Daily driver wheel well cleaning

[imported_Aurora40]

I decided to pull my wheels today and clean the backsides of them, and also clean out the wheelwells. Given that I drive this car every day, and that the wells will get dirty with gravel dust, cementy water, mud, and all the other crap that runs out onto the roads around here, I was not going to knock myself out with an autopian level detail. But, I figured I'd share what I did.



I started out by just washing my car and cleaning the fronts of the wheels. Then I pulled one wheel at a time, cleaned the backside of the tire with APC+ at 8:1, and then sponged out the inside and back of the rim with Meg's Hi-Tech wheel cleaner (#36 I think?). There were some tar chunks which I picked off with a fingernail. I didn't really want to spray the wheel down with that 3M tar remover because the fronts are nice and klassed. I just wanted the backs to get cleaned, not be show ready. Then I flipped the tire over and did the same thing to the front (though the actual wheel front was already clean).



Then I went to work on the wheel wells. Here is what one looked like when I started. I had sprayed the wells out (as I always do) pretty thoroughly while washing the car. So this is what they look like after being sprayed clean:

 

[imported_Aurora40]

I rinsed the wheelwells with the hose, and then sprayed them down with the same 8:1 APC+, being careful not to get any spray on the body of the car. I then went to work with a brush. It's a large, soft-bristled brush that turtle wax sells for washing your car with, but which I use on engine bays and wheelwells. It works pretty well, but doesn't fit in tight places. So those places didn't get cleaned... I spray some APC+ into the bristles too to get it foaming up a bit.



Then I rinsed the well out and got the Engine-Kote. I carefully sprayed this around, and then wiped it on the smooth plastic parts with a paper towel (my wheelwells have inserts that are smooth black plastic, and other parts that are bumpy and have a black spray coating). This helps spread it, and also helps me coat near the body without getting overspray on the paint. That's it. That's all I did. They look better, and should stay cleanish longer thanks to the EK. Without washing the car, it took me about 3 hours to complete. I will go out and dress the tires with some Poorboy's Natural Look later.



The end result. Certainly not amazing, but definitely an improvement.



A note, I find the ultimate nozzle to be indispensible for this as I can easily dial the spray back so that it just flares out gently. I can totally soak/rinse the wheelwell without causing any splashback or getting spray on the body panels.

 

[imported_Aurora40]

As an aside, I always find wheelwells to look so odd and oversized when there is no wheel in it. They look crazily big.



I am also thinking the front calipers might look neat with "AURORA" painted on them in the appropriate font. I'm thinking I could curve the logo in photoshop (with some help) and print it onto a label. I could then cut out the lettering and affix it to the caliper. This way the centers of the A, O, and R would still be there to mask. I dunno, though. Not sure I have that level of skill, and I'm not sure how good it would look. Those are 12" fronts, so they are reasonably beefy (bigger than the fronts were on my '87 Corvette). So it wouldn't be like painting the calipers on 9" rotors in bright yellow or anything, not that there's anything wrong with that...

 

[Accumulator]

Nice job, and it sounds like you're not REALLY done with them yet. Those ideas start coming once you've cleaned them up, huh?



For regular up-keep, I've found a few things that can make wheelwells easier to do. One is the sprayer at THIS link. A mild mix of something like your APC will work wonders after a quick rinsing. To do the before/after rinsing, I use a plastic female hose end, the kind that lets you attach (plastic) quick disconnects. These have a shutoff on them for varying the water flow, and being plastic, they don't damage things if you bump them around a little. They're pretty compact so they're a LOT easier to get into the wells (with the tires on) than most nozzles. I have a (brass) quick disconnect so I can switch back and forth easily. I also use one of Griot's smaller boar's hair brushes, and a "Quickie" glass cleaning sponge (sponge head on a plastic stick) to agitate the cleaner a little. These are both compact enough to fit around/behind the wheels.



Now that you have them clean, it can be a simple job to KEEP them that way.