General I chipped/scuffed an alloy..... what do i do?

[Big Black Stilo]

The car slipped on black ice (after being still for 5 seconds, and had the hand brake on) sideways and my drivers wheel hit the kerb leaving a nice mark on my drivers wheel (see photos)

never having alloys on my own personal car before what do i do?

leave it?
put lacquer over it to stop corrosion?
i think repair is too costly (for what i seen on the net)
too small a mark to justify a new alloy

its not on the face of the alloy, as at the last minute i turned the wheel to make sure the tyre hit, but didnt make it quite, so its not noticable from the side, just the top if you look down on it.

whatever i do needs to be cheap as some kind soul took the mirror off the saxo today and didnt leave their details and i need a whole new unit for it

photos

 

[Tad-bravo]

it'll be fine, no need to do anything. (normally wheels are made of stainless alloy)

 

[wing1200a]

Keep your eye out for a cheap individual one on ebay, then you'll have a spare

 

[The Autowerks]

am i right in saying that that wheel has a diamond turned face? if that's the case then it'll covered in a powdercoat clear. once the surface of powder is broken water gets in and behind it, and because it's a clear powder it'll start to turn a milky colour and you'll see a track start to appear.

 

[Big Black Stilo]

am i right in saying that that wheel has a diamond turned face? if that's the case then it'll covered in a powdercoat clear. once the surface of powder is broken water gets in and behind it, and because it's a clear powder it'll start to turn a milky colour and you'll see a track start to appear.

i had a feeling they might do this. I think i'll clean it up and lacquer over the scar ASAP

unless im wrong and this will do more harm than good

 

[Hellcat]

Are these the 17" two-tone?

Any signs of the infamous two-tone corrosion?

 

[The Autowerks]

i had a feeling they might do this. I think i'll clean it up and lacquer over the scar ASAP

unless im wrong and this will do more harm than good

the reason why there is a powdercoat clear over the diamond turned face as opposed to a wet lacquer is because wet lacquer doesn't adhere very well to a diamond turned face. so if you sand it back to smooth out the scuff firstly you're going to be putting marks in the diamond turned face itself, which will ruin the effect, and secondly the lacquer won't adhere to it.

EDIT: Username change was completed by admin whilst i was typing.

 

[Tad-bravo]

just don't bother doing anything, it'll be better.

 

[The Autowerks]

just don't bother doing anything, it'll be better.

i agree.

 

[Big Black Stilo]

do nothing, sounds good!

 

[Juliet Bravo]

You dont want to leave it, trust me

If you leave it the water / salt will get under it and your wheel will corrode and start to bubble, if your not gonna repair it now at least get a bit of clear nail varnish or laquer on it to keep the nasties out.

If you want to reapir it give it a light sand with wet and dry, say 800 then 1200 then get some autosol to get the polished surface back and then touch up with spray laquer. jobs a good un - dont bother getting them refurbed it will cost a fourtune to get the polished edge and 2 tone

 

[The Autowerks]

You dont want to leave it, trust me

If you leave it the water / salt will get under it and your wheel will corrode and start to bubble, if your not gonna repair it now at least get a bit of clear nail varnish or laquer on it to keep the nasties out.

If you want to reapir it give it a light sand with wet and dry, say 800 then 1200 then get some autosol to get the polished surface back and then touch up with spray laquer. jobs a good un - dont bother getting them refurbed it will cost a fourtune to get the polished edge and 2 tone

problem is that it's not a polished surface, it's diamond turned, which looks like the back of a CD. very finely cut lines in th face of the wheel.

lacquer has no chance of adhering to that surface, and that's even if you have the facility to bake it afterwards. wwater and salt will start to attack the finished surface regardless.

i think the other alloys will start to do the same sooner rather than later, so just get them refurbed in the spring.

 

[Tad-bravo]

You dont want to leave it, trust me

If you leave it the water / salt will get under it and your wheel will corrode and start to bubble, if your not gonna repair it now at least get a bit of clear nail varnish or laquer on it to keep the nasties out.

If you want to reapir it give it a light sand with wet and dry, say 800 then 1200 then get some autosol to get the polished surface back and then touch up with spray laquer. jobs a good un - dont bother getting them refurbed it will cost a fourtune to get the polished edge and 2 tone

I don't know what kind of chinese made wheels you're used to, but these ones are stainless.

what kind of idiotic automaker would sell you wheels that corrode when you scratch them?

My wheels have been damaged for many months now and no hint of corrosion and as autowerks said, lacquer won't adhere anyway.

 

[Juliet Bravo]

All metal corrodes / oxidises even stainless steel which is a bit of a misnomer as it does stain. If you left an nicely polished piece of metal out in the elements it will corrode and by corrode I dont mean rust. Take a nice shiney spoon from your kitchen draw and leave it outside for week you'll see what I mean.

And sorry to burst your bubble but alloys are called alloys for a reason they are made of a steel alloy or sometimes aliminium - wheels are not made of stainless.

Just because they are shiney does mean its stainless, it is just polished up, almost any metal can be polished to give a shine/mirror finish.
Ever wondered why alloy wheels are painted as they corrode if the water and salt get at them. if they are polished they they have some form of clear coat on them be it polish or wax otherwise you would have to shine them all the time.

PS a coat of wax will also do the trick, for the sake of putting on a bit are your gonna risk it ?

 

[Hellcat]

Or even magnesium alloy

 

[Juliet Bravo]

Or even magnesium alloy

true - If you have big pockets

PS Tad-bravo , I see car is left hand drive and there are some nice palm trees in your pics , they dont use salt on yor roads in winter do they?

 

[Hellcat]

Or a lancia delta

 

[Juliet Bravo]

Or a lancia delta

have you ever seen a car on fire with these on, scary biscuit. should be banned.

 

[Tad-bravo]

PS Tad-bravo , I see car is left hand drive and there are some nice palm trees in your pics , they dont use salt on yor roads in winter do they?

winter? what winter?

 

[Hellcat]

have you ever seen a car on fire with these on, scary biscuit. should be banned.

Yep, we put it out before the alloys got chance to catch.



My mountain bike has magnesium alloy suspension