My '40 steering wheel project

K

Keith L.

Junior Member
@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Keith here. Most of the time you’ll find me posting on the Lincoln Zephyr forum, because I’m known for the interior plastic items (knobs, escutcheons, steering wheels) I manufacture under the name Knobsoup for the 1936-48 Lincoln.

I have now focused my efforts on the 1940 Ford steering wheel.

The problem with the ’40 wheel is it’s made of bakelite and bakelite is soft, so the fine grip pattern on each side of the horn button gets worn away with touch and the ravages of sun and age. Trying to restore those handgrips is time consuming with not much success. That’s why most restorers buy the aftermarket wheel made in Taiwan.

So I started thinking…why not make a mold and cast new handgrips. You cut out the old grips and install new ones. A few things of note: Original handgrips are the same, top and bottom left and right, so you only need one good one to make all four. The new handgrips would work best on the Deluxe wheel with the stainless bands because the seam would be hidden under the bands. Just cut out the old grip and install the new grips.

Here’s some photos of my progress.

Tomorrow I’ll post my efforts at new 1940 horn buttons.
 

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Interesting solution when needed. Most of the 40 wheels I have seen have issues on the rim and that particular part is OK.
 
Very creative; you may be on to something there. (My standard wheel is quite worn in that area). Would you use an adhesive like epoxy to join the pieces?

Keep us informed of the finished product.
 
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Very interesting. You mention LZ parts, you don't happen to have a similar fix for 36-37 LZ steering wheen hubs do you?

Thanks,

Neal
 
This is a great solution. I have gotten rid of wheels because of spoke wear.
May I offer a thought?
You have male locaters on one half and female ones on the other half. If say males were on the top row and females on the bottom, you would only need one mold. The parts would be the same.

Another part that is needed is a correct 32 3W glove box knob. None are available.
 
Andy,
The third photo shows the male and female pins for the top and bottom. This is the first phase, I'll need to make several revisions to get to the final product. As for the '32 knob, I would need a good restoreable knob to make a mold from. I have made hundreds of knobs over the years, for many different makes. No harm is done to an original knob in my care. Google Knobsoup is see my posts. Thanks.
 
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