I took the flappy bits of rubber off mine when I was playing with the camber angle shims and forgot to put them back, when I eventually noticed they were missing I'd lost them. Anyway went offroading and waded through some deep water, which I had done before with no ill effects, however this time I must have washed all the grease out of the bearings on my aircon pump and it howled like hell. It's quietened down now after being sprayed down with lube but it still needs stripping.
So my advice is leave them on but if you do take them off can I buy them
Col
Just a thought here Col...
But if there are any other VX's in your area, you could make new ones using theirs as a pattern on some inner tube material.