Wheel Repairs - Curb Rash

[98 'Bird]

Three of my rims have light/moderate curb rash most of which existed when I bought the car (I'll admit I contributed a little here too). It's a fairly common problem at least for the later 4th-gen's.

I am considering making the repairs myself with scratch-filler primer, wheel paint, clear coat, Bondo spot putty, and sand paper and paint thinner to clean the area first.

Has anyone done this already? Is it possible to make a seemless repair yourself? Any tips, warnings, or advisories against the idea? I hate curb scrapes.

Oh, and along with my repairs I'm adding one of those 2-dollar convex mirrors to the passenger side.

[Christopherrr]

Hmmm...never thought of doing any such repair. I'm sure it can be done, but would it throw off your balance, albeit not by much? I figure you could get rebalanced...but to do a perfectly seamless repair would be hard and require a lot of time and craftsmanship. If you decide on it, lets see home before and after pics!!! Are your rims painted or chrome?

[98 'Bird]

Hmmm...never thought of doing any such repair. I'm sure it can be done, but would it throw off your balance, albeit not by much? I figure you could get rebalanced...but to do a perfectly seamless repair would be hard and require a lot of time and craftsmanship. If you decide on it, lets see home before and after pics!!! Are your rims painted or chrome?

Balance would most likely be off by a little, considering they are currently in balance. However, the added filler would only amount to that required to fill in the scratches, and I would simply have the wheels rebalanced if I notice they are off, which would probably be just a little.

I'd never mess with the chrome stuff. The rims are painted.

So it's either try it myself, or pay a bundle at some shop I would expect. I'm sure someone's done it before.

Thanks, Christopher.

[greeno]

I would consider getting them reconditioned. If you like the wheels and plan on keeping them then it is the way to go. The bodyshop i work at has had some done and they come back looking new. They usually run about $125 a wheel.

[Injuneer]

I've made minor repairs to painted alloy wheels using sandpaper to remove the roughness, using finer and finer grits until the finish is smooth, artist brush touchup with matching paint and clearcoat. I actually found some Testors model paint that matched my OZ wheels very well. Looked OK from anything over 5 feet away.

I wouldn't worry about balance, except to get them rebalanced if you sense any vibrations. Unless you've cracked a chunk out of the wheel, you're talking tiny amount of mass removed or added.

For professional repair, this shop gets high reviews:

http://www.wheelcollision.com/

[01Y87]

There was a shop in Huntsville, AL when I used to live there that did nothing but fix wheels. Called "Wheel-fix-it". I took an aluminum wheel there from my '98 Monte Carlo and for around $140 they made it like brand new. When I was in their shop I saw they were working on some Mercedes-Benz and BMW rims so they do get a lot of work. when I got the tire mounted it was perfectly balanced. I think that my problem was some sort of curb damage.

[98 'Bird]

Thanks for all the advice.

For professional repair, this shop gets high reviews:

http://www.wheelcollision.com/

I noticed that the wheel collision site not only has wheels listed for almost any car you can name, but they also have a wheel trade-in thing where you can save some cash (albeit not much). Plus it looks like they're located not too far from me also.

Considering the price of refurbishing, I might take a look at some swap meets... maybe find a deal on a whole new rim, or 2... or 3. There's one coming up this month at the E-town.

[Injuneer]

Do you have stock wheels, or aftermarket? The stock wheels are fairly easy to find, and cheap.

Are we neighbors? I'm in East Brunswick.

[01Y87]

I recall one incident I had with my '98 Monte (this was in '99) I got hit left front at a light. I was stationary, the other car made a dumb-ass move out into traffic. Anyway, their ins co. was paying for it and their estimate included, among other things, $400 for one wheel. The body guy called me and told me that he was able to get a deal and replace both front wheels for the same price, he had noticed some curb rash on the right side even though that was not damaged in the accident. I said ok fine.

Now, I know this because I pull my wheels once or twice a year to clean them and those stock rims were stamped on the inside "MADE IN CANADA" but the next time I pulled the wheels, months after this job was done, the front wheels said "MADE IN CHINA". They looked identical, except on a extreme closeup examination the rim lip was slightly different. I think they put on cheap import knock-offs. I don't think GM outsourced their wheels to China, especially the 16" "W" body aluminum rims? But then I didn't even know that there were companies in China that could make cheap imitation GM rims.

Bruce

[98 'Bird]

Do you have stock wheels, or aftermarket? The stock wheels are fairly easy to find, and cheap.

Are we neighbors? I'm in East Brunswick.

The rims are stock 16 x 8 silver. I've seen like-new ones for sale real cheap, maybe right here on F-body, but I never considered it necessary to completely replace any, as the light damage is purely superficial. I guess I could have my own inventory of Firebird rims, a couple extra in case whatever.

I live in Hamilton, a suburb of Trenton, so I'm just west of you, like down Route 1 a little... so pretty close considering.

[98 'Bird]

I recall one incident I had with my '98 Monte (this was in '99) I got hit left front at a light. I was stationary, the other car made a dumb-ass move out into traffic. Anyway, their ins co. was paying for it and their estimate included, among other things, $400 for one wheel. The body guy called me and told me that he was able to get a deal and replace both front wheels for the same price, he had noticed some curb rash on the right side even though that was not damaged in the accident. I said ok fine.

Now, I know this because I pull my wheels once or twice a year to clean them and those stock rims were stamped on the inside "MADE IN CANADA" but the next time I pulled the wheels, months after this job was done, the front wheels said "MADE IN CHINA". They looked identical, except on a extreme closeup examination the rim lip was slightly different. I think they put on cheap import knock-offs. I don't think GM outsourced their wheels to China, especially the 16" "W" body aluminum rims? But then I didn't even know that there were companies in China that could make cheap imitation GM rims.

Bruce

hmmm. I hadn't even thought of the possibilty of knock-off rims. I'll definetly keep that in mind for the future. Thanks.

[Injuneer]

Do you belong to NJFBOA? Most of the hard core members are from your area. I used to go to the monthly meetings, but haven't been there for at least a year.

http://www.njfboa.org/forums/

[98 'Bird]

Do you belong to NJFBOA? Most of the hard core members are from your area. I used to go to the monthly meetings, but haven't been there for at least a year.

http://www.njfboa.org/forums/

I am not but it sounds definitely like something for me. I wasn't ever introduced to the addiction of the F-body forum until a buddy I know started talking about a J-body forum. I guess there’re a lot of Cavalier buffs out there???

I'll be sure to check it out though. I assume you're a member?

[Al 96 Ram Air T/A]

I'm another neighbor...


I had light curb rash on one of my WS6 rims. Using a Dremel and a flapper wheel, I lightly smoothed out the rash, blending it into the surrounding area. Because the lip was polished aluminum with clearcoat, once the rash was removed, I hit it with clearcoat. The damage is imperceptable.