Wheel well cover restoration

So, while doing some repair work I had my rear wheel well cover off, and I couldn't help but notice how ratty it looked. The OEM undercoat slopped all over it, along with the drips and runs, and then all the years of crud that the undercoating attracted, was not a good look. Undercoating on a piece of fibreglass also looked like expedience by the factory, although I suppose it did provide some rock chip protection and noise dampening.

Also, my Swiss model has more sound insulation than other market models (outside driveby noise regulation), including on the back of the well that like all the original insulation on my car it was still there, but crumbling to the touch and making a crumble mess everytime I remove that wheel well.

So, time for the dirty work. Removed the old foam, used varsol to soak down all the undercoating, and with a plastic scraper removed all the coating and foam adhesive on the back. Messy, smelly and time consuming, but now it is done.

Some of the affixing screw holes were worn open a bit, so I expoxied and redrilled the holes, so that should keep those holes from cracking to the edge.

I then had to determine what to coat the item with, and settled on Wurth Gravel Guard. This worked out really well, a matte to very slight gloss finish, and feels hard as rock. It still leaves the fibreglass fibre look showing through, even after three coats. I think this is a fantastic product, and looks period correct for what the underlying wheel well finish probably looked like before all the undercoat spray got slathered on.

On the back I then put on 1" nitrile foam sourced from Aircraft Spruce. I made a paper template and then used a serrated knife to cut the foam fairly cleanly. The original foam was 1 inch thick.

This foam is fire retardent closed cell, but for extra durability, I coated the foam with two coats of clear "Flex Seal" , a liquid rubber product. It gives a high sheen, so not a factory look, but since it can't be seen, I wanted durability, it should prevent the foam from being easily damaged with removal of the well and such.

I am also redoing some of the other insulation in the wheel cavity area that crumbled with 3/4 inch foam, same foam product and also using the protective rubber coating.

I think this turned out really well, and should look good and be functionally protecting the well from road hazard for many years to come, and keeping the noise level as per the factopry intentions.

A messy and fussy job, but all part of my "rolling resoration" that keeps me happy during the winter storage season down time for my prized Mondial 3.2 Cab.
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