Aluminum wheel repair

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:16 am
I have a set of aluminum wheels that have little curb scratches and marks from weights. Would I need a welder to fill in the scratches or can I use aluminum rod with propane? I want to make the wheels look good as new but don't want to pay 500-700 bucks.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:58 am
Have you tried one of the mobile rim repair services? Just fixing a couple of nicks like that should not cost $500-$700.

I don't think you will get enough heat on the rim itself for the repair to be monolithic. Maybe MAPP gas...but I'd be really worried about ruining the rim by going that route.



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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 8:11 am
Shop is charging 500-700 to make it look new like painting the face and polishing the wheel. There old school enkei wheels from mid late 80's.



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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:47 pm
Aluminum melts at around 1100 deg , with the whole wheel absorbing heat . propane won`t get it hot enough, or mapp either, plus your not going to going to get a quality weld, your best bet would be to find a weld shop that can tig the scratches , your still going to have to sand the weld down and polish it



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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:14 am
Thanks guys, going to check later on the day to see how much they'll charge. Your right, I would still need to sand and polish the wheels.



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PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:29 pm
Crazy thought

I used this to repair my Subaru STI wheel filled in the curb rash nicely and I used a similar color for touch up


http://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-steelstik/

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:35 pm
If you have tools and a little bit of autobody knowledge Id highly advise you repairing them yourself. Depending on how deep the curb rash is you can repair them very easily then you'd expect, I used to do wheel repair. Pm if interested on knowing the steps, I.E you don't need a welder...



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PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 8:40 am
Already got the wheels welded, just got to grind down the welds. Next is to remove those stubborn brake dust and polish the wheels.



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PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 12:14 pm
great ! post some pics if you can ...

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