Wheel Rash Repair (with pictures)

[notsoslimshady]

I bought some wheels a while back which had a rough life (160k miles, caked on brake dust, etc). Then I drove them for 2 more years (20k more miles). Now it was time to fix them up.


The first bad one:




Little bit of body filler, lots of sanding. For the lip I used a plastic fork handle wrapped in sand paper for a flat surface


After paint


Zoom in. The scratch was on the diagonal left spoke. Not perfect, but neither is my car

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Wheel 2:


Curb rash is on the upper left lip of the wheel


Many applications of body filler and then sanding. I slowly built the lip back up. I again used the handle of a plastic fork wrapped in sand paper.


After paint. Again, not perfect, but much better.



All four of them after paint (Sorry, camera washed out the color. They're a medium silver):






Products Used

- Griot's Garage Wheel Restoration Kit

There wasn't enough paint or primer for my tastes. I wound up buying an extra can of Duplicolor paint and a can of clear coat. I liked both Duplicolor products better (and its cheaper)! It turns out Griot's garage discontinued my kit and I couldn't buy extra paint anyway

-Sand Paper

-Wire brush to remove paint.

Bad idea, it gouged out the paint a little more than I thought. I block sanded afterwords, but still couldn't get all the scratchies out. Live and learn

-Lots of time. It took almost two weeks of work to repair and repaint these wheels. Completely worth it

Wheels are going to be rebalanced (statically) and I'll mount them tomorrow hopefully.

[todd@bsaw]

Looks nice. I've been thinking of doing this to my wheels.
What grit sand paper did you use? Did you sand a paint the inside of the wheel as well?

[Spilchy]

Excellent job! You did some great work.

As far as the center caps, you should go online and try to buy some new ones. Even check out the parts department at your local Pontiac dealer. They shouldn't be too much money. It'll make a nice touch.

CenterCaps.net - Cap Listing - Pontiac

My father curb rashed his BMW wheel in 3 spots and had it professionally done for $125.00. It came out flawless.

[todd@bsaw]

Oldsmobile dealership?
... oh yeah, they don't exist anymore...

[notsoslimshady]

Haha I should add that I taped over the red inlays of those. They need a little touch up, but they are bright red still inside the logo.

I did not sand and paint inside the wheel. That was beyond hope, it was so dark. The over spray got some parts pretty nicely though

I used 60 grit, then 600 grit on the wheels. I wetsanded the paint with 1500. Nothing to the clear coat yet

[notsoslimshady]

The final product. The car is not washed Sorry pictures are blurry. Its a 5mp camera, but I'm not sure what its problem is






And each wheel





Done. Statically balanced and everything!

[dmw2692004]

Great job, those look a lot better than before.

[tom p.]

Originally Posted by todd@bsaw

Oldsmobile dealership?
... oh yeah, they don't exist anymore...

LOL.

I had to order a new center cap for my Olds FE3 wheels (Enkei). I had the part number cuz I've had to order them in the past when they fly off. Last year the (Chevrolet) dealer was getting $45 each I had no choice.

[truzoom]

Very nice. Did you use high-temp paint?

I believe Duplicolor sells a high temp (up to 400*F) spray paint that comes in black/silver/clear. I'd at least give your wheels a layer or two of high temp clearcoat.

I blacked out the headlamp assemblies for my friend's RSX and used high temp black spray paint. The stuff was rock hard and very scratch-resistant after baking in the oven for a few hours.

[jimmie jam]

very nice work and result .

[notsoslimshady]

Originally Posted by truzoom

Very nice. Did you use high-temp paint?

I believe Duplicolor sells a high temp (up to 400*F) spray paint that comes in black/silver/clear. I'd at least give your wheels a layer or two of high temp clearcoat.

I did not, but this is a good idea. These wheels were a learning process, but I will keep that in mind if I ever do another set!

[Veyron2008]

That was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Nice job!