Well...I'm embarrassed to say...my wheel wells are horrible. Wannabe needs to take away my badge for this. But, I spent the good part of last Saturday working on just one trying to fix it. There is so much tar and dirt buildup in there.

I took the wheels off to clean them, and ended up removing the fender liner to help get to everything. As I continued, I began to wonder if this tar stuff was here for a reason. Regardless, I'm already this far so I can't just keep it half done.

I need something that will help break that down. I have been using a pretty strong oil remover along with carb cleaner. That, combined with some brushes of various strength, have been doing a decent job. However I am getting to a point where the brushes are becoming difficult to reach in some areas.

My ultimate goal is to remove all of this tar stuff, and then us my own protectant (probably a rust preventor that is black) and spray the areas.

Ideas?

Can anyone show me pictures of your wheel wells so I can get an idea of what everyone else's looks like.

 

I use P21S TAW on my wheel wells and it works good. Not sure how bad yours is. Maybe some non-diluted APC.

 

Pics would be nice. Are you sure your not trying to scrub off the spray on lining?

 

It is quite possible.

Which is why I only did one corner. And...why I will be re-spraying something under there to help protect it again.

I took some pics, but my computer at home crashed so I am working on rebuilding it. I'll get some up though.

It has a tar-like texture to it. The reason I had continued is because it cleans up like oil. Meaning when I look at the brush and water after rinsing, it looks like oil/dirt.

 

After doing some searching, I believe that I have started to remove the under coating stuff. Damn my OCD for cleanliness. I guess sometimes it is good to have some "dirty" things on there.

Alright...off to the auto store to buy some new spray on stuff.

 

yup- you are such a wacko that you are actually over cleaning!!

have considered the nomination for the first badge removal and will be rejecting it... your badge is very safe!

 

Yes, I discovered when I first bought my 2008 that the rear wheel wells are coated with a thick grease substance. I almost thought the dealer had run through tar or thick oil until I looked at other showroom S2000 vehicles and saw the same thing. It's a wierd choice of undercoating for the S, but cleaning it isn't a good solution.

 

Yah, I had to go buy a can of rubber under coating and re-spray the whole area. Of course, I didn't do the three other ones.

Just used a degreaser and APC to clean up the area. Sprayed my rubber boots with a silicon spray. Then sprayed everything down with CD2. Ahhh....looks much better.

 

I have used vinlyex to make it look nice and clean as well. it also acts as a repellent as well.