touch-up paint for alloys?

[veteran]

The roadwheels on my 2017 Polo Match TSI 1.2 are 15-inch Stratfords. Whilst the spokes are of course silver-coloured, the wheel-colouring is a bluey-grey.

Unfortunately, the inner rim of the front nearside wheel has been fairly deeply gouged by something, along a length of about 3 quarters of an inch, the damage going right down to the bare alloy. I highly suspect that the MOT tester was responsible for that last month when I took the car for its first test, as I saw him wielding a crowbar to stress the suspension bushes at the wishbones, and at one point he must have used the back edge of the wheel as a levering point (an absolute guarantee of it then slipping as the wheel turned). I remember seeing the car shaking violently as a result. I didn't discover the damage to the wheel until a couple of days ago when I removed all four wheels to give them a thorough wash. I noticed also a much longer though only superficial marking of the rim, covering about one third of the rim's inner circumference in total. There was no way I myself could have been responsible for this, especially with it being on the inner side of the wheel. I'd never jemmy any suspension bushes, trackrod joints or whatever. Just unthinkable, particularly on a car in such a pristine condition. And I don't see how any stones thrown up from roads could have caused the long rim marks. But what's done is done. (Needless to say, I'll not be using that test station ever again).

How can I discover the code of this bluey-grey paint, so that I might be able to touch up the damage before corrosion sets in ? Is the paintcode for the wheels shown somewhere on the vehicle's label at the front of the service document? I've noticed that there are alphanumeric embossments on the inner side of the wheel, on the rears of the spokes, and have wondered whether one of those is the paintcode. You can only ever see these embossments with the wheel removed from the vehicle.

Are there just a handful of colours used for alloy wheels these days? Am I likely to ever find an exact match of that bluey-grey in a touch-up paint sold by a third party, or would I be better off going to a local VW dealership's spares dept and getting them to identify and order the requisite touch-up paint?

Anyone here ever had the same problem?

[peter_dk25]

Could be this:
https://colorndrive.com/gb/touch-up-pai ... 05/details

[RUM4MO]

I've never had much luck locating the exact colour of paint that VW Group use on alloy wheels, I don't think that VW Group offer much in the way of support to owners that want/need to touch up marks on alloy wheels, though I think the parts listings might give a colour code - although if that is just a generic "German Alloy Wheel Silver" or more I can't say - I used to use Ford Strato/Stratus(?) Silver - and most "silver" Silver metallic paints are very close.

Now, normally the inner surface of VW Group wheels do not have the same High Gloss finish on them - I'd guess as that are not on show, so any thing that you apply to that inner surface will always stick out like a sore thumb - that is where/when having front and rear disc brakes comes in handy as it covers up these touch up areas.

[SRGTD]

Sometimes there’s an extra three digits added to the end of part number for VW alloy wheels, and those three digits are the paint code. However........it’ll be the paint code for the face of the wheel and not the reverse side.

I’ve just sold my anthracite coloured VW Motorsport alloys that were on my 6c GTI. The part number for those wheels was 6R0071497 16Z. The 16Z part of the part number was paint code for anthracite grey. I found this out after I’d bought some anthracite grey paint that wasn’t the correct paint code but was a very close match to touch up a couple of very minor stone chips on the face of the wheels. However, the reverse side of the wheels was a much lighter colour - definitely not anthracite grey - and using that paint on the reverse would have looked a completely different colour

The part number for veteran’s 15” Stratford alloys seems to be either 6R0601025AB or 6R0601025AC and I found a listing with paint code of 8Z8. 8Z8 is described as diamond silver, but that will be the colour used for the face of the wheel, not the reverse side. In veteran’s position, I’d try and get a paint that’s as close a match as possible to repair the damage caused by the MOT tester. If it’s a close colour, any mismatch is unlikely to be noticed or seen by anyone, and only veteran will know it’s there.

[veteran]

RUM4MO, the damage is on the INNER face of the wheel. The paintwork there is a blue-ish grey color and, on that INNER face, it extends from the boss to the outermost rim of the roadwheel. It's on and around that rim where the damage lies. The paintwork is by no means matt. If anything, I'd describe it as a low-gloss finish. There'd be no question of the brake calipers covering up the touch-up, once it were done, as the damage is on the RIM of the roadwheel, within about half an inch of the tyre-wall, and so is well away from the brake caliper.

Peter_dk25, what's shown there, in that link, are touch-up paints for VW metal panels, not paints for the inner faces of alloy wheels.

SRGTD, you say " ... I'd try and get a paint that's as close a match as possible to repair the damage .... ". Yeh, but how? Walk around, say, Halfords with a complete wheel you've just taken off the car under your arm? Somewhat infeasible, I'd say. That's where agreed paintcodes come into their own, as once you know the code you can just look for it on the touch-up tube and can be assured that it'll be an exact match.

Maybe in the end I'll have to go along to a VW dealership, quote them my VIN no., and get them to look up the code. Then assuming they actually sell such a thing especially for the wheels, I'll have to get them to order a tube in, obviously then at their highly inflated prices.

[RUM4MO]

Veteran, yes I understood that in your case the paintwork damage was on the "back" of the wheel, but like SRGTD I was starting off by talking about the side normally receiving damage and also the side that is painted a specific colour, the second paragraph of my reply contained my thoughts on the "back" side of VW Group wheels in general, okay it is not matt finished, more like satin, and certainly not high gloss or a "finished" metallic paint appearance.

Again like SRGTD I think that you will need to fix in your mind's eye, what that shade of paint and its texture is, and look though any display of paint colours and pick one that gets close to what is there already - and that is that.

I also worked out where the damage was roughly and was only pointing out that once that inner surface gets a light coating of brake dust, any mismatch of colours will get "lost" - and that is, for my money, as good as you will get.

Edit:- I'll go further and hazard a guess that if you were to request that any VW Group dealership refurbished that wheel for you at your cost, it will come back with the inner face coated with a different colour of paint than that applied by the wheel manufacturer, ie it will be silver and not somewhere between grey undercoat and silver.

[veteran]

SRGTD and RUM4MO,

I've a pristine full-sized spare wheel for my Polo in the boot. In situ in the boot, I should be able to not only read off the embossments I've mentioned but also will be able to take a photo of it, which I could then upload to this forum (though of course it won't show any damage because the damaged wheel is still on the car). Maybe a photo will make a few things clearer to you all.

Since your last postings I've done a little searching on the Web, and have had to conclude that you're both probably right - the best I'm likely to do is to just generally look around for a 'nearest match' touch-up pen, relying on a mental picture of the colour. That could take a long, long time, especially as nearly all wheel paints are silver or black. Web colours (and therefore what you see onscreen) are not colour-managed, however, and so might not convey the true shade or hue. And colours shown on colour pens themselves in car accessory stores can be notoriously misleading due to poor labeling and/or the effects of retail lighting. What might help would be if I were to take the proposed photo with me, in the compact camera I use, when trolling around car accessory places.

These VW Stratford wheels aren't one colour throughout. Instead, the fronts and sides of the spokes are silver but the rest of the actual roadwheel is finished in the bluey-grey, semi-gloss paint that I've mentioned. Incidentally, each wheel (with tyre) costs well over £500 from VW - I know from the spare I have - so I've found the damage done to the wheel quite galling.

By all accounts, Volkswagen don't keep paint codes for their wheels. However, it'll be worth my having a peek at those alphanumeric embossments, to see if I can spot anything that might remotely resemble one. Also, I might e-mail or take a trip to one of my local VW dealerships and ask them outright whether they can acertain the paintcode required here and, if so, whether they can supply a touch-up pen or brush for doing so. It'll be worth a punt.

My main concern about the proposed 'repair' is that I want to touch up the gouge primarily to stop corrosion getting a hold and perhaps the surrounding paintwork on that rim gradually deteriorating (water and pollutants creeping in).

[SRGTD]

I doubt you’ll find a paint code on the reverse side of your wheel. The VW wheels I’ve just sold were available in three colours and when they are manufactured, the manufacturer would have needed to know which of the three colour options each wheel was going to be painted / powder coated in order to add the correct paint code for that colour at time of manufacture.

The details stamped into the reverse side of the spokes will include the following;
- part number (without paint code)
- wheel size (the width and diameter)
- offset
- certification mark (e.g. JWL, ABE, TUV or similar)
- manufacturers name
- possibly the VW emblem

Here’s a couple of pictures of the reverse side of one of the wheels I’ve just sold. You can see the part number (lower spoke in the first picture) but the additional three characters for the anthracite paint code (16Z) aren’t included. The colour of the reverse side of those wheels was much lighter (light grey) than the face of the wheels which was a mid anthracite grey colour.

227AB723-028E-41BE-A573-45EA6A67552F.jpeg (3.14 MiB) Viewed 3874 times

AE1EDF47-FCF4-4782-B6D1-4F4BAB793D4E.jpeg (3.87 MiB) Viewed 3874 times

[veteran]

SRGTD et al,

For what it's worth, here are some rather badly-taken pics of my full-size spare wheel in the boot.

Some of the embossments aren't very distinct in the first place, due to amount of paint over the tops of them. But these pics may confirm with you the kind of grey used on the back sides of my Polo's wheels. The camera being used unfortunately had auto-flash, and the flash quite often 'whites out' light colours in the subject.

The embossments appear to be:

VW 1221 K4?
South Africa

Borbet ZA 6BS
?008847/2013

6QS 601 025C
6J x 15H2 ET40

JIL
A1Si7Ngwa

Not sure whether this gets me any further, though. Probably not. Borbet are most likely the manufacturer, ZA obviously stands for South Africa, but maybe 6BS defines the entire wheel colour, ie. a particular grey, with spokes done in a certain silver colour?

[SRGTD]

@veteran;

- Barbet is the manufacturer. They also make good quality aftermarket wheels and OEM wheels for other car manufacturers.
- 6QS 601 025C is the part number for your wheels
- 6J x 15H2 ET40 is the size and offset for your wheel
- JIL; actually JWL, which is a safety certification mark

Sorry, don’t know what the other marks are.

As for the options to get a good colour match so you can repair the damage on the reverse of your wheels;

• if you have a larger Halfords or other automotive superstore near to you, you could always ask one of the store assistants to bring a selection of light grey paint touch up pens out to your car in the car park to compare them to your spare wheel so you get as close a colour match as possible. The touch up pen will either be clear plastic so you’ll be able to see the paint colour inside the pen or the packaging will show the paint colour.

• if you’re really worried about getting a perfect colour match (personally, I wouldn’t be, as it won’t be seen), you could try and see if there’s an automotive paint supplier near to you who might be able to mix the exact colour, once they’ve seen your spare wheel.

• contact Borbet, who might be able to provide you with the information to enable you to get some paint mixed to the exact colour.

If it was me, bearing in mind the location of the damage to be painted, I’d go for the first option. The second and third options might be expensive as automotive paint suppliers might impose a minimum charge to mix up a small paint quantities, and that charge could be quite high.

[veteran]

Yes, I've been coming to the same conclusion as you yourself, SRGTD - seeing whether Halfords might have a touch-up pen with a near-match colour to that one. There's a large Halfords store not far from me. As you say, If I could find a helpful Halfords assistant, the colour comparison could be made at the car itself, in the carpark. Normally, getting to the spare wheel in the boot is a bit of a faff, especially as I keep lots of emergency parts/tools in that well (I believe that part of the roadwheel is known as the 'barrel' section). So I'll see how much of the rear face of the front wheel is revealed when on full steering lock, as making the comparison at one of the front wheels itself would be much easier. Colour labels on paint containers can be terribly inaccurate, though. But at least I could perhaps get something that's a close enough match. As you rightly say, that side of the wheel isn't normally seen anyway.

Earlier today I looked up Borbet on the Web. They're a german manufacturer with factories and outlets in various places around the globe, including in South Africa and the USA. As well as occasionally supplying to the VAG Group, they have extensive aftermarket sales of other patterns of wheel via third-parties.

[RUM4MO]

I'd think that your spare wheel is the best bet, I've found that typically wheels fitted to cars either have or acquire a coating of "something" which seems to protect them and only comes off if using brake dust removers, also if painting this damage you will be at first deep cleaning that area of your wheel which should return it to looking like your unused spare wheel.