Trev’s Tips

No more scratchings

Scratches down the side of your precious 4wd are not something we all aspire to achieve but it is sad fact that occasionally we misjudge a corner or may just go down a track that is badly overgrown which results in a series of white lines appearing through the cars paint work.  Some of us see these scratches as more of a problem than others.  Some proudly look upon these scratches as battle wounds and they could probably recount the exact situation that caused each imperfection, while others just accept it as part of off road adventures and do little to reduce the risk of its reoccurrence.  For me, I accept the fact that I am going to put a few scratches in my car and I’d never back down on following an isolated goat trail just because I might scratch my car but I have to say that every time I hear a branch rub down the paintwork it makes me cringe.  I like to take a bit of pride in maintaining my car’s appearance so putting scratches in the paint work is not something that I really enjoy.

This reluctance to damage my car and the fact that I have been told by a number of people now that the Cape Arid area (where we will be traveling at Christmas time) is sure to take a couple of kilos of paint off the car’s body started me thinking of how I could minimise this inevitable damage.  There are products available such as spray on plastic which is meant to reduce the harshness of brush marks on your car but I have heard that its effectiveness is questionable and also limited to a one off use. Reg had told me earlier that when he traveled this region once before he had made temporary blinds that went down the side of the car to stop tree damage. After thinking about this for a while I decided to do something similar but with the aim of having the blinds reusable for the many other occasions that I’ll be confronted with tree damage.  With any equipment like this they have to be easy to apply to the car, easy to remove and convenient to store.  Without meeting these criteria it is too easy to just not bother using the blinds or leave them at home because they are too cumbersome.

My idea was to use magnetic sheeting, (the same as is often used on the side of cars for advertising) which would be cut to size for easy application.  The idea almost failed before it even started when I couldn’t find anyone who would sell this product for less than $40 per meter however after many phone calls I came across a place called Ausmag in Belmont who provided me with a stack of off cuts for $10 per meter and then sold me another three meters straight off the roll for $22 per meter.  All up I spent $140 which gave me enough sheeting to complete the job.

So last Saturday I spent an hour or two cutting and shaping (sheeting width is 60cm) this sheeting so that it would fit neatly onto the side panels.  The final finished job I think has turned out quite good and although I have not tested it yet I am confident that it will do the protection job perfectly.  I have put a photo in below to show the finished covers.

When not in use the panels roll up and fit neatly behind the back seat (ready for application at the drop of a hat) and when I do need them they only take approximately 2 minutes to fit.

If you do decide to take on a project like this here are a couple of points to be careful of

1)      Give your car a good clean before you start to cut and fit the sheeting.  This will prevent any abrasive scratching on the paint as you maneuver the covers into position.

2)    Likewise when you plan to use the covers out in the bush have a soft cloth handy and give the car a quick rub over to remove the bulk of dust and grit from the panels to prevent chaffing.

3)    Avoid laying the panels in the dirt with the magnetic side down.  They will pick up small rocks etc that will chaff against the side of the car if not removed properly.

4)    When you are cutting the panels to shape make them a little longer than necessary to allow the leading edge of each panel to sit under the trailing edge of the one in front.  This will reduce the risk of stronger tree branches catching a weak corner and peeling off an entire panel.

The only other point of interest with this job was the surprising weight of the sheeting.  All up I think they would weigh around 10 kilo’s, which doesn’t sound like much but if you’re the one driving 2.5 tones of bloated Landcruiser across a soft beach then every little bit counts

Till next time

Stay safe and happy 4wding

Trevor

(Saw it, wanted it, threw a fit, Got It!!)