Could I save these lips(curb rash).

[Phil G]

Ok, so long short story. I bought a set off wheel, the seller told me 1 lip had a scratch and all the other were perfect. When I got the wheels they were all scratched. Anyways, I would like to save 2 lips out of the 4th.

Lip 1

IMG_3272 par Philippe Gélinas, sur Flickr

IMG_3270 par Philippe Gélinas, sur Flickr

Lip 2

IMG_3271 par Philippe Gélinas, sur Flickr

lip 3

IMG_3275 par Philippe Gélinas, sur Flickr

Lip 4

IMG_3274 par Philippe Gélinas, sur Flickr

IMG_3273 par Philippe Gélinas, sur Flickr

So would you think I can save them, if so how? I've thought I could use a grinder with a soft disc but I don't really know if it can work. Any better idea?haha
Thanks guys

[zoo]

Sand and polish out the minor rash. The deeper gouges can bee filled in and then polished. If you do not feel comfortable doing this - take them to a shop. But those lips can definitely be restored.

[Phil G]

Filled with what kind of product? I can try to sand but some rash are kinda deep.

[zoo]

Something like Alumaloy. It will be slightly different in color (when polished) if you take a very close look.

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

Those are most definitely rescuable. Looks to me like the lips are cleared, so you're probably going to want to either remove all the clear or have them re-cleared after repairs. Were it me, I'd pull the wheels apart and strip the lips completely.

[stbk]

there is no problem in restoring these. had just as much on mine, and i didn't fill anything. i just sand a bigger area so that you get more clean lines. instead of a small "dent" where the curbrash is.

[1badg35]

Pull the wheels apart, strip the lips, sand a little, then mirror polish the entire lip. It's very straightforward.

If something needed to be filled (something more serious than this) you could tig weld a bead to build up the edge and then sand and polish.

[Phil G]

Ok thanks guys! I'll take the wheel apart soon and sand them!
Any product you'd recommend to remove the clear?

[pDubs]

Follow this procedure.

Thanks everybody. For those wondering here's how I went about polishing the lips.

I used aircraft stripper (in a spray can) and taped off everything that I didn't want stripped/polished. I sprayed the lips evenly with it and it immediately started bubbling (the clear coat). Let it sit for 20 minutes and then hosed it off real well. I did that twice.



I then began wet sanding and used a spray bottle which was really convenient to continuously spray the lips down and a bucket of water to keep the sandpaper in and dunk in. I have a friend who also has a set of LMs for his corvette so we each did our own wheels together. We each did one every Saturday 4 weekends in a row. haha.



pruned hands






The process was 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2,000 all wetsanding. 400, 600, 800 probably each took an hour and then the steps went quicker. After 2,000 is done they look awesome and polished then you hit them with some mother's aluminum polish and put a huge smile on your face. Here's a pic where I hit a section with the mother's polish compared to the 2,000 grit.



You only need to use the aircraft stripper if the lips have clearcoat on them. You can have the lips re cleared after polishing, preferably powder coat cleared because regular clear probably won't hold. Only thing is clearing them will take away a little bit of the shine. I've decided to keep them raw polished like CCWs, Rotiforms, etc come and I'll just go over them with a 2,000 wetsand and mother's polish again probably when I mount the stock wheels for winter every year. As long as you keep up with cleaning them and taking care of them the raw aluminum won't oxidize.

I had a tiny bit or curbage on my lips that sanded out with the 400. You could always step it down to 320 or so just for the curbed parts. I've also heard of people using a file to smooth it out first, then sanding. I've never had to do that.



That was the aerosol paint stripper I used. Got it at Napa but I've seen it at Advance auto or autozone before as well. I know sometimes Home Depot has it as well but I've only ever seen it in the brush on type there.

[CandySucker]

Easily could be saved with sanding then polish

[Phil G]

Thanks guys! Will post update soon