Painting Wheel Wells

[Bert31]

The paint on the wheel wells of my 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse is starting to "wear off". I guess from over a decade of scrubbing them with a fender brush??? The picture is below. Opps. It is sideways. Sorry about that.

Anyways, my question is can I repaint the fender wells? If so, what type of paint would I use? Something that comes in a spray can or will I need to invest in an air compressor and paint gun? Also, how would I prep the surface? After cleaning it, would I need to lightly sand the surface so the paint adhere's better? Any advice anyone can give is greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[kvnkst]

I used rubberized undercoating to spruce mine up. I used it alot to freshen up under the cab of the fire trucks i used to detail, until i got laid off. I had some left over so I used it on Betty and it made it look great! Just be carefull there is a lot of overspray. No need for it to be super duper clean to apply.

 

[DARK HORSE]

I used rubberized undercoating to spruce mine up. I used it alot to freshen up under the cab of the fire trucks i used to detail, until i got laid off. I had some left over so I used it on Betty and it made it look great! Just be carefull there is a lot of overspray. No need for it to be super duper clean to apply.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

[Bert31]

Nice results Dark Horse. Did you just buy a type in a spray can? Is any brand better than another?

 

[kvnkst]

I've personally used them all, 3M is ok, I picked up a couple cans of no name at Advance Auto when it was on sale 2 for 7. That was last week, I'm not sure if that sale is still going on.

 

[DARK HORSE]

Nice results Dark Horse. Did you just buy a type in a spray can? Is any brand better than another?

Yes, spray can. I can't remember the brand name, but it was pretty reasonably priced. I got the mid range priced one.

 

[clearview]

I've used rustoleum, nice stuff @ about $7-$8 a spray can, got it at Wal-Mart or Auto Zone. Nice black color. Other stuff I've used was brownish in color, but did the job.

 

[gewb]

The paint on the wheel wells of my 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse is starting to "wear off". I guess from over a decade of scrubbing them with a fender brush??? The picture is below. Opps. It is sideways. Sorry about that.

Anyways, my question is can I repaint the fender wells? If so, what type of paint would I use? Something that comes in a spray can or will I need to invest in an air compressor and paint gun? Also, how would I prep the surface? After cleaning it, would I need to lightly sand the surface so the paint adhere's better? Any advice anyone can give is greatly appreciated, thanks.

Undercoating spray and Meg's UP on the plastic parts. See my post from a few weeks ago:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/28295-front-wheel-wells-four-hours.html

Regards,
GEWB

 

[detaildave]

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

Nice work!!!

 

[S2K]

Dark Horse, That looks awesome! Did you prep the rust in any way? And it looks like you sprayed the exhaust too, how does that hold up to the heat? I have an Expedition that looks like the before pic and it is really starting to bug me and I want to fix it.

 

[DARK HORSE]

Nice work!!!

Thanks Dave...

Dark Horse, That looks awesome! Did you prep the rust in any way? And it looks like you sprayed the exhaust too, how does that hold up to the heat? I have an Expedition that looks like the before pic and it is really starting to bug me and I want to fix it.

Thanks S2K...The only thing I did prior to spraying the rubberized under coating was cleaned everything first w/ APC+, a good stiff brush, and a pressure washer. Yes I did the exhaust too and it is holding up very well. I sprayed the vehicle early spring and it still looks great.

 

[Bert31]

How many cans did that take?

 

[Bert31]

Undercoating spray and Meg's UP on the plastic parts. See my post from a few weeks ago:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/28295-front-wheel-wells-four-hours.html

Regards,
GEWB

Thanks for the link GEWB!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Just to comment...

Painting fenderwells is pretty easy... it's the cleaning and prep work that's hard...

The two things you need to do are to,

• Remover grease, oils and road grime, the older the car the more there is to remove.
• Remove surface rust so paint will stick

Grease, oil, tranny fluid, any kind of engine fluid can build up under your car and then attract dirt and it makes a hard to clean sludge. All Purpose Cleaners can be used but one way that I've used that's NOT for everyone or ever car project is Easy Off Oven Cleaner, think about it... if it's strong enough to remove baked and burnt food out of an oven it's strong enough to remove grease and grime. The problem is is will also dissolve some paints so you have to make sure you really want to "strip" the area you're working on.

Rust can be chemically removed, physically removed or coated over using products that convert it into part of the coating itself, like POR-15

Here's a shot of the engine compartment painted with Hammerite...

 

[kvnkst]

Nice Job!