Final Step of Machine Wheel Lip Repair

[zarmstrong92]

Howdy,

For the first time in 8-9 years I sadly curbed one of my wheels and decided to take the plunge and do the repair myself. Using a die grinder, I started off with a 400 grit sand paper and worked my way up to 3,000 grit. After the sand paper I used a 3M fine surface conditioning then followed up with Meguiars Ultimate Polish applied by hand. In the middle of each image below you can see the polished 2" section that stands out from the undamaged machine lip. I understand I'll never get the machining grooves back with this type of repair, but there are two other spots on this wheel that had the same repair. While the repaired area looks much better than it did, these repaired sections are much more noticeable in person. I've taken this wheel to three local shops in hopes they can clean it up a bit better and it's too small of a job for them to take.

Surely there has to be a way to get a better factory match? Although I'm not sure if that would come with a new type of metal polish, a layer of paint, or if clear coat would hide it a bit better? There is currently no clear on the repaired areas. I reached out to the wheel manufacturer asking what sheen the clear coat is and they didn't respond

If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated! At this point I wish I would've just taken it in to a shop at first vs. trying to fix myself. Thank you!

[chefwong]

The only way I know to get it to -match- to have it recut.
Tire comes off, and in general shop strips paint repaint, recut and reclear.
Depending on how much -warranty- the shop will want to cover, he may chance a recut and clear skipping the paint.

I'm sure some Mobile Wheel Guy has a trick up his sleeve to -spray and blend - the work in, but matching a cut finish via **polishing** is hard to attain IMO.

[Setec Astronomy]

I did that once, but I was lucky it was a GM "high polish clear" wheel so it was hardly noticeable. You might try scuffing it a bit starting with your 3000 grit paper and work down to see if you can get the appearance a bit more matte so it doesn't stand out so much.

[zarmstrong92]

Thank you both! I actually hadn't realized that I "over polished" it, so when I went back over it with the 3000 grit sandpaper it got the sheen to be a lot closer. Still not perfect but much less noticeable.

I just ordered SprayMax 2K Glamour Matte clear coat to seal it with and hoping that makes it blend in even more.

Thanks again for your help/input.

[chefwong]

Do you have another test spot to tinker with. Mobile guys will often knock it back with a scotchbrite -esque to make it a bit more opaque....

[zarmstrong92]

Do you have another test spot to tinker with. Mobile guys will often knock it back with a scotchbrite -esque to make it a bit more opaque....

Do you happen to know what kind of scotchbrite pads they use? I actually reached out to two mobile wheel guys on IG after seeing their videos using one asking for the specific product and never got a response.

Kind of looks like they used one of these but it's hard to tell with all the varieties out there. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40071750/

Thanks!

[chefwong]

Sorry I don't. This stuff comes in all shapes and sizes...hand pad, rocloc disc type, etc....
And the mobile guys probably have a whole slew ---- for their craft as all diamond cuts are different.

How often do you go through rubber (aka, tires mounted/dismounted). Just due to the nature of the finish, clear doesn't *bite* well into it not is spray clear generally a hard finish that might chip out on the next mount / dismount....Just pointing this out since it was my radar as I was typing out the pad type

[Odrapnew]

I was also going to say try a scotchbright pad, just not sure which one.

Found this on a Google search so take it for what that's worth.
As usual, start with the least aggressive and work from there.

SCOTCHBRITE GRIT CHART
3M Scotch Brite Nylon Pads:
7445 - White pad, called Light Duty Cleansing - (1000) 1200-1500 grit
7448 - Light Grey, called Ultra Fine Hand - (600-800) 800 grit.
6448 - Green (?), called Light Duty Hand Pad - (600) 600 grit
7447 - Maroon pad, called General Purpose Hand - (320-400) 320 grit
6444 - Brown pad, called Extra Duty Hand - (280-320) 240 grit
7446 - Dark Grey pad, called Blending Pad (180-220) 150 grit
7440 - Tan pad, called Heavy Duty Hand Pad - (120-150) 60(?)

Green Scotch Brite is available EVERYWHERE. It's 600 grit.
Blue Scotch-Brite is considered to be about 1000 grit.
(The value inside the parentheses is directly from 3M.)
3M Chart
Less Aggressive --------> More Aggressive
7445 7448 6448 7447 6444 7446 7440
Finer Finish --------> Coarser Finish

[zarmstrong92]

Sorry I don't. This stuff comes in all shapes and sizes...hand pad, rocloc disc type, etc....
And the mobile guys probably have a whole slew ---- for their craft as all diamond cuts are different.

How often do you go through rubber (aka, tires mounted/dismounted). Just due to the nature of the finish, clear doesn't *bite* well into it not is spray clear generally a hard finish that might chip out on the next mount / dismount....Just pointing this out since it was my radar as I was typing out the pad type

I was also going to say try a scotchbright pad, just not sure which one.

Found this on a Google search so take it for what that's worth.
As usual, start with the least aggressive and work from there.

SCOTCHBRITE GRIT CHART
3M Scotch Brite Nylon Pads:
7445 - White pad, called Light Duty Cleansing - (1000) 1200-1500 grit
7448 - Light Grey, called Ultra Fine Hand - (600-800) 800 grit.
6448 - Green (?), called Light Duty Hand Pad - (600) 600 grit
7447 - Maroon pad, called General Purpose Hand - (320-400) 320 grit
6444 - Brown pad, called Extra Duty Hand - (280-320) 240 grit
7446 - Dark Grey pad, called Blending Pad (180-220) 150 grit
7440 - Tan pad, called Heavy Duty Hand Pad - (120-150) 60(?)

Green Scotch Brite is available EVERYWHERE. It's 600 grit.
Blue Scotch-Brite is considered to be about 1000 grit.
(The value inside the parentheses is directly from 3M.)
3M Chart
Less Aggressive --------> More Aggressive
7445 7448 6448 7447 6444 7446 7440
Finer Finish --------> Coarser Finish

Thank you both! This 3M Ultra Fine pad (available at Home Depot for $3) was definitely the way to go. If I were to do this all over again I'd sand the damage to 3,000 grit then hit it with the ultra fine pad before putting a coat of clear on it. Still not 100% perfect and will never be without getting it machined but at this point it pretty much blends in. You've gotta really be looking for it to see where the damage was, even in direct sunlight.

I might've been able to do a better job blending the repair area in if I was willing to extend the repair further around the circumference of the wheel, but I'm no pro here so I kept the repair pretty tight to the curb rash damage. I'm happy with how this turned out all things considered.



Chefwong - Good call on the clear coat. These are brand new summer tires/wheels that only get about 5K miles per year. In lieu of getting a nail in that tire, it should be at least 3 years before that tire will need to be removed. I will probably have forgotten about the clear at that point lol. Thanks again for your help!