~Pictures~ The Horror of Wheel Wells

I

InTheAir

New member
Well, I've wanted to do this for about the last year and especially this summer--clean the wheel wells to remove the 10 years of nastiness that is grime, grit, grease, oil, cosmoline, and a bit of tar. The previous owners never got under the car, but instead just brought it to the dealer for service. Obviously, dealers don't clean (at least, well). ;)



In March, when I got under the car to replace the suspension, I was confronted with the horror that is my wheel wells. Since March is not the time for outdoor washing sessions here in Michigan, I ended up replacing the suspension and putting off the undercarriage cleaning.



Well, today was the day to pay the piper. :) I went out and bought 6 cans of Gunk Citrus Degreaser, some brass brushes, some nylon brushes, and some brake cleaner.



After removing the wheels and soaking the wells with degreaser (about 20 minutes), I pulled out the power washer (2300PSI) and started at it. You would not believe the amount of crud that came out of those wells! I repeated the process 3 times per well, including scrubing the problem areas with the brushes. After I was done, I dressed the wells with Aerospace 303 Protectant and moved to the wheels themselves. Although they had some attentions a few months ago, it was time to scrub again.



You can see from the pictures below, it has been quite a transformation. It certainly isn't full concours level, but it is a HUGE improvement!! (MORE PICTURES HERE: http://www.pbase.com/jlsphoto/porsche_wheel_wells )



Here is the RR before the suspension install



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Here is the RR after the suspension install with one crude cleaning at the local carwash, but before the detailed cleaning today



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AND NOW AFTER!!!



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Here is the right front before the suspension install



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Here is the right front before cleaning today



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AND NOW AFTER!!!



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OVERALL, IT IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT!



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Wow that's a big difference. At first glance it didn't look too horrible, but then after you see the afters you realize how bad they truely were. Nice car, btw.
 
Excellent! It is a shame so many people (as in non-autopians) don't put much effort into their fenderwells, it really detracts from their details. Beautiful work and car! :)
 
awahl63 said:
Very nice...did you paint them?
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Nope. That's just the painted surface underneath. A few others with brighter colors 911's (body style 993) have done the same thing and it is very incredible to see it go from black to yellow/red/etc.
 
Scottwax said:
Excellent! It is a shame so many people (as in non-autopians) don't put much effort into their fenderwells, it really detracts from their details. Beautiful work and car! :)
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Thanks, Scott.



It's nice to know that we all suffer from the same "sickness". :woot2:
 
Which Bilstein kit is that? How was the handling before compared to after?



Awesome job on the wheel wells though!





CHRIS
 
2003SCT said:
Which Bilstein kit is that? How was the handling before compared to after?



Awesome job on the wheel wells though!
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I ended up installing Bilstein HD Shocks, Porsche MO30 (Sport) Springs (Rest of World version), Porsche MO30 22mm front and 20mm rear sway bars, and a KLA strut brace. I did the entire install myself and ended up lowering the car about 1 1/4" all around, although I had the car corner balance and the alignment done at a performance shop.



The difference in handling was incredible. Although the previous shocks only only 25K miles on them (original), the new setup ~really~ has improved the handling of the car. I'm very happy with it.
 
Oustand job and nice shocks, indeed.

How many inch did it drop with thos Bilstein HD shocks?
 
Wow, great job! The way the suspension pieces cleaned up looks especially great.



Judging by the lack of discoloration/pitting/etc. on the suspension, I'm guessing that it hasn't seen much winter weather.



I love undercarriage/wheelwell makeovers (still working on this area of my M3).
 
klnyc said:
Oustand job and nice shocks, indeed.

How many inch did it drop with thos Bilstein HD shocks?
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Thanks.



Well, technically it's the combination of the threads on the shocks and the springs that allow the lowering. In my case, I set the lower spring perch so that the car is lowered to about 5mm above the Porsche 911 RS height, which is the lowest height the car was designed for. It started out at the US ride height, which is the highest ride height used anywhere in the world (DOT bumper requirement forces Porsche to ~raise~ the car above the height they ship them to the rest of the world (ROW)).



The net lowering was about 1 1/4". You can see it in these gif images: (sorry about the lack of interesting background--I took these pictures in my garage in March. I was trying to make sure that the perspective was identical so the pictures could be easily compared)



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Accumulator said:
Judging by the lack of discoloration/pitting/etc. on the suspension, I'm guessing that it hasn't seen much winter weather.
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As you know, around these Upper Midwest parts, winters mean salt. So, no, the car has never seen winter driving. :)
 
How long did the whole process take you? Im considering doing this to my m3 as its pretty much an autox car only (will stay clean).



Couple questions....



1) How long did the whole process take

2) While using the preasure washer did you cover the brake lines with anything as to not disrupt anything in there.

3) What did you use to remove grease/rust from the rotors and hub (does any of these products you use jepordize the integrity in performance, IE rotors?)





Thanks for your cool post :2thumbs:
 
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