would just be a matter of time before I got star cracks in my paint if I didn't put more protection in the wheel wells.

Ron

rlampman
07-23-2013, 01:56 PM
Ron, I see now, I was looking at the bulb seal. Looks great and should be much quieter.

mikiec
07-25-2013, 08:30 AM
Wise decision based on your driveway.

Mike

SCFFR
07-26-2013, 04:56 AM
Mike,

Took the car out for the first of several shake down runs and could hear the pea gravel flying off the tires for about a quarter of a mile. Sure was glad I had installed the liners. I just don't think the bed liner along would work.

After a couple of weeks, the liners are still firmly stuck to the body with no signs of coming loose.

Ron