Restoring a steering wheel

[ABX131]

Picked up an old steering wheel with the horn hub for $20. I would like to restore it and I know others have done this. It has minor cracking around the base. What do I fill them with? Also what do you do to prep it for painting, what kind of paint do you use. I am mounting it on a 71 column, what issues will I have getting the horn to work properly?

[ABX131]

Forgot to post the picture

[ol_skool_chevy]

use a two part epoxy. Grind out with a thin blade grinder or saw or file where your cracks are at down to metal, tape off the the cracked area to make sanding easier..add the two part epoxy to the cracks and let dry over night..
Sand it untill your happy with it.
then prime it with a good high build primer...I like Rustolem 2 time cover
wet sand with 500 grit
Paint with a Gross paint....But let it dry GOOD..i let mine dry two days in the sun...Again I like Two time Cover Paint

[jdl71]

Good find for $20.

[pdxhall]

What Ole Skool said + the epoxy that worked very well for me is PC-7 that I got from True Value Hardware. It's the same stuff that Eastwood puts in their steering wheel restoration kits. I used a sandable Epoxy Primer that Eastwood sells that comes in a spray can. You activate in the can before spraying. It's a little spendy but works great. I haven't painted mine yet so I can't say which paint I'll use but I'm leaning toward the same Rustoleum as Ole Skool. Here's mine,before and after, although it's a 65 chev pass. car wheel with a cap from an older chevy.

[ol_skool_chevy]

Here is my wheel I did about 3 years ago........The paint held up Great

[GMC66]

I used automotive spot putty on mine...seems to be holding up well. It sands really easy and it was quick, no mess. Just an option....

[WhippinSaw]

I used a bumper repair kit from autozone. It comes in a syringe to mix the 2 parts evenly. Easy to work with, sand in 30 minutes and paint.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=572655_0_0_

[ABX131]

WhippinSaw, your interior is exactly what we are going to do our truck in in terms of color scheme. We dont have the same wheel but we want to do the same colors. Would it be too much to ask for some additional photos of the whole interior? Also in looking at the 3rd switch in from the left, is that a choke knob? We have the same knob and it appears to have been cut off behind the dash. We were thinking about removing it and putting a column mounted Sun tach on the left side of the column so it wont block the speedo.

[WhippinSaw]

Hey ABX131 go for it you won' be disappointed. Looks great with my white truck but it would go with just about any color exterior. I used gloss black and base white for the interior. I think any gloss black will work but to get the best contrast I used the white before they added anything to it. The white was the hardest to match. I can get the color codes I used if you want. I also applied four coats of black gloss to the aftermarket cardboard inner firewall cover. I have the deluxe steering wheel but i like the bowtie one better. The third knob from the left is a aftermarket choke cable. The original one didn't have the "C" on it. If you didn't need the manual choke it would a good place for a small tach. I was thinking about mounting one on the lower lip of the dash somehow. The door are up next and I was going to paint them black with a white panel and black handles.

[losthope]

I just use jb weld in the cracks and sand smooth ,top with body filler on any blemishes or spots in the jb weld and sand smooth then paint,,,,done two steering wheels this way..cheap and easy

[ABX131]

Thank you everyone for your help and input. When we get warmer temps here, we can finish out the painting both on the interior and steering wheel.

[PoDuck]

Really, just about any epoxy will work. I used QuickSteel for my steering wheel so it would be more like a putty, which makes it less messy to try and get in the right spot. Just make sure what you use says it is sandable and paintable.

There will be a bunch of hairline cracks as well, and you don't really have to cut those to the steel, but it won't hurt if you do.

I ended up with dozens of hairline cracks and decided to cut into them and use the quicksteel on them instead of chancing bondo. Once I was done, I used some bondo to fix any small divots that were left in the wheel afterwards and make it look smooth.

Clean with grease and wax remover, primer, sand, clean again, primer, paint.

[63burban4x4]

PC-7 works great. Not too many years ago, I had a Mack R model, with a GIANT size steering wheel. The wheel plastic had many cracks, and shrunk so much some gaps were like 1/4" -5/16" wide open to the steel core. I was starting to have trouble with the DOT inspection. Used PC-7, filled and sanded, found some close matching paint, viola, looked like new. It later developed some new cracks, but not where the repaired ones were....I think the plastic they used in those wheels just tended to shrink like crazy as it aged.

[ABX131]

Most of you most likely put it back on the 60-66 column, HAs anyone put one on a 67-72 column? What can I expect with matching up the horn unit so that it works? I hope between the two complete wheels and horn units I can mix parts to come up with something that is functional.

[hemifalcon]

I've personally done both the JB Weld (stick that you roll together in fingers) and the PC-7. I really don't like the PC-7 as it is a pain the ass to work with. I don't like the liquid-type consistency that sticks to your fingers. I ended up wetting the tips of my fingers so as to make it easier to push the epoxy into place without sticking to my hands. I plan on putting my VW wheel on this spring that was done with the JB Weld--and the PC-7 wheel in my. Burb is in progress currently.

[coulter]

i used JB quick on mine.. it sets up in about 10 mins and pretty easy to sand.. i liked using it