At 01:35 PM 1/2/06, Michael Sloan wrote:
>"Is this thing supposed to have any metal surrounding the wheels, under the fenders? Or is the underside of the fenders exposed?"

In front there is a splash panel behind the front wheel attached to the main body and sealed along the fender side, but the rest of the fender is open inside with the back of the lamp fixtures exposed.

In the rear there is splash panel aft of the rear wheel, attached to the main body with bolts exposed inside the boot. The bottom edge of the fender has a bracket and one small bolt to attach the fender to the splash panel for structural support. Otherwise this splash panel is not sealed around the outer edge.

For nearly the first two years of production there was no splash panel ahead of the rear wheel, but it is highly recommended to retrofit the later parts. Beginning with car 29935 in April 1957 splash panels were installed in front of the rear wheels, attached to the main body and sealed around the outer edge. Installation of these panels to earlier cars requires drilling two holes in the inner fender. The top bolt hides behind the rear kick panel. The bottom bolt is underneath just aft of the body mount bracket.

Photo at right (courtesy of M.J. Moore in Cheshire, UK) is an original pair of panels with seals installed. Rivets are wrong way around. Rivet head should be on the rubber, splayed legs on the sheet metal side, and no washer.
Photos below (courtesy of Wim Betzel in the Netherlands) shows a restored set. The dotted lines highlight location of a bend line. Below this line the panel is bent forward and curved to match contour of the inner fender flange (with two screws).

Addendum, June 28, 2020:
More close up pictures of original seals, compliments of Mark Wellard !- in Australia.