Steering wheel restoration/67 wheel install on 69-72. How to, with pics

[Mister-B]

I have a '69 that was sporting the typical stock steering wheel full of cracks and huge gaps. I noticed the older 67/68 wheels seem to be less prone to cracking, so I decided to look for a 67/68 wheel.

I found this one on eBay for about 50 bucks


It had a few cracks, but nothing too bad. I sanded it down, and used Bondo to fill the cracks. There are other types of epoxy that might be better and more flexible, especially if your wheel has huge cracks. Anyway, I sanded that down, then painted with primer, followed by multiple coats of blue spray paint, followed by multiple coats of clearcoat. The wheel looks and feels beautiful and smooth, yet durable to the touch.



Now it was time to remove the old steering wheel, and install the new one. I was unable to remove the old wheel, so I had to buy a steering wheel puller. Found one at Harbor freight for like $10.

Here's where the not so fun part started, and where I'm hoping to save you a lot of frustration.

Notice how I painted inside the steering wheel? Don't do that! More on that later


While I was replacing the steering wheel, I decided to replace my rusty turn signal and gear selector levers. I found them off a very nice '70 from the junk yard, shown below. The gear selector can be replaced with the steering wheel on, but not the turn signal lever


Remember how I said not to paint inside the steering wheel? I had a hell of a time figuring out why my horn wouldn't honk. Turns out, the paint was blocking the electrical current to the horn mount parts. I removed the paint from the inside(and I mean really removed it. You have to get it down to bare metal. Another hint here. Unplug the wire that connects to the horn under the hood. Your neighbors will thank you, and so will your nerves, from not hearing it honk every few seconds as you try to install everything.


Now, a couple more things. The 67/68 horn mount parts that go inside the steering wheel are specific to 67/68 steering wheels, and to complicate matters, NONE of the typical parts vendors like Brothers, LMC, etc. carry them. You have to find it at a junk yard, or like I did on eBay for $10. The part looks from what I can tell, to be identical to the '69 horn mounts, but the inner cup piece sticks out longer to accommodate the horn button. The other thing... They don't make original looking 67/68 horn buttons anymore. Can't find them at the typical parts places. So, eBay, junk yard, or the parts board here are your best bet. I go one from a fellow on the board for $35 shipped. They can be expensive on eBay. I got in to a bidding war with a guy. It got up to almost $50, and I bailed.

The horn button is a work of art on these 67/68 trucks. Very heavy, shiny metal. The button is bigger then you might expect. I shined it up, and painted the black areas with black paint and a tiny paint brush.


And...here's the final result. I'm pleased

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[Mister-B]

Here's a link to the steering wheel puller at Harbor Freight. It's the best one I could find, at the best price http://www.harborfreight.com/46-piec...set-37824.html
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[cericd]

Looking good. Glad you were able to get it figured out and functional.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by cericd

Looking good. Glad you were able to get it figured out and functional.

Yeah, it was one of those Pandora's box projects. Seemed like it was gonna be really simple, and then it just kept getting more and more expensive and time consuming. If I'd had one thread like this to refer to though, it would have really made it more simple. In the end, I'm glad I did it, and happy to know I've got something that not just everyone has or can do (unless they read this thread lol)
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[cericd]

Like I said in your other thread, "I wanna do this swap". But now you've got me thinking I won't be able to find the 67-68 horn internals.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by cericd

Like I said in your other thread, "I wanna do this swap". But now you've got me thinking I won't be able to find the 67-68 horn internals.

Maybe the best thing is to buy a steering wheel with the horn button and the horn mount attached. There was a guy on this forum selling one like that. I actually wanted him to split it up so I could buy the horn button, since I already had the rest, but he didn't want to. So, you can still probably find it, but you'll need to be patient and keep your eyes open. I found mine in eBay
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[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by cericd

Like I said in your other thread, "I wanna do this swap". But now you've got me thinking I won't be able to find the 67-68 horn internals.

Here's one on eBay that comes with the horn button. I can't tell for sure if it has the internal horn mount, but it probably does, and you can verify with the seller prior to buying it. It has a buy it now of $100, and $9 for shipping. That's a pretty decent price. That's about what I paid altogether http://www.ebay.com/itm/67-68-69-70-...c87c28&vxp=mtr
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[DesertCat]

Nice post! Do you have any pics of the 67-68 specific horn mount parts?

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by DesertCat

Nice post! Do you have any pics of the 67-68 specific horn mount parts?

Thanks!

Here is a pic. I couldn't tell a difference between this and the '69+ version, other than that cup shaped part sticks up about a quarter inch more on the 67/68 part. See, the 67/68 horn button has a rubber thing on the back, with a tab that slides into the notch on that cup shaped part

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[richards72chevy]

Looks good i realy want to change the wheel in my 72.

[camrycurt]

Classic Parts sells a 60-68 horn button retainer cup for $9 (part #27-128).

Does anyone know if this is the correct depth for the 67-68 wheels?

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by camrycurt

Classic Parts sells a 60-68 horn button retainer cup for $9 (part #27-128).

Does anyone know if this is the correct depth for the 67-68 wheels?

Hey, nice find! That looks like it'll fit. I bet you can use the rest of the existing newer horn parts in conjunction with this retainer cup, and you should be good to go
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[Ol Blue K20]

Hey Mister B, I've been busy this weekend and just now checked in glad you got this completed and got the horn figured out congrats

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Hey Mister B, I've been busy this weekend and just now checked in glad you got this completed and got the horn figured out congrats

Couldn't have done it without you guys. Thanks. Now everybody has one thread they can refer to, with all the answers
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[special-K]

That came out nice. I hope the cracks don't come back with just bondo on them.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by special-K

That came out nice. I hope the cracks don't come back with just bondo on them.

Thanks. As you can see from the original pic, there weren't many cracks at all, so it should be alight
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[RManson]

Looks great!