Guttered!!!!! Gutter rash

[MozzGTI]

Hey guys well first blemish, whoops a car pulled out at a round about when I was going through, forcing me to surve and hit a gutter. I'm now facing a gutter rashes wheel just around the edge of the rim. I have the factory Detroit rims
Can anyone recommend a good wheel repairer in Brisbane South side?? How much is it for 1 wheel??

[nat225]

Depulu Wheels - Reconditioning, repairs, and custom wheels

i have never used them though.

with machined finish wheels, once guttered, they will never look the same. one method is to machine them to even out the face, then apply clear coat to retain the machined finish. another method is to apply metal putty but the machined finish is impossible to replicate this way.

what i used to do in the past was to buy another set of clean detroits, use the clean one and sell the spare set including the guttered one for a lower price.

[millo]

Hey Mate

Can't help in Brissy. But I got a detroit wheel repaired by Wheel Solutions in Melbourne. Machined, re-coated, awesome job. Been on the car repaired for about 4 months. Came back like new. $200

[MozzGTI]

Thanks guys, any other suggestions based in Brissy??

thanks all

[bluey]

Depulu Wheels - Reconditioning, repairs, and custom wheels

i have never used them though.

Had Depulu recommended by a VW parts guy years ago. Have had a lacquered wheel repaired by them, and saw some of the other work coming out. Looked amazing. They weld fill alloy damage and remachine with a CNC machine, so even clear finished alloy looks pretty good. (Didn't scrutinise other work finely.)

The wheel I had fixed viewed externally was indistinguishable from original - surface, colour and orange peel. Overspray on the inside of the wheel was evidence of repair.

Got another wheel to fix after daughter swerved into a gutter avoiding what sounds like a drunk/drugged driver. Polo wheel has clear finished alloy in part. Came here to see if there were any other suggestions than Depulu. Will report after it is done.

[jdw]

Depulu without a doubt are the experts. trivia.... Red Bull Racing use them.

[bluey]

Amazing photos on their facebook page.

[bluey]

Depulu repair before and after....

Polo Comfortline Estrada wheels are part painted and part diamond cut machined.


The repair looks pretty good, but not perfect. The machining marks are more obvious that on original. Close-up photos show that it looks to be due to the pitch of the lathe tool being about twice the original. Cost was $205 from Depulu (inc transport to/from Inala drop off - not sure how much was transport). Last painted wheel repair IIRC was $150 several years ago which I took to Depulu direct.

For the cost of the repair, it might be worth just getting a new wheel, though 2-3 times repair cost, it will look the same. With our previous Polo, we bought a new wheel and had the badlly gouged one repaired to keep for spare.

At a distance and on thumbnail photos, it's hard to tell the difference. The full size photos (click thumbs) show an obvious difference. (Have asked depulu about it out of curiosity.)

Damage to tire and rim (daughter hit gutter avoiding drunk driver - needs more defensive driving training.)


Rim original vs depulu


Centre original vs depulu


So I emailed the photos to depulu and they said show us the car. They have 2 CNC lathes, one that does finer cuts than the other. Our wheel was done on the good lathe, so that's as good as they can do.

The difference - original wheel has machining marks fine enough they are not readily visible and look like a brush finish, unless magnified. The depulu repair has easily visible machining. You can also see the slightly irregular pitch of the machining marks on the centre photo.

Measuring the number of cuts over the thickness of the rim edge, OEM is about 150micron (0.15mm), depulu about 300micron (0.3mm). Curious to know if anyone in Australia can match the OEM diamond cut finish.