Spray painting wheel wells?

[davidc11291]

I've had a few people ask me to do this. I tried it on 1 car, but it got over spray everywhere. Do any of you guys spray paint wheel wells or trim pieces? If you do, how do you prevent/deal with the over spray? How much of the car do you need to tape off when doing this?

[FlgStudios]

If I had to do it I would paper & tape off around the whole outside of the well.

[Bobby B.]

I've never been asked to paint wheel wells or trim pieces before when detailing a car. I always use a good APC to clean the wheel wells and trim pieces and then apply the Wolfgang Trim Sealant.

[ScottB]

Ive done it a couple times on my own rides. I remove the wheels. I cover the brake and shock assembly. I then clean the wells very well and scrub them. I used a high temp grill paint in matte black. It was a pain and took alot of time, but now I usually just clean them well and use a shiny cheap aerosol tire dressing. (becareful some luxury cars have a felt lining in the wheelwells)

[Setec Astronomy]

I've had a few people ask me to do this. I tried it on 1 car, but it got over spray everywhere. Do any of you guys spray paint wheel wells or trim pieces? If you do, how do you prevent/deal with the over spray? How much of the car do you need to tape off when doing this?

Ha ha, that's an old hack detailer trick! Well, I actually shouldn't be so perjorative, in the old days, there were no plastic wheel well liners, pressure washers were not so abundant, and if you had a wheel well that had undercoating sprayed in it, it was a really rough surface that was hard to clean, so it was quicker to just paint over the dirt.

[Sommy]

Chemical guys makes a product called black on black that can be used for that.

[HellDemon]

Chemical guys makes a product called black on black that can be used for that.

Actually black on black is just an aerosol trim sealant; it darkens it, but it's not painting anything and won't cover the dirt.

[bmwgalore]

I think he meant "Chemical Guys Bare Bones UnderCarriage Spray".

[Vegas Transplant]

Ha ha, that's an old hack detailer trick! Well, I actually shouldn't be so perjorative, in the old days, there were no plastic wheel well liners, pressure washers were not so abundant, and if you had a wheel well that had undercoating sprayed in it, it was a really rough surface that was hard to clean, so it was quicker to just paint over the dirt.

Sometimes customers will ask, especially if heavily contaminated with road marking paint/concrete splatter that powerwashing wont remove...gotta keep the customer happy.
Usually clean first, dry with compressed air and time (do interior detail), tape/mask off immediate area, then paint.

Then proceed to detail car...
wash
clay
and other processes.

I also agree with Killerwheels' thoughts.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1431/audi_inner_liner_resize.png (http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48052)
AUDI A6 felt like liner.

[Twister]

I've done it on a car that was in a car show. I cleaned the wheel wells but the under coating was ashy gray. Since they were clean but still didn't look great I decided to paint. I covered the shocks and brakes with plastic and sprayed with a semigloss black. Once it was finished they looked nice and dark but not shiny.

[davidc11291]

You guys that have done this, did you have any problems with over spray getting on the body of the car or the hood?

[BWG707]

You can use painters plastic to bubble off the entire car if need be.

[ShineTimeDetail]

Ha ha, that's an old hack detailer trick! Well, I actually shouldn't be so perjorative, in the old days, there were no plastic wheel well liners, pressure washers were not so abundant, and if you had a wheel well that had undercoating sprayed in it, it was a really rough surface that was hard to clean, so it was quicker to just paint over the dirt.

Did you spray the wheel wells like you mean it??

[Vegas Transplant]

Are you spraying indoors or out? If a customer asks, then I do my best to provide. Sure, over the years I've on occassion gotten overspray on the vehicle. Thats why I usually do this before I detail the paint.

Heck, I've even inadvertantly placed a direct shot on the lip of the fender well before...no big deal. There are many items that I carry from mineral spirits, to a jump box, rouge and cotton flannel wheels, etc., on nearly every detail.

[Twister]

I do it outside. I don't wrap off the whole car but I will tape off the fender lip and a small section of the panel I'm working at. I'm pretty good with a rattle can so overspray usually isn't a problem