SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Been meaning to do this for ages and after a little bit of searching, found some inspiration and set about doing my wheel arch's.
Note *** This is not a quick job. Each corner takes around 3-4 hours !!

First go, the rear arch. No before shot, but will add one when I do the next rear wheel arch. If in doubt, have a look at your wheel arch in the morning and you will get a good idea what you start with

1.Jetwashed most of the mud and grime off
2. Then scrubbed like mad.
3. Degreased everything and then jetwashed again
4. Left to dry and then started painting
5. Two colour scheme, hours later this is the result.






Then had a go at one of the front wheel arch's. These are a bit trickier on classic's as you have to deal with the nasty black (discoloured in my case) plastic arch lining. If I wanted to finish it off properly, I should plastic coat it. Time didnt allow me to do this, so I will leave it until phase two

Same procedure as before, only difference is that there seemed to be a hell of a lot more to paint !!. Stopped short of doing all the metal black, so just chose the sections I thought needed it.

Before shot (s)





After

Scoobyslammed

Looks well mate... nice and clean now... imho don't paint any plastic... due to stones etc it won't take long for it all to start flaking off and looking a mess...

StickyMicky

they looks like earls brake lines

i cheated when i did my arches 3 years ago

i cleaned and scrubbed them while i swapped all 4 corners with brand new suspension, much easier

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

was thinking the same thing....even though the plastic coat stuff is meant to be tough, I doubt it is any match for road grit....

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

was thinking that when I was 3 hours in !!! "this would be a lot easier with new springs etc"
ah well

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

What to do mine Chris

Looks very clean. your hard work getting it to that condition must be worth a pat on the back.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

cheers matey but you can tell pat to get off me back, he weighs a feckin ton

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Daz_WRX

That looks really good mate, well worth the effort. What paint did u use?

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Hammerite Smooth Dark Blue on Arch's
Hammerite Smooth Black on struts, springs and others.
(just remember to either buy some Hammerite Paint cleaner if you want to keep your brushes, or do what I did and buy some cheap brushes and check them afterwards )

If anyone wants a detailed run through on the procedure to do the above, just shout.most of it is common sense..

Daz_WRX

Cool, sure is an improvement. I see hammerite do a spray too. Wonder if this would be any easier for the hard to reach parts.... just means alot of masking tho. Tempted to do mine now but im not sure if id notice any difference with the wheels on...

Cheers

AndiThompson

Have a look for vinyl dye, should be able to get some in halfords, will dye the plastic rather than painting over it.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

you will notice the difference from a few feet away. not so much the arch's themselves, but definately the strut and related areas.
Main thing is not about the difference in looks, but how much easier it is to keep clean once done

was tempted to do the spray paint, but a lot more hassle, what with the masking. it would be useful for the hard to reach areas such as at the top of the suspension strut.

andi
good idea, might have a butchers when i get the chance. does it just stain the plastic?

pnbond007

iTrader: (1)

My RA arches are all clean & tidy from original & most of the underside surfaces.

I hear you say no underseal.......

The car is not used in the winter nor in bad weather, it quite happily sit's beneath a 6mtr x 3mtr fully enclosed awning, which still allows plenty of room for me to work in

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

Looks great Chris and the front one has worked out very well indeed

StickyMicky

i just drive mine backwards and forwards through the car wash with the undercar wash manually turned on "test" every few days