Painting wheel wells

[rjkoop]

While I have all the suspension components off I thought it was a good time to paint the wheel wells. There is a good coating of what looks like white rubberized paint.



Some of it came off and it was thick. Was thinking about cleaning/power washing the area (don't think it's worth taking all the old coating off) and then spraying with black underbody paint. Should I get up inside the shock tower area as well? I'm thinking inside the shock tower to use regular black paint and not the rubberized stuff.

[narfire]

[quote="rjkoop"] Was thinking about cleaning/power washing the area (don't think it's worth taking all the old coating off) and then spraying with black underbody paint.


That is what I did with mine 6 years ago including inside the shock towers. The car rarely sees rain so no issues to date.
Bit chilly back there eh.... careful if you are going to do any pressure washing, water is likely going to freeze between the nozzle and the car..

[rjkoop]

Was thinking about cleaning/power washing the area (don't think it's worth taking all the old coating off) and then spraying with black underbody paint.


That is what I did with mine 6 years ago including inside the shock towers. The car rarely sees rain so no issues to date.
Bit chilly back there eh.... careful if you are going to do any pressure washing, water is likely going to freeze between the nozzle and the car..

Thanks. Luckily we have +12c on Monday next week. I'll do it then. Right now about -10c.

[4uall]

you going to do this at home or at a spray wash? thinking i should do the same

[rjkoop]

you going to do this at home or at a spray wash? thinking i should do the same

Jay,
My entire front suspension is out so at home is my only option. Not sure I'm going to do that though. Mine aren't too dirty. Might just clean by hand, scuff up with wire wheel/sandpaper and spray the underguard over top. That stuff sticks to almost anything! But I will use regular rustoleum paint inside the shock towers. I think that's the way to go. I want to ensure the shock sits tight at the top when I bolt it down.

[rjkoop]

Took advantage of a warm day (+19c in Ottawa) to paint the wheel wells including the shock towers and the visible side of the crossmember.

I primed the shock towers with zinc rich primer and then coated with rustoleum black. The wheel wells themselves I used rustoleum rubberguard.

Before...


After...



Was it ok to paint the contact surface on the end of the cross member where the lower control arm attaches to? I think it's ok because aren't these painted when they come new?

Shock towers look great (phew!). Honestly I never really looked that closely at them when I bought the car so I lucked out.



Now we're back to -2c so no more painting outside.

Next up I'll paint the springs and other steering components. I have some extra caliper red paint in a spray can so might just prime and paint the springs with that.