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Restoring the Spare Wheel Carrier

I think if Rodney Dangerfield had owned a C3 Corvette, he would've said, "Corvette spare wheel carriers get no respect." And the one on my car was no different. I was scratched and, at some point in the past, it was spray-bombed silver. V-strap and all.

I am guessing the previous owner thought that a thin layer of spray paint would conceal dirt and scratches, plus it would also match the mufflers.

In reality, it just looked awful.



The first thing I did, was to wash it thoroughly, then wet sanded with 220-grit paper, which removed the silver spray paint and most of the surface rust present.


The inside of the tub revealed the original gray/white marbleized finish that—in my opinion—looks great, so I continued sanding the outside surface in order to remove any traces of paint as well as as many nicks and scratches as possible.

I finished the cleaning/wet sanding process with 400-grit paper.

Then sprayed several generous coats of gloss clear enamel inside and out, which really brought out the "marble" finish back to life while adding a layer of protection.



Since the "Vee" brace was originally black, I masked the area and sprayed several coats of Eastwood's Underhood Paint.



As you can see, some of the deep scratches remained on the fiberglass, but since this piece sits under the car, it will be hard to see those imperfections, and I wanted the tub to look original, so this was an acceptable compromise.



The dust shield that sits between the tub and the underside of the car was also cleaned and painted matte black.




This photo above shows the spare tire carrier back in the car when I was having the exhaust system redone. You can also see the thinner Dynomax mufflers I chose.

They give a great tone to the V8!