This article is intended for anyone who has experienced there crappy stock oem plastic wheel wells start to deteriarate right beneath them.this is intended to fix holes and make your wheel wells more stylish. of course with the sound dedening benifit as well. this is a simple solution that is on a scale of 1-10 is a 2.very easy to do and requiers minimal tools-
1.rivet gun
2.short and medium rivets
3.drill/good set of bits
4.3m professional sound dedener
5.small hammer
6.wire wheel
7.wire brush(optionable)
8.sheet aluminum
9.tin snips(or shears, somthing to cut metal)
STEP 1- first you will need to clean and clear away any rubber/dirt build up. i just used a wire wheel on the drill and i scraped it all away. then went over the whole wheel well with a thin wire brush to ensure a smooth finish.
STEP 2- then use the drill to break away all the loose metal that is rusted through(this willcreate a hole it is o.k.). you want to get rid of all the weak spots now so you dont spray it and then go back and break it a week later.
STEP 3- next you are ready foryour sheet aluminum. this is much more cost efficiant if you buy it at a hardware store in the section with all the heating ducts. you can pick up a sheet there pretty in expensively. now take your tape measure, and mesure to see the height and length of the peice of metal you will need. mark out the patern with a sharpie so you can see where you are cutting. HINT:(remember to make it bigger than the hole so you will have room for the rivets and will not put a rivet in to weak rusted metal.)
STEP 4- once you have your peice of meatal cut you can then test fit it to ensure a snug fit. hold the peice of metal up to the hole in the tire well and pre drill the hole for the rivets.(pre drilling the holes makes it hold tighter and go in easier).
STEP 5- place a rivet into the metal and line it up with the holes in the wheel well. pull the handels together twice till it snaps and there you go. repeat for the other holes in the section of metal.
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STEP 6- now lay a towel over your rotors and calipers so you do not paint them. i used the ruberized under coaing shown here. there are other cheaper kinds if you want to go that route but this is the only one that in addition to the sound dedening, ruberized spray, and rust prevention also protects against road salt. i live in ohio so i need it.haha. its called 3M professional grade ruberized undercoating and is about $8 a can and about 1 can per wheel well.
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STEP 7- you can mask off the arms and and begin spraying make sure you thouroughly coat the entire wheel well. if you finish one wheel well and have half of a can left or more go back and respray. this needs to be applied thick in order to use its full potential of sound dedening.
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after you spray the well your done wait 24 hours and then put the tire back on. this looks great on dark color cars. and it instantly changes your cars apearance as well as driving noise. i dont know about you but i would rather hear my engine than my tires.
fixing wheel wells in a "snap"!
