Alloy Wheel Repair

[Bogie]

After over five years of curb free driving, Belle just couldn't resist and had to kiss it...just once....to see what it was like.

So now I've got to learn a new trade....alloy wheel repair!

Perfect match is not my goal. My main objective is functional protection to avoid rust damage. Sand, fill, paint, protect. It's gouged, so a simple sanding won't do it. It will require sand and fill.

I've researched the web and seen a few DIY items. Would prefer a kit, but the ones I found online were either not appropriate or priced too high. Might just need to buy the products separately, but only need quantity to fix this damage. Would like any feedback our community could provide. Products? Sage Wisdom?

Here's a pic. I think it's actually "worse" than it looks.

[SkyVue2]

Would just sand it/polish it down to smooth and spray on some clearcoat. Keep an eye out for a new polished wheel; as you know they do show up once in a while. Keep this rim with the curb check booboo as an emergency spare.

[buzzardt]

Since it is not a Steel Wheel you should not have to worry about rust.

[TomatoSoup]

Originally Posted by buzzardt

Since it is not a Steel Wheel you should not have to worry about rust.

Correct. However, you DO still need to worry about corrosion - and where you've scraped to bare metal like that, the little fingers of corrosion will get under the edge of the untouched clearcoat and ruin the rest of the wheel pretty damn quick!

[marlboromike]

Stop all the tears. You know what u have to do...I am sure there is a member with an extra alloy wheel laying around their garage....I do know how u feel. My Honda had it...u have to bite the bullet.

[Bogie]

I've determined the English across the pond don't know how to drive. It seems 90% of the Google hits on alloy wheel filler repair are UK centric. Whole lot of scraping going on over there.

[sahein]

Originally Posted by Bogie

After over five years of curb free driving, Belle just couldn't resist and had to kiss it...just once....to see what it was like.

So now I've got to learn a new trade....alloy wheel repair!

Perfect match is not my goal. My main objective is functional protection to avoid rust damage. Sand, fill, paint, protect. It's gouged, so a simple sanding won't do it. It will require sand and fill.

I've researched the web and seen a few DIY items. Would prefer a kit, but the ones I found online were either not appropriate or priced too high. Might just need to buy the products separately, but only need quantity to fix this damage. Would like any feedback our community could provide. Products? Sage Wisdom?

Here's a pic. I think it's actually "worse" than it looks.

New ones here:
OEM RIMS FACTORY WHEELS STOCK RIM CHROME REPLICA WHEEL USED RIMS Wheels OEM RIMS FACTORY WHEELS STOCK RIM CHROME REPLICA WHEEL USED RIMS Rims

[Rusty Boltz]

I would look for a wheel repair shop. There are a few around. My daughter banged up a wheel on her Mercedes. Discount Tire referred her to a local shop. The wheel came back looking like new.

[SkyVue2]

Originally Posted by Rusty Boltz

My daughter banged up a wheel on her Mercedes. Discount Tire referred her to a local shop. The wheel came back looking like new.

Surely cost effective fixing an expensive Mercedes rim. But, for our cars a repair would likely cost more than a good used replacement wheel.

[Bogie]

Yeah, I'm avoiding new, used, or "expert" repair because of cost/benefit trades. I'm willing to spend some time to learn something new (and useful), and save some money.

As for how well it looks, after five years of NOVA roads and the derecho tree last Summer, I've got a "five foot club" looker. That is, it looks amazing from five feet away....lots of blemishes as you get closer. This is just one more blemish to push into the five foot club.

But I do appreciate the comments. They are useful.

That said, the more I research alloy fillers, and keep coming up UK, the more I'm thinking there might be a US environmental connection. Something in that type of filler that makes it prohibitive (legal or cost) in US.

And here's the plan:

Permatex 25909 Liquid Metal Filler
Dupli-Color High Performance Wheel Coating HWP103
Clear Coat TBD