Fenderwell detailing

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dhg5260

New member
I need to improve my fenderwell cleaning and dressing technique!!! What steps do you guys take and what products?



Simple Green just isn't cutting it.
 
You can use a 1-step tire product that cleans and protects all in one step if the wheel wells are not too bad, but usually you either have to get in there with a brush and some agressive cleaner like A2Z, or use a power washer.
 
^ yeah that, I prefer eiman fabrik APC and a nice stiff bristled brush. Let the Cleaner sit for a few minutes a scrub away.

I usually follow up with something like stoners more shine less time (for tires).
 
I have a 99' Audi A4 and wen i bought it the wheel wells were discusting, i bought it from some lady who obviously liked to drive through puddles and dirt, but anyway i just did two runs of NXT wash with a hard bristle brush, let it dry, and then protected it w/ Armor All Original. That work good for me. I used it for most my details that or simple green. You just have to scrub it in good!
 
eShine said:
This sucks for lowered cars! I have to take my wheels off or jack the car up to clean the wells!
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Doing it "right" sucks for regular-height cars too. I jack 'em up to clean the wheelwells/undercarriage at every wash. Only one I can do a halfway decent job on without jacking is the minivan, and I end up jacking it most of the time too. Just part of doing the job right. All kinds of [stuff] buiilds up in there if you con't keep 'em clean. But if you *do* keep 'em clean they don't take much time.



When I had the lowered 'vette it took a *long* time to get it up on stands for every wash, just another wonderful aspect of owning a lowered car :o



I use EFHI on the ones I don't keep especially nice and regular car shampoo on the ones I *do* keep nice. Problem with stuff like EFHI is that it cleans off any sealant/dressing, making for a whole 'nother step each time. Better to protect them with products that don't retain dirt and just wash them. KGS, UPP, stuff like that. For quick-and-dirty I like Griot's Undercarriage Spray.



Stiff bristled brushes :scared I use BHBs. I don't want anything coarse touching *any* part of my vehicles.
 
I never had a problem with the brushes...accum. brought up a good point though...keep it away from the edge or lip of the fenderwell so it doesnt have a chance to touch the paint.
 
And I oughta point out that I *have* used nasty-coarse brushes for the worst work on used cars. My latest 9C1 Caprice had 113K miles of neglect to clean up. But it'll be BHBs from here on out :D
 
I agree about lowered cars. My lowered Mustang never sees bad weather so the undercarriage remains top-notch. Plus I have a lift at a shop that I use 3 or 4 times a year to do a full undercarriage detail.



I started detailing cars for a used car lot during the winter blues, and some of the cars' wheel wells are down right nasty.



These cars I need help on! I have a power washer... thanks for mentioning some of the heavy duty cleansers. Now I need to track down where to get.
 
Some people said that they used stiff bristle brushes to clean in the wheel wells. Isn't that a bit hard on the undercoating?
 
In terms of wheel well dressing specifically, I found the now discontinued Megs product, Engine Kote, to be a near ultimate product for my needs: decent gloss, non dust attracting and fairly long lasting.



Unfortunately I found the product late and now it's no more :down :(



Before that I tried all the usual OTC tire shine type products on wheel wells and they all have big drawbacks



Anyone of the seemingly hundreds of water based tire dressing do dress up the wells nice but wash away immediately with the slightest hint of water :mad: Some seem to attract dust more than others.



The solvents based stuff, both aerosol and non aerosol, look a bit too glossy but that can be controled. Either dilute it if you have it in a spray bottle or wipe down the wells promptly if using an aerosol. The big problem with them is that they too wash away too quickly and more of them attract dust. I used to buy MSLT by the case just for this purpose because I thought it was really the best thing I could do.



Earlier this year I discussed Mop & Glow floor shine, apparently similar chemically to EK, as a potential alternative. I did play around a little bit with it and it seems ok, results may differ from different kind of wheel well to wheel well.



I'm going to seek out additional acrylic based floor shine products to try out hopefully sometime. I think you can get private label products like these in warehouse clubs cheaply. I believe I saw as low as $6 a gallon somewhere.



I also just took a look at Zep's acrylic floor shine product at Home Depot. I may just try that out once my EK ( measured out like gold now :o) is gone.
 
no I have no issues using a stiff bristled brush...its NOT a brass bristle or anything like that...it still is a nylon type brush.
 
Black240SX said:
Some people said that they used stiff bristle brushes to clean in the wheel wells. Isn't that a bit hard on the undercoating?
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Depends on the undercoating and the brush. Just use common sense (and do a test spot before really going to town on it) and you'll be fine. I always err on the side of caution anyhow, but I've never had a problem with taking off too much undercoating. But some really minimal undercoatings (like what GM used on frame rails back in the '90s) will come off pretty easily, even just scrubbing with a cleanser will take it off if you're not careful. So, just be careful :D On more recently manufactured cars (and those of higher quality), it's really not an issue.
 
BillD, you really like EK on wheel wells? I tried it in the wells a couple years ago when it first came out but didnt like the results. It looked weird to me although I did like it in engine compartments. Go figure. :nixweiss Anyway, as of last week the PBE that I do business with had 5 gallons of the stuff still on the shelf so it can be found if you want it.
 
I'm good with my supply of EK for now. Just awaiting the inevitable even when the existing supplies disappear. That's funny we have the exact opposite experiences with it on wells vs. engine compartment.
 
Accumulator:



What do you use on tires, if not a stiff-bristled brush?



And I try to avoid stiff bristled brushes on the wheel whell lining. It's a soft plastic that could be easily scratched. I have a designated wheel-well sheep skin mit and sponge. :)
 
Mongoose, I do the same regarding cleaning wells. I have a bristle brush sized especially for low profile tires
 
MongooseGA said:
Accumulator:



What do you use on tires, if not a stiff-bristled brush?



And I try to avoid stiff bristled brushes on the wheel whell lining. It's a soft plastic that could be easily scratched. I have a designated wheel-well sheep skin mit and sponge. :)
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Heh heh, OK, you got me there! I completely forgot about the tires :D :o Yeah, I use a "tire brush" on them, being oh-so-careful not to let a single bristel touch the wheels (tough when doing the groofe in the sidewall next to the rim).



Only potential advantage of a BHB over the sheepskin for wheelwells is that BHBs rinse cleaner than sheepskin, at least in my experience. I use sponges too, the kind that come on a plastic stick- they're made for cleaning glassware. Haven't seen them in the stores for a while though, they're called "Quikee sponge mops".
 
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