[PDC]

1973 Trans Am - Fresh Paint. Less than 100 test / tune miles and the areas behind the tires look peppered. Cleaned it up as best I could with compound and polish and had clear film applied. But hoping to avoid beating the sh*t out of the clear film. Wondering what brand of mud flaps / splash guards forum members have used with success on their second gen cars?

Hoping to avoid any logos or lettering. Looking for subtle. Also would love to find a brand that had reliable clips to avoid drilling unnecessary holes in the fender and rear quarter lips.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU!

[Big Bear]

Using the black plastic guards. Hold them on with miniture c-clamps. Makes them easy to remove.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by PDC

1973 Trans Am - Fresh Paint. Less than 100 test / tune miles and the areas behind the tires look peppered. Cleaned it up as best I could with compound and polish and had clear film applied. But hoping to avoid beating the sh*t out of the clear film. Wondering what brand of mud flaps / splash guards forum members have used with success on their second gen cars?

Hoping to avoid any logos or lettering. Looking for subtle. Also would love to find a brand that had reliable clips to avoid drilling unnecessary holes in the fender and rear quarter lips.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU!

sorry i dont have suggestions for splash guards but interested to see if anyone has suggestions for some that dont require drilling.

can you post a pic of the "peppered" areas after only 100 miles? is it actually chipping or damaging the paint? do you live on a gravel road? i have thousands of miles on 3 of my cars with 6-12 year old paint with no splash guards & the areas behind the front tire of the fenders are pepper free, same for the rear quarters behind the rear tires. they do get some road debris & road tar crap occasionally but that washes right off.

[PDC]

The issue I have is extremely common with an old-school (non ceramic clear) 2-stage base clear. Shine even a very bright 100 watt incandescent bulb on the areas and it looks perfect. But lying down on your back with an LED headlamp to perform paint correction, and you can see small indentations in the clear coat from sand, road salt, gravel, etc. that appear white. Turn off the LED and hit it with natural or incandescent light and those tiny whitish pock marks literally disappear.

I have corrected everything as well as realistic and then had good clear film installed behind all 4 tires. I'm just hoping not to beat the crap out of the film right away, as film removal from a re-paint (as opposed to a modern baked on ceramic factory finish) can be tricky.

As far as road conditions, I had to take the car over to my tuner which is about 15 miles each way. It was a lovely dry 50* day - but it was after we had a few snows come and go so there was road salt and gravel at intersections and on/off ramps to the freeway. With those 335/30/18 rears, you could hear them just kicking the crap up against the rear quarters like crazy.

[dhutton]

Sticky, low treadwear rated tires will throw more stones as will some tread patterns.

Don

[PDC]

Originally Posted by dhutton

Sticky, low treadwear rated tires will throw more stones as will some tread patterns.

Don

100%.

[kingbuzzo]

Did you say you already tried the 3m product? That's what people use around here and the roads are terrible with the sand/salt combo.

My old 74 t/a was a disaster and she had mud flaps.

I actually rhino-guarded the wheel lip of my truck with color match but it has a rough texture of course.

[JUDGE3]

to me the mud flaps look terrible.

I had a new 1980 TA, it was peppered behind the front and rear tires, and some along the rocker panel. I put the best looking flaps on I could buy. took them off a month later couldn't stand the look.

the rear "foilers" produced look silly to.

I am going to install the clear urethane sheeting cut to fit on mine in these areas.
I used it on my 67 firebird in these areas also. I have the same materiel covering the headlight plastic on my 2015 silverado and my wifes 2017 ford edge. keeps the headlight plastic like new. and you can remove it easily if wanted.

and the rear fender flare on Trans Ams really gets peppered. gonna cover that to.

[JUDGE3]

you have to find thicker sheeting. I see the 3m stuff looks awful thin. never used it.

the headlight covers are from weathertech. much thicker stuff. easy to apply.

I recall I found the same stuff in sheets from a local window tinting place. been awhile, its not cheap.