Painting wheel wells
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 325
Likes: 31
From: California
Car: 91 Firebird
Engine: 305
Transmission: 5 speed
Painting wheel wells
Has anyone ever painted the inside of there wheel wells?
Mine are extremely dirty and every time I take pics it becomes very noticeable. Im thinking about painting them flat black to give it that new car look, what do you guys think?
Mine are extremely dirty and every time I take pics it becomes very noticeable. Im thinking about painting them flat black to give it that new car look, what do you guys think?
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From: Chicago(DP)
Car: '90 RS
Engine: Vortec 350
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.23 non posi
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 325
Likes: 31
From: California
Car: 91 Firebird
Engine: 305
Transmission: 5 speed
Senior Member
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 359
Likes: 0
From: Beer City,Wisconsin
Car: 92 camaro,99 s10
Re: Painting wheel wells
I used to work at autozone and my only suggestion is, if your going to autozone, buy the duplicolor stuff. (You don't need the expensixe 3M undercoat, duplicolor works almost as well but for a better price.) The cheaper Valuecraft is like throwing messing tar on your car.
Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 145
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
Car: 88 Formula 350
Engine: l98
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.23 9-Bolt
Re: Painting wheel wells
I used semi-gloss black engine paint on mine, which I also used on my chassis components(axle, control arms, etc). After a year and a half, they still look as good as when I did it. Another thing I do is, when I detail my car, I spray the wheelwells with CD-2 Engine Detailer, or tire shine if I am out of the CD-2.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,622
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From: Orland Park, IL
Car: 1984 Z28
Engine: SLOW carbed ls
Transmission: TH400 with brake, 8" PTC converter
Axle/Gears: moser 9" 4.11
Re: Painting wheel wells
$1.79 rustoleum semi-gloss black got the job done
Supreme Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,951
Likes: 13
From: Ottawa, ONT
Car: 1987 Firebird
Engine: 355
Transmission: T56
Re: Painting wheel wells
Ive done most of the above, and i like tremclad semigloss the best.
Rubberized looks great, i dunno what you guys are talking about. I used the Pro-Foam, i think its called. But it is expensive, and after a few years it'll catch dirt, but looks GREAT if you wash your car regularly.
But i absolutely loved the tremclad rust paint. It wasnt in a can, it was the brush on kind. $9 at walmart, in the hardware section. I also picked up a $2 brush, and you will only use about 1/4 of it, so you can use whats left to do touchups, or go crazy on other suspension stuff, axle, i used it on my frame (not f-body, was an older car).
The old undercoating starts to chip off, like yours is by now, so wash it with a garden hose on high, with concentrated pressure. Whatever is going to flake off, should do it by now. Let the car dry, and then slosh the tremclad on there very liberally. The tremclad is super tough paint, i had a hard time stripping it with chemicals, and it has kind of an eggshell finish, so dirt doesnt stick to it as easily as tar. the best technique is, to dip in the brush into the paint, start brushing it on, and keep brushing it untill it kinda feels like its drying. VERY QUICK, very easy, and you dont miss any spots or get overspray.
However, it dulls very quickly, so if you get the semi-gloss, itll dry to a flat finish.
Im all for the smoothed finish, but after i started scraping away in one wheel well, i gave up, its just too much work and trouble for something thats gonna get dirty so quickly.
Rubberized looks great, i dunno what you guys are talking about. I used the Pro-Foam, i think its called. But it is expensive, and after a few years it'll catch dirt, but looks GREAT if you wash your car regularly.
But i absolutely loved the tremclad rust paint. It wasnt in a can, it was the brush on kind. $9 at walmart, in the hardware section. I also picked up a $2 brush, and you will only use about 1/4 of it, so you can use whats left to do touchups, or go crazy on other suspension stuff, axle, i used it on my frame (not f-body, was an older car).
The old undercoating starts to chip off, like yours is by now, so wash it with a garden hose on high, with concentrated pressure. Whatever is going to flake off, should do it by now. Let the car dry, and then slosh the tremclad on there very liberally. The tremclad is super tough paint, i had a hard time stripping it with chemicals, and it has kind of an eggshell finish, so dirt doesnt stick to it as easily as tar. the best technique is, to dip in the brush into the paint, start brushing it on, and keep brushing it untill it kinda feels like its drying. VERY QUICK, very easy, and you dont miss any spots or get overspray.
However, it dulls very quickly, so if you get the semi-gloss, itll dry to a flat finish.
Im all for the smoothed finish, but after i started scraping away in one wheel well, i gave up, its just too much work and trouble for something thats gonna get dirty so quickly.
Supreme Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,951
Likes: 13
From: Ottawa, ONT
Car: 1987 Firebird
Engine: 355
Transmission: T56
Re: Painting wheel wells
Worth mentioning, I have NOT tried POR-15, and my tremclad has 2 years of use, alot of use on gravel, but only in summer driving. So i cant vouch for POR-15 but ive heard only good things.
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iTrader: (1)
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 914
Likes: 1
From: New Philadelphia/ Canton OH
Car: 1991 RS, 84 El Camino conquista RIP
Engine: 5.0 (for now)
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 2.xx torsen limited slip & 3.42 ope
Re: Painting wheel wells
why not just clean them? mine are black and nasty but i bought a couple of cans of degrease and i'm gonna clean it all out before i store it for the winter this week. Then again mine are not too bad, i can still see the color a little in some spots.
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