Splash (Spatter) Shield for the front fenders of 57 Fords

[57AGIN]

About a month before I started refurbishing my 57, I had a cold air package designed for the Paxton-Novi
supercharger's air intake system on my 351W.  Part of the cold air package necessitated putting the K&N air filter just behind the left headlight and taking fresh air in via the space behind the grill in front of the radiator.  To ensure the filter doesn't get clogged up with debris thrown up by the front tire my fabricator came up with a  splash shield (actually for lack of a better descriptive term a "spatter" shield).  Club member cool57 asked me some questions and thought these spatter shields might be of interest to other 57 Ford owners.  So Rick, 57 TUDOR, and I spent part of this afternoon coming up with a pattern and some photos. 

From what we've seen in many of the bone yard photos and using some common sense this would appear to be a way of taking what Ford may have overlooked in designing our 57's (or maybe it was planned obsolescence).  What I'm referring to is a way of keeping water, mud, rocks and salt out of the headlight area of our 57's.  Take a look at what was designed for my car and maybe it would be something to add to yours.  Note:  This would not be a good thing for a Concours points car, but daily drivers might get a little longer life if added.

Bob
57 AGIN
   

[57AGIN]

Here are a couple of more photos of the spatter shield pattern making.  Rick, 57 TUDOR, is the pattern maker.  We are having a great time working together on my 57.  We spent a couple of hours earlier            de-greasing & de-griming my 351, just prior to some of that liquid California sunshine came pouring down on us.  The engine didn't mind at all.

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Bob/Rick...good thinking and good follow-thru. What is the rubber your using? I assume you're attaching at the splash guards behind the parking lights? I had given some thought to this in the past..was thinking along the lines of a rubber sheet..also thought about just foaming the whole area with house stuff in rattle cans, then undercoating over that.
I like your idea better though.
One thought..is there drain for water that may get in?
Rich

[57AGIN]

Rich:

The provision of a drain is a good thought and I'll have to check it out when everything goes back together.  As to your other suggestions about using foam and undercoat, those are good ideas, too.  Back when I was reassembling the car in 2004 after installing the engine, I had the entire underside of the fenders media blasted, with the outside Turquoise & White carefully masked off.  Then I prepared the area with a good coat of Rustoleum primer, followed by undercoat.  When we looked at the under side of the fenders before media blasting this time, there was no rust, just a lot of dirt & sand.  Maybe the spatter shield is overkill, but what the heck we're good at that and nothing is too much where our 57's are concerned.

Bob
57 AGIN