I'm kind of fanatic about washing my car. While I was going over it yesterday, and cleaning the inside lip around the rear fender, I noticed that the "rubber" trim slides right off. I moved a portion of it and found that it was loaded with sand and probably salt. I mean really loaded. I removed the entire piece (really easy to do) and stuck the hose nozzle in there and sprayed the hell out of it and then took a rag and got all the crap out of that area. After I dried it, I applied some Klasse to it and wiped it out again. I dried the trim pieces and hit them with some 303 and let them dry. The trim pieces are bendable and easy to re-install. I thought maybe some of you might want to try it because this would be a prime target for rust at some point. It's amazing how much junk was trapped there!

 

what rubber pieces do you mean around the rear fenders? i looked and didn't see any...do you mean the clip that holds the back of the vinyl top?

 

Inside the wheel well. There's a trim piece that starts at the air deflector in front of the rear wheel and continues around the wheel well and ends where the plastic bumper begins. From 8o'clock to 1 o'clock. Black plastic covering the metal.HTH.

 

hmmm.. i still dont get where ur talking about ..
i know that the area gets a low of street gravel, whenever i knock on the bumper some rocks fall out from staying under there.

Any more precise pics with photoshopped arrows that are more helpful ?

 

I'll try to post a pic tomorrow. Maybe I'm using the wrong term. It's the 1/2" moulding that protects the fender arch from debris thrown up by the tire. At least on MY'03. Just for the hell of it place your hand between the rear tire and the fender arch toward the front of the car. There's a piece of moulding that's about 2' long that runs until the metal fender meets the bumper. That moulding slides right off. Front fneders have protective moulding as well, but it's held on with clips. Actually part of the inner fender.

 

The S2000 is perhaps the only Honda/Acura vehicle that still has these rear fender lip protectors. They are notorious for trapping and holding dirt, moisture, salt and grime. Honda used to put these on all Accord's, Civic's and early Odyssey's. Look at any older Honda vehicle and you will see rust in the area near these rubber lip protector's. My Honda dealer highly recommended removing these from my 00' Civic SiR in which I did. The dealer stated they are known to contribute significantly to corrosion. This is the reason I am told Honda no longer uses them on any of their current models (costly corrosion claims). I do not drive my S2000 in rain or snow so it is not a big deal for me. You make a good point to remove them and thoroughly clean them and the fender area, you saw what was in there, kind of scary isn't it ? If I drove my S in the winter I would probably remove the protector's all together as a few rock chips are much easier to fix than rusty fenders.

 

Interesting. It might be a good idea to just remove them if you don't want to go through the hassle of maintaining them. I don't take the car out in the snow either, but in my area, (Putnam County NY), it's almost like a contest to see if more salt and sand can be dumped on the roads to eclipse the previous year's record! I don't think it ever completely goes away! That's why I try to shoot some water under the car once in a while. I'm sure eventually the salt will win!