Revive 32' Steering Wheel

Ian1932

Ian1932

Senior Member
So i have 7 steering wheels for a 32'. They all have little cracks in the front except one. They are have little cracks in their backs. I took one that is the best. Not sure what this material is...??? How can i "re-furbish" this wheel? It almost seems like you could sand it with 2500 and water and then maybe clear coat in or paint it? Maybe i could fill the cracks with epoxy or bondo? Anyone have any experience doing something like this? Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks!
 
Ian,
If the cranks aren't bad I use polyester filler.. If they are bad I use PC7.. Also note 32 wheels the outer reveal ribs are always worn off.. Are yours? Out of seven I would imagine you could salvage hopefully at least one, and use a rougher one to practice on.
A new perfect reproduction of the 1932 Ford steering wheel will be on the market soon. I have to let DavidG check out the sample of it first ;)
 
Last edited:
35fordtn said:
Ian,
If the cranks aren't bad I use polyester filler.. If they are bad I use PC7.. Also note 32 wheels the outer reveal ribs are always worn off.. Are yours?
A new perfect reproduction of the 1932 Ford steering wheel will be on the market soon. I have to let DavidG check out the sample of it first ;)
Click to expand...

It didnt look that bad...However i dont have a new one to compare it to..
 
I don't want to post a photo of the new one on here yet, but If I remember tonight I can photo one of the wheels in one of my 32's at home.
 
Here is a photo of a steering wheel in a 1932 restored by DavidG on here (hope David doesn't mind). I won’t be home to photo mine till late tonight and I happened to have this photo on my phone. I was a wee bit obsessed with the wheel on this car, as it's the most beautiful 1932 Wheel I have ever seen!

1b62ea41cc9558d42b4fc81aef19bc99.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Use the recommended PC-7. I restored my 32 wheel twenty plus years ago and tried using
bondo the first time around. It ended up cracking on me so ground out the bondo and used PC-7. It still looks as good as the day I refinished it. At the time I used Black Centari urethane and added a flattening agent to dull it down. I ground all the cracks sealed the
wheel with PPG epoxy primer and proceeded with the PC-7. It will come out as perfect as David's wheel if you're willing to take the time.

Peter
 
I used PC-7 same as above but after several years the cracks are starting to show.
 

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So this wheel has a chip in its center. Im going to drill a few 1/16" holes on it like 1/16" deep. I think i will fill and re-shape the chip with icing glaze. There are no cracks on the front side. The cracks on the back were real small hair line. Last night i filled those cracks with thick CA glue. Today i sanded it smooth with 500, the went away basically.

Maybe then i will just paint it flat black an cover it with a coat of urethane clear and some flattening paste?
 
Sheldon,


There are soft plastic countersunk washers available for that purpose, but I don't use them. I just proceed very carefully, especially with '32 standard moldings where the paint on them is lacquer. With modern clear over new woodgraining, less caution is required.
 
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