GTS Wheel Rash DIY Repair

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KIZAWDinKC
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:53 am

So dummy me, backed out of a parking spot too fast to beat the traffic going across the lot, and forgot I had a concrete curb on the right side. I heard the nastiest loudest sound of metal rubbing against concrete. I'm not use to this because with other cars I've owned, the tire would normally be the only thing to hit the curb. But with the lower profile type tires of the Kizashi, it is at higher risk of wheel damage if you happen to rub a tire against a curb.

First of all, I initially attempted this repair with not-so-good results because I didn't take the wheel off the car and I did a horrible job filling, sanding, and painting the rim. The original paint (silver) that I tried using, didn't quite match the Kizashi wheel paint either. And I didn't take pictures. So, the second time around, I was able to find a paint that matches the Kizashi wheel paint close enough. So I decided I would take another crack at it and do an acceptable job and take pictures of my progress with it. If it doesn't come out looking "acceptable", then I'll either live with it, or get a new wheel.

1. Before filling with wheel filler, the rash on my Kizashi wheel looked just like this, but it also covered 1/3 of the wheel: (I unfortunately didn't take pics of the rash on my Kizashi wheel. I didn't think to post my first repair job and I had already filled the rash. Since my first repair job sucked, I decided to post my second attempt)
NOTE:  Not my wheel.  But I had to find an example to show what I originally repaired
NOTE: Not my wheel. But I had to find an example to show what I originally repaired
2. I use this to fill in the damage. I made the mistake of not taping off the area that would be getting filler, and ended up getting filler on other areas of the wheel. Another lazy dumb mistake I made. So with sanding the filler smooth, you'll end up sanding a little further outside the repair area. Plus I had to sand off the other areas that I got filler onto. So I ended up with a much larger repair area because of my poor planning.
Bondo.jpg
3. So I took the rim off, and sanded the heck out of my initial repair job. (This basically entailed sanding off first paint repair attempt).
Wheel1.jpg
4. I finished sanding with a 200 and then 400 grit to get it smoother. I took the wheel and put it outside on my deck to be painted.
Wheel2.jpg
5. I vacuumed and cleaned the wheel as best as I could. I masked the areas of the wheel off that I didn't want overspray on with foil & tape. NOTE: You do NOT want to tape off too closely the area that you are going to paint. Because when you remove the tape, you will see a fine line of paint that you cannot get off unless you re-sand. Therefore, you want to leave some space in between the actual repair area and the good part of the wheel. The intention is that the overspray will blend in the repair area with the good area a little better.
Wheel3.jpg
6. Here is the paint I used. I used a perfect match wheel paint and a clear coat paint for the final application. "Pewter Metallic" is the only one I could find that would match the Kizashi wheel paint close enough.
Wheel4.jpg
Wheel5.jpg
7. My initial first coat of Pewter Metallic paint was a very quick pass:
Wheel6.jpg
8. If it is a nice warm sunny day, the paint will dry within a few minutes. Enough to be sanded lightly with a 400 grit. Unfortunately, I decided not to prime the area because I just didn't think it needed to be, but I probably should have. The Perfect Match paint has a tendency to "crumple" on the edged areas that aren't sanded absolutely perfect. So I had to re-sand and put multiple coats on until it looked "acceptable". I couldn't get it perfect. It was very frustrating, but I just kept working at it until it looked good enough
Wheel655.JPG
Wheel655.JPG (54.88 KiB) Viewed 25832 times
9. Final Result after clear coating. Total time took about 2 1/2 hours. The repair area is not noticeable at all unless someone got down right near the wheel and I pointed it out to them.
Wheel7.jpg
So the repair came out good. The paint I used was the only type I could find that matched close enough. The color is a great match, but the finish/texture isn't exact. But it's pretty much undetectable. I'm very happy with it and I don't have to buy a new wheel. The paint and clear coat seem very durable and should hold up just fine in a car wash and being driven in the elements. I put the wheel back onto my car and I will polish the wheel up in a day or two.
Last edited by KIZAWDinKC on Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:08 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Gutsy move on your part that looks like it paid off! Can't tell from looking at the pics, nice job and good write-up!

If anyone who's gone aftermarket wheels is sitting on a set of OE wheels like this, I'd be in for a buy of one or two of them. I'm a full size spare kind of guy and wouldn't mind having one in my trunk.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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KIZAWDinKC
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:53 am

Yea, I decided I would take one more crack at my first botched wheel repair attempt. It came out pretty good. Every now and then, when I park my car, I'll walk around and take a glance at the wheel I repaired. I can't tell at all that it was repaired. Looks like nothing ever happened to it. Ya have to squat down and eye-ball the wheel and rub your finger across it to detect a slight difference in paint texture. But it didn't come out looking like a ghetto repair and I breathed a sigh of relief seeing how it came out and knowing that I don't have to buy a new wheel. The wheel filler and paint are very durable and should hold up great through car washes and driving through the elements. The filler dries harder than rock..I could barely sand the stuff down.
Northernstar
Posts: 590
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:49 am
Location: Surrey Canada

nice write up!
i scratched my right rear rim as well when i backed my car into a parking space.....my heart broke in halfs when i heard the scratching sound = =
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KIZAWDinKC
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:53 am

That's how I felt, cause I only have owned my Kiz about 6 months. I jacked my wheel up going out to lunch at work. When I got back into the parking lot at work, I got out of my car, took another look at my wheel rash, and just shook my head and went back inside to work. I was like, "Great, just f-d up my wheel. How nice".
gmoney91
Posts: 69
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 9:11 am

Thanks. I scratched my front passenger wheel. So, I'll be trying this out.
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bkcheong
Posts: 58
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 1:42 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Thanks for sharing that. I, too, have scratched my left rear wheel coming out from a round-about. Damage was minor, but I swapped it for my brand new spare wheel! I might follow what you did one of these days.
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

It's unanimous....mods please sticky this excellent DIY!
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
Eric998765
Posts: 39
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:34 pm

I might have to attempt this as I got some rough spots on mine the first tiem I tried to parallel park my Kizzy (about 1 week of owning it :'(). Needless to say, my '11 MT Kizzy parks slightly different than the '06 AT Forenza I had before it ><
gmoney91
Posts: 69
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 9:11 am

Ronzuki wrote:It's unanimous....mods please sticky this excellent DIY!
I don't think it needs stickied as much as the DIY forum just needs cleaned up a little bit. This section is supposed dedicated to DIYs like this post. There's a bunch random/general things in this section.
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