Body/Trim: Rear Arch Protectors

[Angie]

I thought it best to get them fitted by the body repairer when he does the arches. I haven't asked him yet but I can't imagine it would cost the earth, especially as I'm spending more on the car than I'd get if I sold it! I really want to keep it for a few years more, and want it to be in really good condition when I do eventually sell it - though I might never be able to bring myself to part with it, it might have to be buried with me!

[Velorum]

Originally Posted by Angie

I thought it best to get them fitted by the body repairer when he does the arches. I haven't asked him yet but I can't imagine it would cost the earth, especially as I'm spending more on the car than I'd get if I sold it! I really want to keep it for a few years more, and want it to be in really good condition when I do eventually sell it - though I might never be able to bring myself to part with it, it might have to be buried with me!

That makes sense Angie - sometimes its best to pay to get someone else to do things - it can be less frustrating and more cost effective in the long run

[Clifford Pope]

If they work like the front ones then basically they would "spring" into position and require very little fixing.
The front ones just have two self-tapping screws and a plastic popper, IIRC.

[Velorum]

Originally Posted by Clifford Pope

If they work like the front ones then basically they would "spring" into position and require very little fixing.
The front ones just have two self-tapping screws and a plastic popper, IIRC.

As best I can remember:

When I offered mine up to the arch to see what they looked like (the nearest I got to fitting them) the radius looked fine but the flange bit that overlaps the lip pointed slightly downward in relation to it. I guess that this is what the heat gun is for.

[DW42]

Your memory is correct -- the heat gun is only for shrinking the plastic liners around the outside edge to meet the wheel arch. It was scary in theory but easy in practice. The main thing to avoid is heating the paint on the wheel arch. I had a second go with the heat gun because when the plastic cooled down it pulled back away from the wheel arch in a few places. The screws provided held the liners in place just fine. I had visions of a liner falling off on some giant rural Norfolk pothole, but it never happened -- they stayed in place.