Rear wheel arches

[aggie]

Hello, I am just about to recover ( retrim ) the rear wheel arches of my  Spitfire 4.   Have cleaned everything and cut the new material roughly to shape but, because the arch is arched and the material is flat it's a bit like wrestling with an eel.  Anybody out there done this before and got any helpful tips such as where to start i.e. top, bottom or middle ?

[dougbgt6]

Aggie,

I've replaced my GT6 carpets, all except the wheel arches, not looking forward to it for the same reasons as you!  I bought a loose carpet set, the wheel arch pieces have 3 narrow "pizza slices" about 3" long cut and stitched up. This gives curvature on the top of the arch. A similar thing has been done on the gearbox tunnel carpet but too much material has been left and I've had to pack under the carpet with seating foam, looks OK. I may have to do the same to the wheel arches.

Good luck, tell us how you get on.

Doug

[Colin Lindsay]

Is it carpet or vinyl, Aggie?

I've just replaced the Gt6 arch carpets and they ended up looking like the original baggy trousers, but thankfully most of it is hidden. I stuck the flat faces first then curved and stuck the carpet an inch at a time, using heavy magnets from old speakers to keep it in place whilst the glue dried.

For the Herald they supplied vinyl-like material and it's a matter of starting in the centre then with lots of heat and contact adhesive smoothing the stuff out towards the edges, like vinyl-wrapping a car.

[NonMember]

The professional (expert) trimmer who fitted my Spitfire's interior cut those wheel arch vinyl pieces and sewed them up to shape. It's a neat job but I don't think the originals had the stitched seam.

[aggie]

Thankyou all.  Think i'll go with your method Colin.  Any particular glue that you use ?  I've used several different spray adhesives when fitting carpet and odd bits of trim but don't really rate any of them too highly.

[Colin Lindsay]

4 hours ago, aggie said:

Thankyou all.  Think i'll go with your method Colin.  Any particular glue that you use ?  I've used several different spray adhesives when fitting carpet and odd bits of trim but don't really rate any of them too highly.

Aerosol contact adhesive; no idea of the brand but it was marked Heavy Duty.

 

[daverclasper]

Never used the aerosols, though Evo Stick contact adhesive (£4.50 from Screwfix for a smaller tin) seems very good.

Maybe not for large areas, as takes a bit of time to spread and surfaces need to be pressed together after 5+ mins or so.

The various brand smaller tubes, don't seem any good any more?.

Edited May 9, 2020 by daverclasper

[dougbgt6]

The aerosols, don't smell at all, not like Evo Stick, which some might find disappointing.  Also I think they're not so strong, I had to remove a vertical section of my carpet which had been liberally sprayed, but came off quite easily. I'm going to try the aerosol on my wheel arches, but I suspect doing it the "Lindsay" way may need something stronger.

Doug

[Black Cat]

Woolies do a Hi-Flex Lining Carpet 

Quote from Wolies: -

 

"Soft, very flexible, unbacked, 4 way stretch roof and sidewall lining carpet. Useful for shaping and mouding around tight corners like wheel arches and window recesses.

I've seen this used in a camper van it it conformed to all the in and out shapes and looks very professional and at £19.50 for a 1000mm x 2000mm wide not too expensive.