I posted a few times that I was in the process of fixing a pretty badly rashed rim and finally got around to actually doing it. It took about 4 hours (had some problems getting the Bondo to harden in the 50 degree weather we've been having). Overall, it was pretty simple and worth my time. I recommend taking off the wheel because you don't want to tape up half of your car.

Here are some pics.

Here's the before (I was so pissed when I did this!)


Taped most of the wheel to prevent futher scratches. Sanded down the rash with 400 grit. Cleaned with soap and water, let dry and applied Spot Bondo.


After the Bondo dried I sanded it down with 400 grit again. You'll see where the Bondo filled the scratches only. I tried not to kill too much paint, but figured the damage was too severe and I'd have to use a bunch of paint either way. I used the towels to protect the wheel from paint.


I used Duplicolor products because that's the only thing I could find. I was worried about the paint not matching.


Applied a three layers of primer, wet sanded with 1000 grit in between coats. I tried to keep the primer only where I needed it. I didn't damage too much paint, I could polish it up later on.


Applied a few very light coats of the silver metallic wheel paint. You'll notice a clear line (the colors didn't match perfectly)!


I used Poor Boys SSR2.5 to polish out and blend the differences in paint. I had to recoat a few more times with the metallic paint and repeat the polishing to blend it all. SSR2.5 is a mild abrasive. I removed the tape to do this so I wouldn't have a line after each coat. Each coat went on thin.


After a few more coats of paint and polishing (really light sanding)


Finally all done!

 

very nice job, I didn't think it could come out so nicely. Might be a good idea if you're going to repaint the wheels entirely like dzuy did.

 

what kind of bondo is that.. n where did u pick it up. i too have some rim rash, sucks it happened within the first few months of her life =(

 

Wow, this is a great post...
I have two wheels with 1/2-1" rash marks, this looks like an excellent fix.
I didn't make the marks either, they happened before we purchased the car used.

I've used Honda Satin Silver from my sister's Accord as touch up paint on my Silver RacingHart's---I wonder how close that would be to the TSX wheel color?

 

It's Bondo Glazing & Spot putty and I got it at Advance Auto.

Just like this.

 

Very well done. Looks like a good project for me to complete this summer.

Although it looks perfect in the final photo, how well would you say the paint matches the rest of the wheel? Can you even notice it?

 

Awesome, I should do my wheels too.

The problem is I have scratches on all 4 rims.

 

I got them on two.

 

After I put the wheel back on the car, I couldn't find where I did the repair. I haven't tried to find it in direct sunlight yet. But I also think there's got to be a better paint match. If the paint matched perfectly, I wouldn't have at to blend it.

 

Nice job!

 

Wow...nice work and good effort. That's pretty crazy...

 

nice.

 

will this work with a gunmetal finish-I called ADR who makes my rims and they said that it would be hard to match the finish....

 

what about the stock rims, isnt it the same paint as the SSM?

 

wow great job, are you in the professional paint business? On that last picture, you cannot even tell if the wheel was ever damaged

-K

 

Ha! Not even! I think what gave it a "professional" touch was using the SSR2.5. Seemed to even the paint out pretty easily.

 

Very nice job. However, if there's a Wheels America franchise in your city they will fix any wheel for a $109.00 flat fee and they do a great job.

 

Wow! And I thought I had no choice... 109 is a little steep for minor cosmetic damage. If it were bent it or I didn't care about DIY, then I'd pay.

 

How much were all of the parts/supplies to do the fix?

Awesome write up, I think this should be added to the FAQ section or the DIY index.

 

Thanks! It probably would cost about $30 for materials (I already had the sandpaper, primer and polish). Here's what I used:

- Masking Tape
- 400 & 1000 Grit Wet&Dry Sandpaper
- Bondo Spot and Glazing Putty
- Primer
- Silver Wheel Coating
- Clear Coat
- Mild Abrasive Polish (SSR2.5 for me)

I do have to credit an article I saw at www.bettercarcare.com. The good news is I'm not the most handy and it worked pretty well for me. If only someone could find a better matching paint.

 

Hey great thread, you've given me the confidence and knowledge to embark on this one myself to fix some scratches on my rim. I somehow clipped a textured curb, driven this turn hundreds of times no problem, somehow this one time I clipped it. The texture of the curb let the gouges go DEEP!

Anyhow, did you use the clearcoat before or after the polish? The thread didn't specify and I'm not sure what the order should be.

Thanks for the help.

 

Clearcoat after wet sanding/polishing. It's the last step. You will probably have to repeat painting and sanding, depending on how close your paint matches the stock color. I also suggest a couple layers of the clear to add greater protection. So far the repair has held up great. After many tire rotations I don't know which wheel was damaged. Good luck!

 

Very nice repair! That turned out really well.

 

Man, this is a pro job! Great work! I'm keeping a mental note of this post, just in case!

 

Very professional! Thanks for sharing........

 

First time I ever even heard of a do-it-yourself rim repair
....and it turned out great !

 

Other than Wheels America are there any other good places to take a wheel to get those damn curb gashes repaired? I just got a gash on my rim tonight, and it's like a thorn in my side -- first bit of damage to my brand new 06 TSX

Do most tire places do these kinds of repairs?

 

Dont go to wheel america.

I been and asked for a price quoting, they ask for 150$ no matter how big the scratch are.

I just did it myself, is kinda perfect.

but the thing is, i use the dura-life sliver paint. Is kinda diff then the stock wheel. Luckily, i had a GN+ with titanium silver, which match perfectly.

SO how those have stock rims, buy a diff brand so it would diff.

 

i would've just payed somebody to do it ... nice job

 

wow.... you can run your own repair shop for other who wants to pay for it!!

 

Thanks for the post. I have a couple of scratches on my rims. I have thought about changing the color of my rims to white.

 

Looks good, so has anyone else tried this with success (or have some lessons learned due to it not working for them)?

 

WOW, where do u live?? u want 75 bux to repair mine???? i had 2 messed up rims, 1 was bent so i had to replace, the other one is scratched

 

wow niiice! i cant even tell where it was!

 

GOOD JOB BRO.

wow


u shud open up ur own shop and do dis for a hobby

 

I have done this repair. Didn't go as well as the original poster but it's still alot better than the gouged wheel was. My problem was with the painting, I did it with tape over the area so when I took the tape off it was entirely unblended and fairly obvious. So I tried to fix it up as best as I could and put a towel sort of crumpled over the area, that allowed the paint to blend gradually and looked better. And I put it on in too thick of coats. If I had it to do over again I think it'd go much better. I'd recommend trying it, I don't think you could make it look worse than it already does scratched. Plus, even if you sort of mess it up, you'll learn alot in the process and do better on the next wheel.

 

Thanks scheißterhöffer, will try it this weekend and see how it turns out. Did you use the exact same paint/primer as the original poster or another brand?

 

Exact same paint, same brand of primer but I'm not sure if it was the exact same bottle, there were a couple kinds and I wasn't sure what to get.

I did mine in the basement because it was winter and cold, and also I didn't want paint spray in the garage in the vicinity of my car. Well into the project, after much bondo, primer, paint, etc, I realized I'm in this room in my basement, door closed, same room in which my water heater with pilot light is. The fumes were pretty heavy and I decided it was probably a bit unsafe so I moved the operation elsewhere but it never even occurred to me until I was well into it, so keep that in mind when determining where to do the work.

 

Can anyone post the pics back up?

 

pics are gone =[ repost anybody?