What was the original steering wheel finish?

Pat Martone

Pat Martone

Senior Member
I recently purchased a new, repro USA made 1930-1931 steering wheel from one of the major suppliers, and was surprised to discover that the finish is a flat black. I have seen Model A's that appear to having steering wheels with a shinny, gloss black type of finish.
This makes me wonder what is the correct finish, is it a flat black like mine, or were the original steering wheels painted gloss black after they came out of the molding process?
I paid a bit more for the USA made steering wheel which was flat black in finish; perhaps the imported wheel has a shiny black finish?
I welcome any thoughts about what the correct finish should be.
Thank you.
 
I paid a bit more for the USA made steering wheel
Click to expand...

I cannot answer your question, but I want to thank you for that statement.
I only buy American unless I have no choice.
 
Most incorrect repops are too shiney, and many have restored with a glossy paint, the flatter finish wheel would be more correct.
 
My 1928 has the original brown steering wheel and no finish on it. Any time it gets humid the brown rubs off on your hands and clothes.
 
All of the original steering wheels that i've seen are flat black. I don't know how much age has to do with the texture.The new repro 30-31 wheels that I've had experience with have a sheen or satin like texture. None are painted. The USA wheels have a protruded casting mark that has to be trimmed and sanded. The wheel then has to be polished to remove the sanding grooves and return the sheen.The last repro 30-31 wheel that I worked with had a poor flat finish that needed a lot of work. The repro foreign wheel that i put on my 31 tudor had a nice sheen and needed no work at all. Its been a few years and I don't know if the quality of finish still holds true with the foreign 30-31 wheels. The new repro black 28-29 steering wheels that I've bought were more of a flat texture.
 
Purdy, Dog:cool: here, Ol' Bill used a cheep potado peeler to scrape them castin' marks offen' Minerva's steering wheel. Say HI to Peppermint PATTI:D fur me!
Buster T.:cool:
 
The mayor knows his stuff!!!! I never thought of that. A tater peeler ort to do a smooth job fer ye. My sweetness, Peppermint Patti, says same to ya.
Purdy.
 
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this is an NOS original wheel for my early 30 sport coupe
you can clearly see that the finish was Matte
so many people paint them, that it is now what most people "think" they should look like
tom
 

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Tom, a splined hub 1930 steering wheel must be quite rare, isn't it?

Can you also post a picture showing the outside of the rim, so we can see how the factory finished the parting line?
Thanks
 
tom
is this what you want?
I don't have any repro wheels so I don't know how they are made
yes they are rare
I only have 3 ,they used to be quite common at swap meets and they wanted a lot of money for them
but there is no demand,and I used to see them for $5
I also have a NOS column ,
 

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I've got a splined 1930 steering wheel in my collection. Mine is not in as good of shape as the one pictured. Ford also made some soy bean steering wheels.
 
Tom, I was hoping to see the outside edge. The same edge where the parting line needs to be trimmer on a repro. Thanks
 
sorry tom
I didn't know where the part was
I took a few pictures at different parts of the wheel
at one I could see a little of the seam
tom
 

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Mine was solid but had lots of scratches so it got sanded lightly and painted semi-gloss, oops.
How do you tell if you have a soy bean wheel?
 
Neither of my NOS wheels were as dull or textured as much as Tom's APPEARS to be. The first pic is my splined wheel commonly used the first third of 1930 when Ford was still installing a fair number of ford (seven tooth) boxes. The second is the wheel in my Roadster.

The perimeter appears to be quickly "polished" with a light abrasive wheel. The inside appears to have been hand done with something like a specially designed rasp. This left what looks like grind marks going across the edges of the spokes.

splined_wheel.jpg


steer-1.jpg

 
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