my 99 protege es it has some really banged up and scraped up alloy rims. anyway to save them? can the finish be restored at all? I have tried to clean them, but the clear coat has failed and discolored, and is scraped up. dirt and grime have gotten into the crevasses. i can't afford new rims, but i could at least paint these or maybe wire brush them. any ideas?
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Clean the real well, sand down any rough spots until they're smooth, some putty or even bondo can be used to fill in deeper scratches, paint and clearcoat. There is an aluminum putty that you can use to fill in the deeper scratches, but im not sure where to buy it, maybe online only. I've also seen and read about people using bondo. They can be saved, don't worry.
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I'm not sure what effect the wire wheel will have on it. I haven't gotten around to fixing mine. But mine are painted silver. Are yours just alloy with a clearcoat over it? If so, removing the clearcoat will allow the aluminum to corrode and eventually look just as bad or worse than they do now. Putting at least a clearcoat over it will protect it against corrosion.
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well, i took a wire wheel on my drill and totally cleaned one rim. the underlying metal is rough, and doesn't have a uniform look,or shine. parts are nice, other parts dull. i'm gonna get some sand paper and try to smooth them out, then paint it. Probably go to O'Rileys for paint. i bought some good stuff there before. depending on how it turns out, i'll tackel the other rims. sure is alot of work.
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