Gutter Rash Repair

[GT32]

Hey guys,

I hope this is the right place to post this.

I accidently gutter rashed a bit of the outer lip on my rims this afternoon. Shattered as I've owned these for nearly 2 years and have not had a single scratch mark on them and have always taken exceptionally good care of these. Rims in question are 18" Work XD9's in the MBG colour (Madbray/Magnesium-Gunmetal with polished/machined lip).

I was trying to get into a really tight reverse parallel parking spot and went in a little too deep then felt the rims scrape the gutter softly. I was hoping that there wasn't much damage done as I hit it very gently. After I assessed the rims there was only a slight scruff mark on the front left rim (not deep, around 4-5cms in length) and the rear left rim has 2x 1-3cm scruff marks. Both along the edge of the outer lip and barely noticeable when viewed from more than 1-2 metres away.

However, I am extremely fussy about things that I own and love so I went and tracked down a wheel repair specialist. After a quick search I found 2 that was based in Melbourne but was only able to get through to one. He comes out to you and all he needs is access to your car and a power outlet to perform a spot repair of gutter damaged rims. The price he quoted me though was $165 per rim. I thought it was a bit on the expensive side. I was hoping for more like $150 for both rims.

He seemed genuine and also asked me what brand and type of rim it was so I replied they were Work Japan rims with a machined alloy lip. Apparently he has worked with Work rims before and according to him the spot repair comes out quite good and blends in well with the original lip so it won't be that obvious (was told that some machined lipped rims don't tend to blend in very well once repaired and the spot where the repair was undertaken is often quite noticeable).

What do you all think? Should I even bother to have it repaired? Like I said, I'm very careful and always cautious whenever I drive and park but obviously it might happen again and then I'll have to spend money fixing again it a second time. My cousin told me that he wouldn't bother as the damage is not very bad and would only spend the money to fix it if he was going to sell them or something. I don't plan on selling them anytime soon as Work does not manufacture this particular colour/finish anymore so I want to hold on to them for as long as I can.

I'll post up some photos so people can see what I'm talking about.

Alternatively, I googled some other ways to repair the small marks and a lot of people have put up DIY's and they all seem fairly straightforward. I came across one guy who repaired the damaged machined lip on his Work VS-XX's and posted before/after photos. The end result looked amazing. He used a combination of low and high grit wet/dry sandpaper plus metal polish to finish it off. Apparently took around 90 minutes per rim. I'm not completely comfortable with going down this route though because I'm worried that I might do more harm than good as I'm inexperienced with sanding and grinding etc.

Edited May 31, 2011 by GT32

[75coupe]

I have a wheel repair guy up here that will weld in metal filling if needed & machine the lip for $50 a rim for perfect brand new looking results

but yeah he needs the rim off the car with the tyre off the rim...

get it fixed one way or another, you know everytime you look at your car it will stick out like dogs balls to you, even though no one else can perhaps see it...

[GT32]

Yeah I know. Sometimes I think I have OCD or something when it comes to my car. It's really bad, lol.

It was bound to happen sooner or later anyway. No rims will stay in perfect nick forever so I was kinda expecting it. At least I went for 2 years without putting a single mark on them, fair effort in my opinion. My cousins brand new TE37's on his S14a was dinted and slightly gutter rashed only 3-4 weeks after he fitted them. He was absolutely pissed.

You know what, if I was up in QLD I would take your suggestion and get it done through your guy in a heartbeat. Only problem is I don't really want to have to post the wheels up there (and also have to remove the tyres etc). I know it's cheap but it would seem like more trouble than what it's worth. The guy I spoke to will do it with the rim still on the car if the lip damage is only minor and cosmetic. It's now just a matter of whether I willing to pay him the $330 for both rims to repair some 2-4cm marks...

Thanks for your suggestion though, much appreciated.

Edited May 31, 2011 by GT32

[75coupe]

actually Im in NSW on the central coast, see if you can find another repairer close to you for a price comparison perhaps...

[GT32]

I'll try getting through to some other repairers throughout the week. I tried calling too late today and most of them were already closed. I think this guy is expensive purely because he comes out to you where ever you are in Melbourne. Assuming I can find another company that will perform the same type of repair in-house if I drop off my car or rims directly to them then no doubt it would be much cheaper.

Edited May 31, 2011 by GT32

[GTR-N1]

As FYA said, you should be able to find a comparable price in Melb. as you strip the tyres and supply the rims.

Have you searched the VIC subforum?

Here in Punchbowl, MAGMAN fixed LMGT4s for $75/rim rrp.

[GT32]

Yeah, I'll do some more more searching soon. I'll be happy if I can get away with paying around $150 for both rims to be repaired. I think that would be quite a reasonable price.

Cheers mate.

[GT32]

Just got off the phone from another company. He quoted me $150 per rim to repair. So basically only $30 cheaper than the previous quote but I have to drive the car there or drop the rim/s off to his workshop. At least it's getting a bit cheaper...

I can't seem to find very many places around Melbourne that does these sort of repairs.

Maybe I should not worry about it right now and just live with the gutter marks for the time being. Then if and when I curb another gutter I'll get it repaired when the damage is more severe so the price will seem more worthwhile.

[75coupe]

some places offer to repair rims but dont actually do it themselves and they turn out to be a middle man and add their own profit on top of the actual repair...

be sure your talking to the workshop that actually does the work.