Repairing Gutter Rash: DIY

[impulsive]

Hey all and welcome to my DIY on reparing Gutter Rash Rims, now please forgive me if you have a better way i am all ears but this is my first attempt at repairing a VERY BADLY DAMAGED 19 Inch ROH Fury Rim to ALMOST NEAR NEW condition, now please remember this is my first go and may look dodge but it was VERY BAD as you will see..

Requirements
QTY of beers
80 Sand Paper $1.20 per sheet
320 Sand Paper $1.20 per sheet
800 or 1000(wet n Dry) Sand Paper $1.20 per sheet
Body Filler - I went to Supercheap and bought some Beige Septone One Step Filler $15.00 per can
Spray Paint - I used Plasti-Kote Black Gloss from Bunnings $15.00
Clear Coat - I again used Plasti Kote Clear Super from Bunnings $20.00

In the beginning

Hopefully yours is not this bad

The Process
Sanding..
Remove wheel from rim, and remove the wieghts. i never did this but should of straight away, local tyre shop can do this or if, like me you work in an enviroment that has the ability to remove it go there as its free. Also remove center circle badging in this case the ROH, should just push out with a broom handle or handle of screw driver. Then proceed with your chosen coarse of sand paper (i used 60P originally then changed to 80P) to sand back all of the scratches and dents to a smooth surface. Plz check the whole rim for integrity damage ie bends and cracks in spokes and the rim lips. Any really damaged area's will need a lot of attention as i had to in the two heavily damaged spots on the spokes.

After Sanding back with the 80P or 60P Sand Paper hose rims off using ordinary garden hose to remove all loose debri and paint flakes and allow to dry in sun for 15 min's, maybe 20 min for brissy folks as it is friggen hot up here.

Sand back any coarse areas with the 320P to finish smoothing them off and also use it to smooth any damaged lip edges off. Clean away as you have done previously and re-wash with mild soapy water, same as you would with your car, instead of a sponge i used a dust pan brush to get right into the surface. Reapply Soapy water and use the 1000P Wet n Dry to sand the entire surface of the wheel and hose off.. Some people recommend using sugar soap and expensive products to clean wheels, i figure if you can afford all those product why not buy new rims?? so i did it cheap and nasty, still works imo..



Priming
Next onto priming and filling the surface. I went back to supercheap and bought some Beige Septone One Step Filler/Primer for $15.00 per can, only bought one can and had 2/3 of a can left. Please ensure the entire surface for painting is completely dust and dirt free, obviously! I dont know what is best for this but the Septone can seemed to work well for me.. I followed directions on the can, applied several light coats allowing 5 minutes to dry between coats. By the way, this is where i removed thecenter badging from the rim and the wheel from the rim as you will see from the pics. Once you have applied your 'several' coats allow to completely dry in sun.

Painting
The paint is completely upto your opinion and what you would like, use your imagination, i went for black as apparently what the dude at Bob jane told me "Black is the new chrome". I recommend not getting Chrome as it never turns out like the lid shows. Basically follow directions. The saying is "a few light coats is better then one heavy coat". I applied a 'glossy' black, which gives it a nice shine, remeber matt black is just black no shine, but stay away from and chrome colours. Also as i had primer and filler in one i didnt need to prime the paint, but you may need too..

Last process is the clear coat, Bunnings supplied my clear coat and worked well, remember with the clear coat the more coats you apply the more shiny it will be. As per the previous step with painting, a few coats is better then a heavy coat. Allow more time between coats with this stuff, it seems stickier and takes longer to dry. I feel with the paint and Clear coat, spend the extra few bucks as it will ensure quality paint, why risk it.

And finally allow the dry in sun hopefully looking like a bought one..

Thankyou and good luck, hopefully it works for you.

Tips for the process
- When sanding use a block, eases the process and allows less sore hands
- Several light coats are better then a dark one
- Use a Towel or old sheet under the rim to stop any grime and gunk getting on the concrete
- Remove the tyre before starting
- Remove center circle badging

[Ewok]

That's a good repair job dude, looks pretty nice! I was wanting those rims for bloody AGES on my VS ute but couldn't find any and of course as far as I am aware you can't buy em new anymore

[danja]

Does anyone know how proper rim repairs are done? Do they use metal (seems unlikely) or some kind of filler?

My biggest worry would be the filler cracking/falling off after a while, but nice job.

Bear in mind rim shops repair them for about $50 a wheel though so you might not save all that much

[burnz]

fit wider rubber to protect to rim's is the best method.

[Ewok]

Avoiding kerbs would still be the best measure though I woulda thought btw, love ya avatar burnz, lol'd a while there.............

[impulsive]

Bear in mind rim shops repair them for about $50 a wheel though so you might not save all that much

really, if i only knew i would get them done..

and to answer Ewoks Question, those mags are no longer available, wish they were i love em and im the first to do them in black hehehe that i know of!!

[VrWagz1]

Nice work. I got to do some repairs on my rims soon. Like what you've done and good write up.

[wrx884]

Id b keen 2 see wat happens after wen the rims goes on the machines 2 take a tyre off, i dont think the bog would b strong enough against metal and other clamps. Tho most tyre shops by now "should" have a machine that doesnt touch the rim at all appart from the back (unless the rims r reverse fitment) old man has them at work.

[CrimsonThunder]

Thanks for the guide, the only part stopping me doing this is getting the rim off...

[Ewok]

and to answer Ewoks Question, those mags are no longer available, wish they were i love em and im the first to do them in black hehehe that i know of!!

/agree heh. Wanted em pretty bad. Can only get em 2nd hand now of course but they're always thrashed

So, anyone know of anywhere in Perth where you can get rims repaired? Might have to have a word to a mate of mine at BobJayne north perth, see if he knows anyone ...

[impulsive]

i took my rubber off at my old work, we had a tire machine we use to change tyres on Landrovers.. Its a dodge old thing that hardly goes and we use tyre levers to remove the rubber, still no more damadge then wat was already on it.. im pretty sure ill be able to put the rubber back on without any damage, pretty easy!

Ewok - there are guys that come to your house and do it in front of you, or if you are in brisbane maybe i can have a go at it when i get down there, lol dodgy but looks good

[VRSS]

those mags are no longer available, wish they were i love em and im the first to do them in black hehehe that i know of!!

3 people i know just in adelaide have had black furys
1 on a LS1 VT exec had black 19" furys
'LS1 WGN' has black 19" furys
and my mate winton had a grey VR with 17" black furys

[STEALTHY™]

Is Micon the one with the VT Exec?


Not to take anything away from your how to mate, but i thought i'd let you know for future incase you want a perfect looking rim.

It cost me $200 (50 per rim) to get powder coated. I've had 9 rims done, the 5th rim in the 2nd lot was as damaged as your rim, but the powdercoated cleaned it up perfectly before painting, and now i can't tell the difference bewteen the one that was damaged, and the 4 that were perfect.
Your method cost more than $50, and as you said, your not happy with it.

[Ozzie]

Not too impressed on the black...... a bit glossy IMO.

But one hell of a writeup mate

Should be moved to the "How To" section.

[TVR-190]

I know this is a bump.

In the process of trying this out with some new rims, Will post pics as we go.

We used the filler primer pressure pack can, but will be using a pressure fed paint gun for top coats

before:

primed:

[mayes]

pics dont seem to be working?

[maldotcom2]

So that primer filler filled all that gutter rash or did you use some other product?

[Zeussy]

TVR, cut that valve off before you top coat it!

Just use a stanely knife on the back side of the valve (inside the rim) up against the rim and chop the back half of the valve off, the front will just pull out easily after that
(not sure if you knew or not) they replace them when they put on new tyres aswell

[TVR-190]

filed and sanded the gutter rash as much as possible, the filler / primered it. theres still some tiny rash that can be seen in the pic, but once its painted will hardly be noticeable anyway

[TVR-190]

possibly another coat and then clear coat to come

[ari666]

that came up really well IMO.

shouldve taken the lead weight off though

[Zeussy]

Looks alright, although, you should've removed the valve and balancing weights before spraying the top coat...

Does the colour match up to the other rims?

EDIT: Ari half beat me to it

[ausrs]

have repainted a few rims over the years with gutter rash ,i usually just sand them back with an orbital sander starting with an 80 grit and finishing with a 280 grit ,quick coat of 2 pac hifill ,let that dry ,rub back and paint the colour of your choice ,most gutter rash is not usually that deep .....if it is then it needs to go to a wheel repairer as just adding filler to a rim is a waste of time