ZL1 Canard Project ( AKA Splash Guard )
Items & Tools needed
18” x 12” Dura Flex splash guard set ( purchased from Pep Boys )
Black Sharpie
Tin Snips
Torx Bit / Driver ( forgot the size )
Four Small Office Binder Clips
Drill & Bit
Electrical Tape
Slip Clips
Belt Sander & 80 Grit Belt
I wanted to try my best to come up with a decent looking solution to protect the side of my new ZL1, other than wrapping the entire car in film . . .
On the back wheel well of the ZL1 GM designed a canard that does provide protection from flying rocks, so I used that part as the basis of my design.
There is not much “material” to the factory rear canards, so buying a set of those and modifying to fit did not appear to be an option, so . . .
I purchased a set of 18” x 12” Dura Flex Splash Guards. (Pic 1) Ideally I would like the material to be a little thicker so as to create the rounded edge like the factory canard, but this will suffice for now.
Using a section of corrugated cardboard I created a rough template by tracing the rear facing canard on the back wheel well. With the piece of card board I adjusted the shape and height of the shield to fit my liking and the curvature of the front fender. The bottom of the template aligns with the bottom of the factory rocker. (Sorry no Pic)
I then traced the final card board template onto the clear package face of the splash guards, using the clear material I was able to trace the thin line of the inside fender lip and locate the two factory torx bits. (Sorry no Pic)
I used the small office binder clips to temporarily hold the template on the car as I worked.
To “test” the appearance, I used black duct tape on the clear template to see how it looked. Bumble Bee is watching my progress . . the two factory torx screws that I removed are laying on the counter. (Pic 2)
Trace your final template onto each of the splash shields and mark the two screw holes needed. Note if your splash shields have one textured face make sure to cut a right and left canard. (Pic 3 & 4)
Carefully cut out each shield with the tin snips, (Pic 5 & 6)
Rough shape of new canard (Pic 7)
For drilling and finishing the edges I clipped the right and left splash shield together with the small binder clips (Pic 8)
Drill the two holes for the factory screws, I used my drill press but a hand held unit will be just fine. (Pic 9)
Sand the rough edges of the shields smooth. I started with my little “Mouse” sander and that was too slow so I used an 80 grit belt sander and that worked great. (Pic 10) Sand splashes until desired shape and finish of edges is complete.
Here is the end result of the cut and sanded canards (Pic 11)
To install, turn the wheel all the way to the left or right (depending on which side you mount first). Here you can see the holes where the factory torx bits are removed. The small tab of electrical tape marks the height of the shield. Although really hard to see in the pic, I lined the fender lip with a strip of electrical tape to protect the paint from any possible chafing from the installed shield. (Pic 12)
Mount the bottom of the shield to the car with the two original torx bits, and use two slip clips to secure the remaining section of splash shield to the fender. These clips were laying around in my spare bits tins from an old set of splash guards, I assume you can buy something from the auto parts store. (Pic 13)
Finished mounting. The clips I have are pretty big, I want to find something a little smaller, but if not, I will paint the clips black later (Pic 14)
Drivers side finished (Pic 15 & 16)
Repeat the mounting process on the passenger side (Pic 17)
Mounted view passenger side (Pic 18)
