Rear Spats of Glory

[Arragonis]

I'm interested in getting a pair of rear wheel covers or spats done but need some info on attaching - basically terminology for the bits I need I think - I work in IT so real world engineering is a dark art

I don't want to drill any holes so I checked the rear wheelarch and found that there is a "lip" on the inside all the way round. I would like to fit a small "U" shaped clamp or fixing to this, onto which I can then attach fastenings for the spats themselves - probably Correx (UK name for Coroplast) with a thin aluminium bar to provide support - something like this



with maybe some kind of tape or cover for the gaps / borders.

The other reason for no drilling is that I need to remove these for servicing (I have a warranty) and if they last for the MOT (safety inspection) in about 2 years time. And of course I hate drilling into a car body where we use salt to remove ice from our roads.

What are those parts called ?

[TXwaterdog]

First off, if you drill into your car just coat the inside of the fresh hole with touchup paint effectively sealing it. Secondly, how big is your lip? How do your wheel well plastics attach? (the covers inside your wheel well that dampen sound and protect against debree)? On my wheel wells the inserts have simple plastic body clips that snap into place. I would suggest mounting your wheel covers to those body clips.

[Arragonis]

Sorry, no drilling. Nope. None.

Lip is about 5-10mm.

No arch lining

[skyking]

There are a couple of ways to do what you want. You could form up a backing frame out of heavy wire, that follows the inside of your lip. Weld whatever you want to that wire to support your cross bar, attachments for the top of the spat, etc.
Then get some spring wire, and make spring pieces that arch over the tire and press this in place from the inside of the fender well.
Think of something like that, that gets pressed into place by a force. Remove the force and it comes right out. You can paint it up and then cushion it with rubber or something to keep from marring the paint or coating in there.

[TXwaterdog]

That back lip sounds big enough to mount to for sure. I like the previous posters idea of a pressure locked/ spring system. How were you planning on making these covers? If you're using fiberglass then it would be able to holdup to the idea. Again going back to under the fender wells.. Perhaps a subframe can be mounted to bolt the final cover to? that lip sounds big enough for a spring to pull down and lock it into place or to mount a back plate to. I have the cover pictured in my head... I'm looking forward to the results.

[Old Tele man]

...one L-O-N-G continuous strip of Velco™ stuck to the car body (glue can be removed with solvent) following the wheelwell outline.

[Sven7]

If you use duct tape that's all you'll ever need to keep it on. Like Tele man says, you can remove the residue with solvent.

[ChrstphrR]

I think MetroMPG's thread on his rear wheel spats would be useful for you to look into for ideas for mounting on your car.

DIY: plastic rear wheel skirts (Geo Metro)


And a variation on that, alas, without pictures:

I have made unused (as of yet) mounts for my car, that were also made of copper using the same hammer-it-flat method, that I bent with the intent of mounting them with the inner fender liner screws that mount the black plastic inner fender to the inside of fender skin, cabin, frame rails, etc.

I simply bent the flattened copper pipe segments in a vise after measuring out the lengths needed using card or paper for rough measurements

My intent was to make mounts that just needed a simple hole drilled for the mounting screw that already existed, and the piece of copper would be bent and fashioned in such a way that It would reach out almost flush to the fender, that I could mount a spats on the fenders of my car.

Reaching back into my memory, because I haven't time to rummage in the car for where these brackets lay with my tools, they were about half a foot or more before being bent up, as I'd made them to follow the contours of the divot that the fender screw resided, and continued following the fender liner, and the lip created by the sheet metal fender, to the edge.

If you have such mounting holes inside, you might be able to use the same as mounting points for the aluminium bars as supports for your correx/coroplast spat.

[jimepting]

I agree on the no holes limit. I drilled mounting holes on an Echo and lost car value at trade-in. Tape is ok for a tryout.

[TXwaterdog]

Originally Posted by ChrstphrR

I think MetroMPG's thread on his rear wheel spats would be useful for you to look into for ideas for mounting on your car.

DIY: plastic rear wheel skirts (Geo Metro)

...

Good call! thanks for cross linking it.