Rims scratched by old weights

[Sharondippity]

I got new tires (yay! a WORLD of difference with Michelin Pilot Sports) but when they took the old weights off, this was left on my rim :

Is this repairable?

 

[MBDiagMan]

It is absolutely necessary to use weights on the inboard AND outboard planes of the wheel to get an adequate balance for these cars.

What I would suggest to prevent this next time is to find a shop that will use tape weights just behind the spokes for balancing the outer plane. It is becoming more common for tire stores to do this. They even have machines now that will tell them exactly where to put the tape weight. Seek out a tire store that will do this for you.

In the mean time, I'm afraid you're stuck with the scratch on the wheel unless you want to pay big bucks to have the wheel refinished.

Good luck,

 

[BlackNBlue95]

It is absolutely necessary to use weights on the inboard AND outboard planes of the wheel to get an adequate balance for these cars.

What I would suggest to prevent this next time is to find a shop that will use tape weights just behind the spokes for balancing the outer plane. It is becoming more common for tire stores to do this. They even have machines now that will tell them exactly where to put the tape weight. Seek out a tire store that will do this for you.

In the mean time, I'm afraid you're stuck with the scratch on the wheel unless you want to pay big bucks to have the wheel refinished.

Good luck,

I agree... There is one thing that can help....

Theresa my fiancee has an 02' w/ polished wheels which came with curb rash on a the 2 front wheels. Keep in mind from the factory they spray the wheels with a clear coat. So by doing this you are stripping the clear coat in the section. If you want to repair or touch up the wheel with out spending alot, I would take some semi coarse sand paper, wet sand the section where the wheel is damaged. Then work your way down to finer grit, like 1500 or whatever.. then use aliuminum polish and hand polish the section. It won't look perfect but it will look MUCH better then the damage and from 5 feet noone will probably notice. Now someone can chime in and tell me I'm wrong or whatever I really don't care. just trying to help and give a suggestion that is based on my OPINION.

Also the reason why you probably never saw this is damage before is the wheel weight was over it and they had to rebalance the wheel after the net tires were installed. The 2 dissimilar metals up against eachother cause corrosion, and the weights are hammerd on which causes the metals to rub together when installed. USE Stick on weights it keeps this from happening.

-=Rick

 

[wishuwerehere82]

That's too bad that someone used clamp-on weights to balance your wheels to begin with.
The answer is yes, the question is how much are you willing to spend? The rim can be re-cut and surfaced by a professional wheel shop, but it will be expensive.
You could refinish it yourself with a little time and affort, and it will look a lot better that it does now but not perfect.
It's like redoing your nail polish. Start by removing the clear coat in a patch a little bigger than the bad area. Nail polish remover works well for this.
Then the area will need to be sanded smooth with 400 grit sandpaper then over again with progressively smaller grit 600, 800, 1000, until the finish is nearly mirror smooth.
Then use good aluminum polish to get it to that mirror finish. The final step is to degrease it with some alchohol and re-clear coat it to overlap the original clear coat.
Will it look like new? No.
Will it look better? definately.
The aluminum is dented and oxidized well below the original surface, and will leave a spot there shiny or not.

 

[Sharondippity]

Thanks for all the tips.
Those clamps were on the original tires on the car.

The new tires have the taped on weights inside the rim behind the spokes, less visible.

 

[jrose7004]

They sure did a number on those wheels!ad

 

[68Roadster]

I'm re-iterating what Sharon said. My '04 came with clamped on weights from the factory. I just had Michelin Sports installed this week and the shop put weights inside the rim.
The clamp on weights appeared to be plastic coated so that they don't react with the aluminum wheels, dis-similar metals is a no no.....
Agreed the best thing she can do is try and polish them up.

 

[motorman]

Thanks for all the tips.
Those clamps were on the original tires on the car.

that is why the C-6s have tape on weights on the inside

 

[Rain]

agreed - they come from the factory hammered on. (guess it was a time saving issue in production)

Check your local yellow pages for Wheelmasters.
They are a mobile wheel repair shop. We have one locally here and they charged me 100$ a wheel to return my HRE wheels to new condition.

(of course after repairing three of them, Susan scraped the curb at Sonic's drive thru - oops! I will call Wheelmasters..)

Rain

 

[Bills03Coupe]

I got new tires (yay! a WORLD of difference with Michelin Pilot Sports) but when they took the old weights off, this was left on my rim :

Is this repairable?

A friend of mine, Alex Knight of Cyberdine Graphics, recently made me a set of rim "Decals", which consisted of a Chrome background with Red letters spelling out Corvette. They are curved to fit the curve of the rim and are about 3/8" high. I applied them over the weight scratches and they do a very nice job of covering the damage, and blend in well with the polished surface.
Contact Alex @ www.cyberdinegraphics.com and tell him Bill from Simi Valley Corvettes sent you!

 

[Toms007]

I have this issue with all three of my vehicles (vette, PU and wifes volvo). Corrosion on top of the scratches. My question is this; After cleaning up the scratches and corrosion what do you spray over the top (ie clearcoat)?