How To: Repair curb rash and paint rims

[Kooldino]

Looking good.

 

[blueprotegelx]

subbin for a summer mod!

 

[Azaizai]

gah!

So I go the paint and clear coat on, everything looked wonderful. Left them overnight to dry. Come back and the spaces between spokes (where the rim turns into itself) the clear coat either hadnt quite stuck or wasnt thick enough. It was very coarse and felt like the silver coat felt before the clear.

So me...being the smart man I am, decide I'm gonna just add another layer of clear onto the insides of the rims and spokes...

Well dont do that. It made some wild cracks and wrinkles *underneath* the clear coat and pretty well ruined the good parts of the painted rims.

Guess I'm gonna go back to square one. Sand it all down with the 300 grit and reapply the silver paint and then the clear coat, making sure this time to get the whole rim covered.

Anyone have any thoughts? I tried sanding just the clear coat (to get rid of the ripples/cracks), but it had affected the paint coat as well....bah! I was so close!

*edit: If I think about it I'll try to take pictures of the poo-paint job before I sand 'em down at work tomorrow. /edit*

 

[habeansha]

was it kind of like this

[/IMG]

mine had that kind of crackly wrinkly part underneath, i think it eventually dried and came out alright

and im beginning to think that the clear was a waste of time for me

i put 3 layers and there are tons of chips in it already, of course i do live on a dirt road and the rims are covered in dust most of the time so its probably just me

 

[mazdaspeed777]

gah!

So I go the paint and clear coat on, everything looked wonderful. Left them overnight to dry. Come back and the spaces between spokes (where the rim turns into itself) the clear coat either hadnt quite stuck or wasnt thick enough. It was very coarse and felt like the silver coat felt before the clear.

So me...being the smart man I am, decide I'm gonna just add another layer of clear onto the insides of the rims and spokes...

Well dont do that. It made some wild cracks and wrinkles *underneath* the clear coat and pretty well ruined the good parts of the painted rims.

Guess I'm gonna go back to square one. Sand it all down with the 300 grit and reapply the silver paint and then the clear coat, making sure this time to get the whole rim covered.

Anyone have any thoughts? I tried sanding just the clear coat (to get rid of the ripples/cracks), but it had affected the paint coat as well....bah! I was so close!

*edit: If I think about it I'll try to take pictures of the poo-paint job before I sand 'em down at work tomorrow. /edit*

Sorry to hear that man. Yah that clear coat has a tightening effect on the layers of paint below. That is why it is good to make sure everything is completally dried and curred. Don't give up, your patience will pay off.

 

[KZL_99ES]

do you know if there is any way to fix a dent in the rim...like to pound it back into place with a rubber mallet or sledge hammer?

i'll post a pic tomorrow and show what i'm talking about.
thanks

 

[mazdaspeed777]

do you know if there is any way to fix a dent in the rim...like to pound it back into place with a rubber mallet or sledge hammer?

i'll post a pic tomorrow and show what i'm talking about.
thanks

Well you could fill the dent with the bondo spot puddy, but depending on how big the dent is you would have to add a butt load of weights to balance the rim after adding that much weight. So depending on how big it is your better off getting a new rim because the dent will make the rim a lot weaker

 

[Azaizai]

ya, thats actually why I got the Mazda3 rims instead of refinishing my stock mp5's. The right rear wheel has a bend in it, makes a horrible vibration @ 40mph...since they're aluminum, you cant really beat them back into alignment because the metal will crack/break/shatter very easily. Now if the rim is steel, you can beat the $#!% out if and probably get it a lil closer...

the bondo trick is pure genius, I would have never thought about it. It looks awesome with some primer/paint on it (especially that sandable primer)

 

[justanothermp5]

well i got around to painting them, a while back actually and i said in this thread i was gonna do black with a gold lip.....well that didnt happen
after i test sprayed the gold, i liked it alot so here we are, ill contribute to the thread lol

and after i had just finished painting them

 

[KZL_99ES]

so this is the dent that i'm talking about...there's a lot of curb rash there too, but you explained how to fix that so well that i was wondering if you knew how to fix this?

yeah a pothole did this when i was going under an overpass where its dark and didn't see it...i was surprised that it didn't pop my tire...it does leak slow, like every two weeks i have to fill it back up (not that much of a biggie, but still prob not good for the tire)...

any ideas?

 

[habeansha]

so this is the dent that i'm talking about...there's a lot of curb rash there too, but you explained how to fix that so well that i was wondering if you knew how to fix this?

yeah a pothole did this when i was going under an overpass where its dark and didn't see it...i was surprised that it didn't pop my tire...it does leak slow, like every two weeks i have to fill it back up (not that much of a biggie, but still prob not good for the tire)...

any ideas?

that looks pretty bad

you should maybe send it in to get repaired or something

doesnt ur state have something to file a claim for pothole damage?
hawaii does
heres a link to the process in hawaii which may or may not be similar to whereever ur from
http://www.forumshawaii.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=311055

my rim has this dent but it didnt seem to affect my car at all

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

That rim is definitely bent...I know there are companies that specialize in fixing bent rims, so I would do a google search in your area...it will probably be pricey (it might even be cheaper to replace the rim) but I would get it taken care of one way or another. Is it a front wheel and are you getting vibration from it? I would switch it to the back to avoid drivetrain vibration.

 

[KZL_99ES]

there's really no wobble or vibration at all, the only thing is that i have to do is fill it back up every once and while from air loss...
but it is prob a safety issue in the future...
i'll see what i can do when i rotate my tires.

 

[2.0t03speed]

subscribed

 

[2.0t03speed]

anyone know what paint mazda used on the stock msp rims?

 

[astraelraen]

I didn't go through 15 pages of this thread, but I did read the original posters stuff on how to fix spots in the wheel.

Are there any different steps to say fix scratches/dents in aluminum lips? Mine have a couple dents where I dropped a lug nut on them, they're pretty soft! its kinda scary.

I've tried aluminum polish like for tailpipes, etc but it does pretty much nothing for scratches, etc on the lip of my wheels.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

I didn't go through 15 pages of this thread, but I did read the original posters stuff on how to fix spots in the wheel.

Are there any different steps to say fix scratches/dents in aluminum lips? Mine have a couple dents where I dropped a lug nut on them, they're pretty soft! its kinda scary.

I've tried aluminum polish like for tailpipes, etc but it does pretty much nothing for scratches, etc on the lip of my wheels.

That is what the Bondo spot putty is for. past puddy over scratchs and sand till smooth and even

 

[elieleb1303]

wow, very nice write up!
good job on the paint, the rims like really good, im impressed!

 

[red95_240sx]

i seriously wish u cud come do this for me. does the primer serve any other purpose besides making it smooth, like i cud skip it if i have a rather new wheel?

im not comfortable at painting. especially a wheel with so many angles.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

i seriously wish u cud come do this for me. does the primer serve any other purpose besides making it smooth, like i cud skip it if i have a rather new wheel?

im not comfortable at painting. especially a wheel with so many angles.

painting is really not that hard as your making it out to be and yes you should use primer. It gives the paint something better to bond to. As long as you follow the directions on the can you will be fine. Also the beautiful thing about painting is if you did a crappy job or you just don't like it you can always sand down and start over again. So give it a wack, you would be supprised what you are able to do. As your parents should have told you, you can do anything you put your mind to.