View Full Version : Scratched rim repair?
Celeron Gamer
03-26-2006, 10:46 PM
Is there anyway to repair the lip of a rim after it has been curb scratched? I'm not sure of repair shops yet as their price are not sure.
But any home quick fixes, or anything you can buy to help it?:(
MaxxxRacer
03-27-2006, 12:36 AM
I just did this at a gas station due to a stupid ass woman who shouldnt be driving and i thought of a very good solution.
If your using bare metal rims (no coating such as anodizing or chrome) my solution will work great. Just get some sand paper (start with 400-800 grit depending on severity of scratch) and work your way up to around 2000. By 2000 grit the rim will be back to its origional shinyness. Since this will remove some rim material, I do suggest that you have your wheel re-ballanced to ensure that everything is A-ok.
hixie
03-28-2006, 10:04 AM
I just did this at a gas station due to a stupid ass woman who shouldnt be driving and i thought of a very good solution.
If your using bare metal rims (no coating such as anodizing or chrome) my solution will work great. Just get some sand paper (start with 400-800 grit depending on severity of scratch) and work your way up to around 2000. By 2000 grit the rim will be back to its origional shinyness. Since this will remove some rim material, I do suggest that you have your wheel re-ballanced to ensure that everything is A-ok.
I get quite a few customers that want that fixed for them, if its polished metal rims then that is fine just remember to use some autosol or something similiar. 2000 grit will still leave some quite visible scratches.
If its a painted rim i have to use filler and paint it.
MaxxxRacer
03-29-2006, 02:24 AM
ok, 2000grit with mothers aluminum polish after that..
I got a Q for you since yo useem to be a mechanic of some sort. my scratched rim is on my 06' civic which has coated rims. not sure with what, but its some sort of sealant. any ideas on how to clean that up?
Soulburner
03-29-2006, 08:49 AM
It's probably clearcoat, and can be cleaned just like the paint on your car.
Rippthrough
03-29-2006, 02:37 PM
ok, 2000grit with mothers aluminum polish after that..
I got a Q for you since yo useem to be a mechanic of some sort. my scratched rim is on my 06' civic which has coated rims. not sure with what, but its some sort of sealant. any ideas on how to clean that up?
They may be a porous alloy, in which case polish out the scratches with some fine wet & dry paper, then work your way through liquid polishes to get a good finish.
Feather the edges of the clearcoat, give the rim a good clean up with a decent solvent, and then give the whole alloy another coating of laquer.
If not they may start to leak a little air, dpending upon the alloy, I know mine do If I scratch them (aluminium/magnesium type alloy)
MaxxxRacer
03-29-2006, 02:50 PM
It's probably clearcoat, and can be cleaned just like the paint on your car.
kinda what I was thinking too.
thanks for the tips Rippthrough.
never occurred to me that the clearcoat was serving anything but a visual purpose, but that does make sense.
hixie
03-29-2006, 04:06 PM
ok, 2000grit with mothers aluminum polish after that..
I got a Q for you since yo useem to be a mechanic of some sort. my scratched rim is on my 06' civic which has coated rims. not sure with what, but its some sort of sealant. any ideas on how to clean that up?
I'm not a mechanic, i do body work, painting & protective coatings at ferrari believe it or not.
Most painted rims have laquer over the paint/anodise like soulburner said, some light solvents can remove some dirt thats stored in the scratch to make it less obvious. If that doesn't work then you would have to sand them lightly with 1200 wet'n'dry then 2000 wet'n'dry and some metal polish afterwards.
MaxxxRacer
03-29-2006, 04:17 PM
again, thanks for the info.
bodywork for ferrari... in hong kong??
hixie
03-30-2006, 07:02 AM
again, thanks for the info.
bodywork for ferrari... in hong kong??
Yup, well the ferrari and maserati dealer in HK. The only ferrari and maserati dealer in HK.
Well to be more exact i'm not under direct emplyment from the dealer, i work at a comapny called G.Techniq, and the ferrari factory in italy says that the guys at the HK dealer are rubbish and they make the cars minging, so sent out one of their guys from the factory to run the HK dealer. The new boss then found us and asked if we would like to setup a store inside the dealer. Currently we are on a 3 month probation after that we would be doing all their PDI work (Post Delievery Inspection). So yea its quite interesting, and quite a high and important position for an almost 19 year old kid. :D and yes most of my friends are jealous that i get to drive a ferrari everyday.
Celeron Gamer
03-30-2006, 04:45 PM
So what filler do I use? Bondo? And if I use bondo, I'd need to find some silver rim paint as well. :(
hixie
03-30-2006, 05:39 PM
Epoxy filler works great for repairing rims. Only problem is that its expensive and takes quite a while to fully cure.
I don't know what type of paint you mean by rim paint but it doesn't matter too much as long as its soft paint. Acrylic paint is hard paint, auto paint is soft paint. Rims twist & flex during cornering, accelerating & braking. Not alot but sometimes just enough to crack the paint, if it's hard paint.
Celeron Gamer
03-30-2006, 06:30 PM
Epoxy filler works great for repairing rims. Only problem is that its expensive and takes quite a while to fully cure.
I don't know what type of paint you mean by rim paint but it doesn't matter too much as long as its soft paint. Acrylic paint is hard paint, auto paint is soft paint. Rims twist & flex during cornering, accelerating & braking. Not alot but sometimes just enough to crack the paint, if it's hard paint.
I don't think the filler would change to the color of the rim itself,:confused:
MaxxxRacer
03-30-2006, 07:56 PM
DO NOT USE BONDO!!!
Bondo is nowhere near strong enough to take the abuses of wheels.
very cook job hixie. I'd be kinda nervous working on such expensive cars.
Celeron Gamer
03-30-2006, 09:25 PM
DO NOT USE BONDO!!!
Bondo is nowhere near strong enough to take the abuses of wheels.
very cook job hixie. I'd be kinda nervous working on such expensive cars.
I thought the same too, thanks for confirming:D
hixie
03-30-2006, 10:27 PM
DO NOT USE BONDO!!!
Bondo is nowhere near strong enough to take the abuses of wheels.
very cook job hixie. I'd be kinda nervous working on such expensive cars.
Yea when i first started i was very nervous, back then when we weren't joint with ferrari HK we were still getting loads of ferraris, maseratis, lambos and porkers. So i had to be very careful while working around them.
To top it off my boss used to be a racing driver, so quite often he would drift these cars right into the car bay where we work on them, and stop an inch or two infront of me. Used to scare the crap out of me, now i'm used to it. I even position myself so that he if he aims straight at me he would be perfectly aligned in the car bay.
(sorry for being off topic, just wanted to show off a little;) )