Mission accomplished, Lokaris installed!
It's amazing how Karmann designed so many crevasses to catch debris. I clear this pocket all the time. I might have driven 200 km since I last checked it.
I shot those areas full of wax in the interior areas and liquefied petroleum jelly in these visible areas when I first got the car.
I saw the treatment that deQuincey and I believe Andrew used, but I didn't want to use something that would cover the color or be sticky or waxy in texture (my Tii underside is covered in Dinitrol, and it's just miserable to work around). I have a whole gallon of really good rust preventative from Bilt Hamber, but I reserve that for the cavities. I painted all of the surfaces with Owatrol Öl, like Penetrol in the States. It penetrates and dries into a really tough, hard, water-repelling surface.
I had pre-treated the Lokaris with Owatrol months ago in anticipation of this project.
My camera doesn't like when I use the blue LED shop light, so the color spectrum is off. But you can see that it's nice and glossy. This will become hard and dry to the touch. I covered all the surfaces, including the struts, springs, and hardware.
Before I covered over the wells, I thought about that cavity filling up with gravel all the time. There is a gap behind the Lokari that could still allow gravel and water to travel up into that cavity. I cut a couple of 30mm closed-cell foam and put them in those spaces to prevent gravel and dirt from collecting there. Some of you might think I'm creating a moisture trap, but I have these areas coveed in wax, petroleum jelly, and Owatrol. And the foam does not seal the areas, just fills the gap where the gravel collects.
The driver's side went pretty smoothly, the passenger side was a little more troublesome. I don't know if maybe the wheel well is shaped slightly differently, or the Lokari is cut slightly differently, but it was harder to get the same or even similar position at the front edge.
The passenger side fitted slightly differently, but ended up pretty good.
You can see from these photos that I followed Andrews(?) lead and pulled all of the staples and replaced them with rivets. Man! That is a couple of days of hand-breaking work. Those staples are tough, and don't give up their position without a fight!
I decided early on that I would not spray the Lokaris with rubberized paint, as I had done that for the Lokaris on my Tii. I found that grass and dirt tends to stick to the rubberized paint, making it harder to clean.
The end result was good, and I am much more confident about the wheel wells being protected.