steering wheel restoration

B

barry

Senior Member
I have a steering wheel on my 32 fordor that is cracked and dull. anyone have any recommendations on how to "freshen" it up. I have seen restoration kits available in Macs for 91 dollars. were the steering wheels originally painted and if so with what kind of paint. Any advise would be of help. I will probably leave the cracks alone.
 
I rebuilt one for a 50 Ford. Got an old one from a swap meet to practice on. Cleaned wheel with dish soap than grease and wax remover. Filed the cracks a little larger on an angle to make a wedge. Used PC 7 to fill the cracks. Filed and sanded smooth. Than primed the wheel. Than sprayed with automotive paint. I built a fixture that was put in a vise. The wheel was attached to the fixture and rotated as it was painted.
 
I have fixed a few old cracked wheels by sanding with 180 grit. All the cracks get opened a little with a hacksaw blade or whatever works for you. I use JB Weld to fill the cracks. After it hardens you can sand it smooth with 180 grit. Once satisfied with the repair primer it with high build primer of choice and sand smooth. I'm not sure what the correct black would be but I would go with a black single stage for the finish. Hope that helps. Good luck to you.
Jim
 
I restored my 1935 steering wheel which had several cracks and a few loose sections in the center circle. As mentioned above, the usual light sanding so as not to remove any details. Cracks were openeded up with a hack saw blade and a dremmel tool....making them 'V' shaped.

I purchased 'Por 15 Epoxy Putty' from Lebaron bonney.....its a two part putty kit like clay...you knead the two parts together with your fingers, stays in place, does not run or get gooey, didnt shrink....It's water based and I was able to wet my fingers and work it into the cracks and work it till smooth before it dried making sanding somewhat easy.

Then I primed with DP 90 and then the final color..........haven't driven the car yet so not sure how it will hold up...but it looks great.

Hopes this helps, Jim
 
The JB weld works great for the cracks. Finish it with model airplane 2 part epoxy. Mix equal parts of the paint, hardner, and thinner for spraying.
 
Widen the and deepen cracks with die grinder, down to metal. Dremmel tool, hacksaw etc. work fine. Cut down to metal frame. Kill rust on frame. Fill cracks with PC7. When all slick etc, paint the wheel with the paint you are going to end up with. That way you will be able to wet sand it and not show primer of a different color, or wear the paint down to different primer. Take your time and you can do it.
 
Yeah I forgot to mention, BE PATIENT. Don't rush then you'll have one or two bad spots and it will make you crazy if you see it once the wheel is installed. Wait till the weather gets warmer for the painting to dry between coats, sand, paint, sand, etc. And make sure you look over every square inch of the wheel from underneath, in different lighting to make sure you don't have any bubbles, runs or blemishes.
 
I just restored my 38 banjo wheel, it was cheap to do but did take some time. PC-7 works great! got from hardware store. Like others have said, widen the big cracks, & overfill with the epoxy, let it sit for a day then sand, blend, sand smooth, primer then paint. I painted mine with the same black single stage urethane as my fenders & running boards, then sanded, sprayed 2nd coat, sanded smooth, then sprayed 2 coats of clear coat, looks great!
 
I used pc 7 on two steering wheels and after about 6 mo. the cracks came back. I thinlk I would try JB Weld
 
I sent my 1936 Banjo to Dennis at Quality Restorations, had the same experience as member Steve Staysko. Wasn't cheap but the results are amazing. Excellent quality and the results will last, solid color cast into the replacement wheel rim instead of paint over filler which tends to re-crack over time.
 
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