Questions and Answers

Saab Alloy Wheel Repair Q. Hi Vincent, Sorry to trouble you but I was curious if you might know if it's possible to repair surface abrasions on the lip of a wheel yourself or if you need to take it to a shop. Specifically, I have a 1999 Saab 9-3SE with stock alloy wheels and I recently scraped up one of the front wheels while parking too close to a curb.

It really just scraped up two 3" portions of the very outer lip of the rim (where the tire meets the wheel), and it's pretty much just an aesthetic thing, definitely no damage or bending.

Anyhow, I didn't know if this was something where I could smooth out the roughed-up metal with some sort of polishing compound or sandpaper, and also if I should I be putting some sort of clear coat over it so it doesn't rust. In truth, I really didn't even know if these were susceptible to rust or not.

Thank so much for your any assistance you can offer.

RRT

A. A lot depends on how deep the scratches are. If they are shallow, you can get some course emory cloth to get them out and use progressively finer emory cloth to smooth it out. Then rub it out with a good, fine, polish to smooth it all out. Then I would recommend having them sprayed with a clear coat at a body shop. While alloy wheels don't rust, they will tarnish and pit. Body shops have a special clear coat they use on wheels.