Hello everyone,

New guy here. I bought a 09 Atomic Orange with the factory forged polished wheels. They have a few scratches and a little curb rash etc from the previous owner. My question is can they be fixed and re-polished? I'd like to get them fixed and keep them because they really compliment the car and i really like them for a factory wheel. Thanks in advance for any replys.

 

There are quite a few specialty wheel repair companies out there I've linked the one I'm going to use for an example of the services they provide but not much use for you in Florida. This one is highly recommended and used by all of the car dealers in my area in the Pacific Northwest Canada. This company is so good at what they do they were hired by the insurance industry to recommend the standards and practices for wheel repairs.

You might want to also look into buying new ones since the service isn't cheap and depending on your wheels I've seen matches to the factory wheels for around $260 each.

I also have curb rash from the previous owner plus my own stupidity of hitting mine with a high pressure washer trying to clean the wheel barrels instead of removing the tires from the car and doing them by hand. If you ever entertain that idea, don't do it!

The company I linked to is so fussy about their work that they do everything as a package deal. They re and re the tires, chemically strip off the finish, repair curb rash and any other damage, refinish the wheels remount the tires and balance them. If your wheels have the chrome look they also do polishing.

They do it all with high end equipment because they don't want to have a tire shop wreck their work. I chose to do this now since the car is 10 years old and my TPMS sensors are at the end of life so having those replaced at the same time.

Keeping in mind that the Canadian dollar is worth 74 cents I was quoted $800 for all 4 wheels package deal with me supplying the new TPMS sensors.

http://www.pantherwheels.ca/wheels/

 

As already noted you could check with a few local dealers to obtain information on guys that repair their wheels. You might also do a search for wheel repair in your area. There are some companies that have mobile repair and will come to your house to fix wheels.

This might not be for you. There are wheel rims savers which are vinyl that cover up damage to the wheel lips. They are available in various colors. Installed a pair on my C5 in Red Color and looked good to me.

Where are you located in FL.

I am in Ft Lauderdale area.

Jim

 

in Fla you have "house of wheels" for factory take offs, but they are really proud of their used wheels and will charge near new prices.

 

People are guessing you live in FL; would help if you filled in a town and state---someone might know a place in your town, or not. Other than that, the best advice is hit google for your area re "wheel repair" and it should pop up a variety of places. Short of that, contact your local Corv. club (same google search), and ask the question of the prez or whomever. Good luck.

 

Ok thanks. Updated my location

 

Ahh, thank you for the/your location. I think you probably know already but one of the largest and most prolific seller of Corvettes is about 13 miles from you, Stingray Chevrolet in Plant City.

I would go over (in person vs. on phone or email) and talk with the advisors there, or if you can get to him/her, the Service Manager. I'm positive they, like every other dealer, use a wheel refinishing service. Good time to get to know their service dept., too.

Good luck.

 

I purchased a set of wheels from House of Wheels several years ago. I got a great deal on used factory wheels that were as advertised. Still on the car eight years later.

 

I went to Orlando to get my damaged wheel repaired on my BMW a few years ago. The guy fixed it pretty quick, and it looked brand new. I don't remember his name/number, but I found him on www.awrswheelrepair.com/

 

Not knowing how severe your damage is, there is a process you can try to repair the damage yourself. I don't recall the link, but check out You Tube. A guy repaired some serious damage on some polished aluminum wheels - I think they were on an Escalade. You could try one wheel and if it didn't meet your expectation, you would be out just a little elbow grease. If you can't find it, PM me and I'll see if I can help more.

With so many folks damaging their Vette wheels, I'm thinking of going into the business of selling old school curb feelers. Some of you younger guys have no idea what I'm talking about, but these were a must have in the old days of parallel parking.

 

Repairing the wheels yourself is a lot of work. The polished wheels have a clearcoat on them that gets chipped and scratched along with the aluminum. I bought a 2015 Camaro 2SS RS convertible for my wife last January. It was a former Hertz rental car with 23,000 miles for a great price. The only issue was that somewhere along the line one of the lot monkeys used a harsh cleaner on the wheels that clouded the clearcoat and actually ate through it in some places. It was winter time here in Missouri so I removed one wheel at a time, used Aircraft Paint stripper and a fine grit Scotchbrite pad to remove the clearcoat, washed the wheel and then used 2000 grit wet dry paper to get any of the scratchs out, polished the wheels so they looked better than new and applied Wheel Wax to them. Wheel Wax is really good stuff. After a bunch of washes and rain storms (because the car stays outside) the aluminum has remained spot free. I will probably polish them all again this winter and wax them again just because.

 

wheel repair shops are numerous. I've had good luck with them, particularly when my sons were younger.

I wouldn't think that polishing should be a problem.

 

Thanks for all of the reply's. I'll check into the price to have them fixed. If it's too high i might get a set of take off's or reproductions.

 

Glenns Wheel Polishing is in Tampa..

they do wheel repairs and you can see some on his Facebook page.

4715 n Grady ave
Tampa, Florida
Get Directions

Call (813) 882-0224