Restoring Wheel wells

[crawfish]

I have a question about undercarriage restoration on my 1988 Corvette. Several months back, I posed a question on the Corvette forum about how to bring my C4 fender wells back to a decent look. Someone emailed me and suggested I order some Adam’s Invisible Undercarraige spray. This was the first Adams product I had tried.

 

Here is the procedure I used: I first spray a genrous amount of Adams APC (I have since bought this) on the fender wells. At this point I will brush them, rinse, and allow them to dry. After they are dry, I spray them with Adams invisible undercarraige spray.

 

Maybe I am not using the proper method, but so far I am less than thrilled with the results. The wheel wells still dry looking dull. Should I use some kind of paint to restore the ebony look that these had when they were new. If so, can anyone recommend anything?

[bigred vette]

Are you spraying enough UCS? I usually spray enough to cover the wheel wells and then wipe with a paper towel to even out the product.

[Bill-V8V]

Can you post some pictures ? It will really help :2thumbs:

[crawfish]

Sorry I cannot post picture right now as I am at work in Africa. I will be home on 5 June and I just thought I might be able to find out a product to order so that it might come in before I get home. I will be detailing this car when I am at home in June.

 

To describe the look though, the fender wells just look faded and gray (they look beat) when the Undercarraige spray drys. I hate to just spray paint them because I am almost certain there is something out there that will help them look natural, as they were when new.

[TR6speed]

You need to have agood clean well well to start with, and it sounds like you did a good cleaning on them. If the well wheels are already dull, the UCS will not make them dark black. You may need to paint them. The type of paint wil be up to you depending on the look you want (gloss, semi-gloss or flat). I use the UCS on my 01 vette and the wife's Trailblazer. It works great on both, and the Trailblazer has a lot of wheel well that shows.

Post some pictures when you get back home of what they look like now and then after you apply a good coat and wipe them down.

[crawfish]

Thanks. I just want them to look matte. I have even thought out replacing the front ones with new, but first I will give this one more try.

[GerryC]

I use VRT on a sponge on the wheel wells on the vette, they stay matte black and not shiny. Give it a try, it sounds like what you're looking for.

 

Doing it by hand this way ensures you cover every square inch and apply it evenly. I used the Undercarriage Spray a couple times trying to convince myself it would be easier but I have always gone back to the method I described above.

[jjwvette]

Should look like this when done

[NTHEWIND]

I use VRT on a sponge on the wheel wells on the vette, they stay matte black and not shiny. Give it a try, it sounds like what you're looking for.

 

Doing it by hand this way ensures you cover every square inch and apply it evenly. I used the Undercarriage Spray a couple times trying to convince myself it would be easier but I have always gone back to the method I described above.

 

 

 

 

On a C4 I'm sure you are talking about the plastic fender wells that lift up with the hood and then expose the plastic fender wells around the tires.

 

On a well used/abused C4 that has not been taken care of this area can be a challenge. I would only paint this area as a last resort, it never looks correct as the original is not painted, unless you want a custom look.

 

Good luck on your project and have a safe trip home.

 

Later,

[GerryC]

One of the first things I did to the car was take those wells off the hood and soak them in the bathtub overnight

[Devin04]

I use VRT on a sponge on the wheel wells on the vette, they stay matte black and not shiny. Give it a try, it sounds like what you're looking for.

 

Doing it by hand this way ensures you cover every square inch and apply it evenly. I used the Undercarriage Spray a couple times trying to convince myself it would be easier but I have always gone back to the method I described above.

 

That's what I was going to suggest.