Need Help, 18" Detroit GTI Wheel Rash

[mylesw42]

Damnit all to hell, I hit a curb at lunch going to get my 3M film touched up, and got a nice 3 - 4 inch road gash along the edge of the wheel. I'm so glad these wheels are machined finished and impossible to repair! Hooray, NOT!

Anyway, I have lined up an appointment with a guy who has done a lot of wheel repairs on the older GTI wheel, and he says $150, and it will be about 95%, but not a perfect match as he's going to sand out the rash and match paint. Oh and this is the guy who will be doing the work -http://www.awrswheelrepair.com/calgary/. I guess he does a lot of dealer work, so I guess he's my best option for repair.

Anyone have any suggestions? Who has the 18's with the black insert that would be willing to sell me one?

Ya ya perfect opportunity to buy new wheels, but I don't want to.

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Need Help, 18" Detroit GTI Wheel Rash

Hey Myles, Andre is the best in town so he will do his best so wait and see how it comes out then decided what to do next. You could always get them all refinished in a different way or just keep your eyes open for a replacement.

[GTI CANADIAN]

Re: Need Help, 18" Detroit GTI Wheel Rash

Tough luck there. Unless the dude has a CNC lathe, I would say your **** out of luck.

You see, these wheels are what are called "Diamond Cut" meaning the face is machined after they are painted / powdercoated and then lacquered / clearcoated. (I don't think they are cut with a diamond tipped tool, that would be silly in mass production, surely they use carbide insert tooling).

If you look closely, you will see cutter marks, similar to the grooves in a record player. all dude can do is weld up and sand down, and polish. I would say you'll alwyas notice the difference close up.

I love those rims, but you even look at huff/detroits, they get curb rash.

If you like the factory finish, the best thing to do is find a replacement. Save your money, and put towards a rep. save your current as a full size spare.

Or get the rash filled, and have all the faces polished.

[mylesw42]

Re: Need Help, 18" Detroit GTI Wheel Rash

Well thankfully the rash is only along the edge/lip of the wheel and didn't scrape horizontally towards the bolts. Well here is a crappy blackberry picture to show the damage.

[mylesw42]

Re: Need Help, 18" Detroit GTI Wheel Rash

Oh, just in case anyone was wondering. I got my wheel back from Andre and he did an amazing job. Couldn't be happier. Showed it to some guys last night at the meet, and you seriously have to be within inches inspecting the wheel to find out where it was painted.

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Need Help, 18" Detroit GTI Wheel Rash

Yes it looked great, needed to get on your hands and knees to tell where it was fixed. Another fantastic piece of work by Andre!

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: Need Help, 18" Detroit GTI Wheel Rash

Yup, I was very impressed. Looks like I am going to have talk to Andre soon about som rash on a couple of mine.