Fixing Curb Rash on Abarth 124 Wheels

Article and photos submitted by Wynn Werner (published with permission)

I bought my 2017 124 Abarth in April. In fact just got back from my free day at Bondurant.

I had a 1969 124 Spider in my 20s, my first car. I get [ameridan’s blog] posts and find them very valuable. I have removed my sun visors, removed the passenger foot foam block and other tweaks thanks to him. I love my car !

no “before” pics, here is an “after” pic though

I unfortunately backed up against a parking curb last week and will not repeat what I said. I cried … the first damage on my baby. Some pretty deep scratches and curb rash on the rim. Dealer wants $650 for a new one, aftermarket had an OEM re-conditioned to factory specs for $212, I have ordered one of those. In the mean time time, I have been searching for paint, which seems impossible to find. To make a long search short, I found a surprisingly close match at the local hardware warehouse. Don’t laugh, it’s Rustoleum Hammered in 7215 Black.

I got out my Dremel with a fine grit ball and smoothed out the deep scratches and then a 1.5” diameter stiff wire brush on my drill to feather it all in and then masked the area, a heat lamp to warm up the rim and three light coats. It is a very surprisingly close match! Unless you know where to look you cannot see where the damage was. Here are some pictures. In the photo, the damage is from 3:30 to 5:30 on the rim with the 5:30 position on the “spoke” near the rim. Sorry I do not have pictures of the damage before the fix, it hurt me to look at it!  Please share with everyone. (oh, and a picture of my car on the trip to Arizona)

 

Wynn, thanks for sharing.  It may prove helpful to many others.