Repair Curb Rash On Fuchs?

jyl · jyl's Garage

I clipped a curb and put a 4" long rash on the rim of my right rear Fuchs wheel. 8" x 16", paddle-polished, otherwise perfect. Bummer. The rash is moderate - more than a scratch or scuff, with noticeable gouges in the metal, but there's not large chunks missing - in other words, if you drew a plane mid-way between the peaks and troughs of the gouges, it would be very similar to the original wheel surface. Good thing is, the rim is not visibly bent.

Any suggestions for repairing this? I'd prefer some place I can send the wheel to, rather than a DIY. Ideally, someplace local to the SF Bay Area (I don't have another wheel, so the car will be out of commission) but perhaps I can't be picky. Or is a replacement wheel more cost effective?

Jack Olsen · 12-07-2002, 10:46 AM

Al Reed in Anaheim (714) 632-3907. He does some pretty amazing repair work. Drive on the spare while it's out to him.

North Coast Cab · North Coast Cab's Garage

If you decide to go DIY.
If the lips are polished it's pretty easy. Sand the lip from 120-1500 and polish it up. I bet you could do the whole thing in 1 1/2 hours.

JG

jyl · jyl's Garage

Thanks for the suggestions. Anyone have a shop in the Bay Area? I'm thinking about the DIY - need to price a replacement wheel so I can see how much I'm potentially ruining . . .

89911 · 12-08-2002, 08:18 AM

You won't ruin it. Polishing wheels isn't rocket science. As the prior post stated. Sand out the scratch and then polish. As long as is isn't so far into the metal that major metal recontouring is needed, should take you minutes and you can leave the wheel on the car. If you want to remove it, ship it, wait and pay someone else to fix this blemish, its your $$.

GeorgeK · 12-08-2002, 09:04 AM

CAUTION THERE!!
Do NOT only sand/polish where the scratch is, you'll throw the wheel out of balance and, more important, create a weak spot on the rim, at a place where the stress is very important.
the only correct method af repairing this is to put the wheel on a lathe (or raise the rear axle and let the wheel turn in 4th gear), and work the WHOLE periphery down to the bottom of the scratch. That way the strength will be the same all around, without a weak spot. This is the exact same reason a single cracked spoke is the death of a rim. And yes there is enough meat there to do that.
GeorgeK