JP662704SP
Active Member
Any thoughts on restoring or replacing the original plastic steering wheel on my 66 270? Would prefer to keep it stock looking on the inside.
Steering Wheel
- Thread starter JP662704SP
- Start date
-
4mulaSvaliant
Well-Known Member
An old friend of mine told me he used to "restore" them with 2 part epoxy in all the dents and cracks then paint with a "hardened paint" (most are now) That was back in the day, when paint had some nasty stuff in it, but it was great looking! LOL
I plan to do mine that way.
I plan to do mine that way.
FISHYPETE
Well-Known Member
A friend of mine paid 400 bucks to have a black wheel done...after one year it has hairline cracks. So I used epoxy,then filler,paint,and clearcoat on my 59. One year later it has one hairline crack and it set me back 40 bucks.
bayyum
Well-Known Member
i would like to know also, my 76's steering wheel needs a little bit of restoration
GaryS
Well-Known Member
Here's one I repaired and covered with padding and leather. After 6 years it still looks good.
pntastar69
Well-Known Member
Just repairing the crack(s) is just a bandaid that will look good for a short time. It will eventually crack over time. I chatted w/a few restorers of woodgrain wheels and the only to do it correctly is to remove most of the plastic, fill the cracks, then build up the rim w/glass cloth and epoxy resin, sand, cut in the grips, sand to the contour of the wheel, then paint. This is a very time consuming process. That's why the better restorers charge close to $500 plus to restore a wheel.
kcoyle
Well-Known Member
Redid my 65 with gorilla glue(it was in 3 pieces), epoxy, glaze and paint from tower paint. i couldn't stand to look at it any more.
I scrubbed it clean, glued the chunks back together, and filled big missing pieces with epoxy. (I only had hairlines on the rim, big pieces on the spokes)
For the rim i tried to fill hairlines with the glazing putty. Lots and lots of sanding later and paint it looks and feels great. About 2 months later my 4 year old kicked the driver seat forward and it smacked the wheel and put a hairline crack right back in, but it's still worlds batter than before.
Like fishypete,, it was only about 40 bucks and lots of elbow grease for me to do the job. The only advice i can offer is to check your work in daylight. I worked at night over the slopsink sanding and i thought it looked great a few times until I went to prime/paint the next day and I had missed a ton of spots.
I scrubbed it clean, glued the chunks back together, and filled big missing pieces with epoxy. (I only had hairlines on the rim, big pieces on the spokes)
For the rim i tried to fill hairlines with the glazing putty. Lots and lots of sanding later and paint it looks and feels great. About 2 months later my 4 year old kicked the driver seat forward and it smacked the wheel and put a hairline crack right back in, but it's still worlds batter than before.
Like fishypete,, it was only about 40 bucks and lots of elbow grease for me to do the job. The only advice i can offer is to check your work in daylight. I worked at night over the slopsink sanding and i thought it looked great a few times until I went to prime/paint the next day and I had missed a ton of spots.
-
