Hey guys,

It's not rocket science, but I though I'd share what I did to my scuttle panels seeing as so many people have them fading and rubber seals cracking constantly.

These are about $50 for the pair from Mitsu, but for $10 worth of paint, and $8 worth of rubber seal, I see this as a cheaper and probably more durable solution.

After removing the scuttle panels, I found that the old rubber was very easy to peal off by hand. Any stubborn sections were easily removed with a pair of pliers.

Once the scuttle panels were thoroughly cleaned and dried, I proceeded to give them a few coats of black spray paint. One can of paint was sufficient to do multiple coats on both pieces.

You need about 1.8m of rubber seal. There are many different styles you can use. The type I used is pictured below.

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7239/cimg2831.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg2831.jpg)

I glued this to the scuttle holding it in place temporarily with mini-clamps and bulldog clips.

Once set, its just a matter of putting the scuttles back on the car and Voila - good as new!

Here are pics of before and afters.. It certainly beats the tired, old, cracked looking scuttles.

Before:
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/963/cimg2826.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg2826.jpg) http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/1440/cimg2827.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg2827.jpg)
After:
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3778/cimg2828.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg2828.jpg) http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8530/cimg2830y.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg2830y.jpg)

nice work. where did you get your rubber seal from?

nice work. where did you get your rubber seal from?

Clark rubber.

Found 2 meter off cut for $8. I think this type is normally $6.95 per meter.

But I'm sure if you looked around, you could find something cheaper.

Good work

This will come in handy when mits stop supplying them, I got mine for about $32 for the pair a few weeks ago, for that cost I figured my time was worth more. I would say however that there would be a limited amount left at mits so this will be great for those wanting to give it a go.

Do you want to do a more detailed step by step and send to me for when we start the FAQ and Tips section?

Good work

This will come in handy when mits stop supplying them, I got mine for about $32 for the pair a few weeks ago, for that cost I figured my time was worth more. I would say however that there would be a limited amount left at mits so this will be great for those wanting to give it a go.

Do you want to do a more detailed step by step and send to me for when we start the FAQ and Tips section?

Sure, I have a spare set lying around, so I will make another pair up and take photo's one step at a time.

Let me know when you want it and I'll get it to you.

Great work mate :thumbsup: was going to be buying a new set of the scuttle panels for my car this week, may give this a bash now!

Great work mate :thumbsup: was going to be buying a new set of the scuttle panels for my car this week, may give this a bash now!

aaah very pretty looking now! was gonna be lazy and just get sum from mitsu..but like timmy i think i may give it a gud ol college try!

good work :thumbsup:

That's excellent. Well done. Was gonna buy some after i got some paint work done but now i'm gonna try your method.

I went to Clarke Rubber and got mine. $6.95 per meter...most stores have it...just ask for...

weather seal strip product code 501, English Description "Blister with Flange, weather seal strip"

The OP, well done, this ideas is worth a free beer for ya !

The other thing I was going to add was that if your scuttles aren't faded, or if u give it a coat of some plastic shine or polish, I'm sure you could even save more money by not having to spray them.

But all in all, thanks for the feedback guys.

Glad to be of inspiration! :)

Wish you'd inspired us 3 weeks ago - I bought new ones!!! :eeek:

Nice one Onky, love all your mods and hints.

Regards, Tony

Wish you'd inspired us 3 weeks ago - I bought new ones!!! :eeek:

Nice one Onky, love all your mods and hints.

Regards, Tony

Yeah, Tony - I had bought new ones too! lol

It was only was only once I removed them that I realised I could fix them up!

So I fixed up mine and put them on my dad's GTVi.
Hence why the car in the photo is black, not my Silver KH.

Wish you'd inspired us 3 weeks ago - I bought new ones!!! :eeek:

Nice one Onky, love all your mods and hints.

Regards, Tony

Wish this was 6 months ago! I bought a pair of new ones too!!! Hahahaha As the rubber on the car was already worn and dried out.

Nice work though. This will come very handy.

Cheers mate!! :thumbsup:

Wish this was 6 months ago! I bought a pair of new ones too!!! Hahahaha As the rubber on the car was already worn and dried out.

Nice work though. This will come very handy.

Cheers mate!! :thumbsup:

Well, if Mitsu have not revised the rubber on these, no doubt you'll be doing this later on down the track anyway. :)

Well done Joe - more Onky goodness shared amongst the AMC tribe!!

I've kept two sets of clapped-out scuttle panels, so "next time" I'll be looking for that rubber seal strip. I have no doubt that the new scuttle panels will deteriorate the same way the originals did.

What exactly does this do? Prevents water running into....?

I have posted pic of mine, which I believe needs replacing. *I think* it cannot be fixed.

Also how hard is this to change?

Slightly off topic but physically close to the scuttle, any easy way of fixing the worn paint on bottom of the wiper arm or does it need to be replaced?

Has anyone thought of colour coding their scuttle panels with different spray paint?

What exactly does this do? Prevents water running into....?

I have posted pic of mine, which I believe needs replacing. *I think* it cannot be fixed.

Also how hard is this to change?

Slightly off topic but physically close to the scuttle, any easy way of fixing the worn paint on bottom of the wiper arm or does it need to be replaced?

It CAN be fixed... that's the whole idea of this thread champ! :thumbsup:

In regards to the oxidation of the wiper arms, I took mine off, sanded them smooth, and gave them a coat of paint - easy done.

You could probably do both in one afternoon in one hit.

If you open your bonnet, each wiper arm has a 12mm nut. Undo these and pry off the wiper arms. Then there are about 5 like screw clips. Take these out with a phillips head screw driver. Once removed, you must firstly remove the passenger side scuttle, then the drivers side. Each one has 2 clips underneath, but these are easily pried off.



Has anyone thought of colour coding their scuttle panels with different spray paint?

IMHO, I don't think this would look very nice. I think the less conspicuous they are, the better. The black blends with the black border that surrounds the windscreen and the black wiper arms.

Finished doing mine last night....looks much better than the broken rubber that i had before....

Incidentally the reason for doing this is not to stop water from going through, but to stop debris, leaves dirt etc from making its way down and under the plastic scuttle panels.

I recommend you take them off anyway, and give the area a good wash, as you'll be surprised how much dirt actually finds it way there, I had so much dirt on the passenger side under the scuttle panel I could grow potatoes !

All in all it took 30 minutes to do, and I used super glue to stick the rubber on, and hold it on with clothes pegs.

Incidentally the reason for doing this is not to stop water from going through, but to stop debris, leaves dirt etc from making its way down and under the plastic scuttle panels.

I recommend you take them off anyway, and give the area a good wash, as you'll be surprised how much dirt actually finds it way there, I had so much dirt on the passenger side under the scuttle panel I could grow potatoes !



Exactly, contry to popular belief these do nto stop water getting inside the car. If you have water entering from this area yo have far larger issues than a bit of rubber. Some have sealed them up and had leaks stop, generally this will be because most water runs off and the small amount still getting through is not noticed.

If you have water leaks, check the drains each end and yes wash the area out as well.

mine are that bad they have warped and distorted.. i think i'll have to get new ones.. or at the least salvagable ones!

mine are that bad they have warped and distorted.. i think i'll have to get new ones.. or at the least salvagable ones!

mine too, they have lifted quite far off the windscreen. i was amazed to notice when i got the tj, the rubber was cracked, while on the te, it was still good.

mine are that bad they have warped and distorted.. i think i'll have to get new ones.. or at the least salvagable ones!

Time to visit the wreckers mate! I'm going this sat to get me some scuttle panels and maybe wiper arms!

It CAN be fixed... that's the whole idea of this thread champ! :thumbsup:

In regards to the oxidation of the wiper arms, I took mine off, sanded them smooth, and gave them a coat of paint - easy done.

You could probably do both in one afternoon in one hit.

If you open your bonnet, each wiper arm has a 12mm nut. Undo these and pry off the wiper arms. Then there are about 5 like screw clips. Take these out with a phillips head screw driver. Once removed, you must firstly remove the passenger side scuttle, then the drivers side. Each one has 2 clips underneath, but these are easily pried off.



Thanks for that info.

Any specific sand paper or paint? Do I just go to Bunnings and get a can of black metal paint (For the wiper arms)

i'd get a peice of 120, and a few 300's..

and just a can of satin/matt black some of that white knight stuff from bunnings will do the trick, you don't have to prime it.. but it's always a good idea.. if you do want to prime it some 'etch primer' like the stuff you buy from super cheap labelled 'super etch primer' all this stuff is available at supercheap.. DO NOT get that really cheap export paint.. that stuff is *****house..

simple directions - (can be applied to most small odd jobs painting)

1. use the 120 to get a bulk of the corrosion off... then go over the whole thing with the 300 so everything is a bit rough and you have no sanding marks from the 120.. even a scouring pad would be enough if you just want to freshen up and painting fresh paint over old paint (fresh pad ofcourse)

2. use a clean rag and some prepwash, failing that most other white spirits will be fine (EG, Metho,acetone (carfull with acetone some paints don't like it!) to get any grease/silicon off the job

3. very lightly spray some etch primer on bare metal (not really necessary if your just roughing up the paint, and don't go down to metal, but it never hurts to use primer)

4. once the primer has dried usually about 30-45 mins depending on conditions, give it a very light sand with some 600 just to get the spray marks out (you can leave it if you want, but the top coat might have a slight texture to it)

5. apply a very light first 'dust' coat of your top coat, then follow with a few thin coats of top coat, allow a few mins between coats but DO NOT allow to fully dry between coats..


that can apply to painting anything metal... eg rocker covers, wiper arms, brackets etc etc.. although there are different top coats to use for some things like rocker covers so they are oil/fuel resistant, like engine paint, once cured it's pretty tolerable to having oil/fuel on it without any effect on the finish.. same thing with 2K clear coat.. i've done many many many rocker covers with 2k clear over normal acrylic basecoat and fuel etc has not affected them..

don't be scared to give it a go paint products have come along way!! like painting rocker covers can be a simple 10 min job and cost less than $20 for a can of engine enamel! plastic paints have advanced a fair bit :) you should have seen the interior of my old gemini (wish i never got rid of that).. i painted the dash and all plastic trims with a few cans of 'buckskin' vinyl/plastic paint from supercheap :)

and yes.. those are whitewalls

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6092/gemmiein.jpg