Rebirth of my steering wheel

[LEEVON]

Fist off, moderators please feel free to move this to wherever it belongs if need be. The thread in FAQ truck tech by ESLL (RIP) is great and thanks to him I had the motivation to try this. I also used my crappy old wheel as practice for a '63 Nova SS wheel that I'm restoring for my dear ole Dad.

I have always been conflicted about re-pop steering wheels, they are very nice but there is something about taking old parts and making them look new that gets me going. Especially something like a steering wheel that has so served such an important function!

Well my original wheel had seen waaay better days, it was cracked all over. The first step was a good cleaning. I used a dremel tool and small triangle file to open up all of the cracks down to the metal. I definitely would not make them so big next time but this was easier and I wanted to be sure that the new material would not crack. This is what it looked like when I was done filing/grinding:



I decided that PC7 epoxy was going to be the best and cheapest material to rebuild the cracks. The downside is that I couldn't locate it at any hardware stores and had to order from Home Depot online. It was less than $20 after shipping. Turned out to be great stuff, easy to apply and the perfect density/workability for a steering wheel. I really gobbed it on as you can see because I wanted to be sure there were no low spots:

[IMG]http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/data/1093/3463635637_8de5ac4e3b.jpg[/IMG

After curing for a few days, I took a half-round file to it and was able to do 95% of the shaping. The Dremel came in handy in a couple of tight spots too. I followed this up with some 80 grit sanding, then 120 on the whole wheel. I had to do another light application of the PC7 to fill in pinholes and a couple of low spots. After more sanding this is how it looked:


Continued...

[LEEVON]

Shot some 2K primer/surfacer:

Shot some inexpensive acrylic urethane in 510 medium blue with lots of hardener. To get the bowtie out of the horn button I drilled a very small hole in the back and pushed it out.


Here is the finished product back in the truck, these pictures don't really capture the color and gloss but it turned out better than I thought it would:

The only drawbacks that I can see are that this is time consuming and the grain on the wheel is a bit diminished. But it has a little "character". And for about $50 you can't go wrong.

[ChevLoRay]

So, you gonna paint it?

[LEEVON]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

nice job, how much time ya got in it

grinding/filing: 1 hr
epoxy: 1/2 hr
filing/sanding: 1 hr
primer: 1/2 hr
wetsanding: 1/2 hr
final paint: 1/2 hr

So, approx. 4 hours but each of the 6 steps was a different day. I think I started this back in December or something rediculous. I'm really slow.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by daves69

great job, any idea how long the paint job will last?

Well, seeing that it stays in my garage and sees little action I'm not worrried about it lasting as long as I own it. Even for a daily driver I would imagine it could last many years. It would have some added protection with a base/clear though. It's all in the prep. I don't think that a rattle can would produce the same results though no matter what prep is done.