How to keep the wheel well's shine

[JG_Detailing]

Is there a way to keep the wheel well's looking wet.m I usually use tire cleaner on them.

[Bill D]

The problem I always had with wheel wells and using tire shines both water and solvent based, is that they do not stand up to bad weather. That was until I found Meguiars Engine Kote. Most durable product for wells I ever used, not overly shiny but also repels dust well. Unfortunately Megs discontinued it this year So I wonder if anything in the current Megs line up can do the same job on wheels wells as EK did.

[scrub]

I use Safe D-Greaser and a brush to scrub before I wash the rest of the vehicle. This allows the wells to dry and show the results of the washing/scrubbing. I can then repeat for the spots I missed. I've found if you take care of the wells when the vehicle is new its tons easier to keep looking good. For older cars it will take several wash cycles to improve. You might not ever get them back to original.

I really don't spray cleaner or scrub too much wells that have undercoating sprayed in them, for fear of the chemical having a negative impact on the undercoating. I scrub the plastic. Your pic looks like a little bit of plastic on the side then mostly undercoating. Difficult to tell.

Another option is tire dressing as Bill D said. I agree that the results won't last. It does look good right after its done though.

You could try some spray paint or undercoating. I don't care for this option. Its not fixing/restoring the surface.

Good luck hope you find this helpful!

[JG_Detailing]

I would never spray paint the wheel well's. The tire dressing does make it look good, but it doesn't last long.

[Bill D]

Yep, that's my issue with stuff other than Engine Kote, at least it lasts a bit longer than any kind of tire dressing on the wheel wells. Even by the gallon you can go through the stuff rather quickly

[gman39120]

I have always liked the look of Meg's Accent Dressing. The durability is short lived in rain, but it is easy to apply out of the aresol can and leaves a nice rich matte finish.

[Mike Phillips]

Getting your wheel wells clean and then making them look new is a touch job, thus finding a product that keeps them looking good for a long time is a problem.

Like Bill mentioned, Engine Kote was a good product for this and if you call around, you might still be able to find some. Other than that there are some Meguiar's products you can use, but how long they last will depend on the environment in which they're exposed.

If you car has plastic lined fender wells, after cleaning them, you could use any of these products,

NEW Exterior Trim Detailer



Gold Class Trim Detailer




Accent Dressing




Tire & Trim Dressing Gel



If your fender wells are a combination of paint and plastic, then you can use Hyper-Dressing



Hyper Dressing is what we used on this engine compartment after first cleaning it with Super Degreaser.


Engine Before


Engine After

[Bill D]

Oh yeah, a fellow forum member told me he reported good durability on wells with #38 but too bad it can be a bear to apply if the wheels are not removed ( he did so). If you're very proficient and handy at removing wheels routinely ( good reason to have a lift ) #38 might be the product of choice.

[Newport Viper]

I spray Hot Shine!

Tires and wheel wells!

[Lt1Corvette]

I really liked natural shine. I haven't been able to find any lately, but that worked really well.