Steering Wheel Restoration

[JimZ]

I want to send my '65 Chevy truck steering wheel out for restoration. There seems to be two processes: repair and paint original wheel or take all the old material off and re-cast it from a mold. Anyone have an experience with either process? The vendors I'm looking at are "Gary's Steering Wheel Restoration"; "Quality Restorations Inc."; and "Steering Wheel Bob". Of these three, "Quality Restoration" does a re-cast from a mold. Has anyone had experience with any of these vendors? Can anyone suggest any other vendors? I will also post this in two other forums - not a clear category to place this in. Thanks.

[MalibuKasey]

well.... Eastwood makes a kit to repair it yourself. Its ALOT cheaper and turns out great. A buddy of mine used it on his steering wheel. After he was finished he dropped it off at the paint shop to get resprayed and it looks awesome. If your going to go to the trouble of having one remolded... why not just buy a new reproduction wheel???

[erock805]

I have seen a couple of guys on the HAMB rebuild them using some stuff from home depot that was made for driveway cracks or something. I had one done on my 61, and the paint went to orange piel about a month after I got it. Spent 150 on that. Not sure what a repop would cost but that might be the wiser choice even if it was twice what I paid.

[Surfdaddy]

There is a company in Acton named Kosh. His shop is pretty well known and he is a prefectionest. The guy restores VW's but one of his other services is steering wheel resto work. I personally haven't used him but he did a friends 41 Chevy delux wheel earlier this year and it was perfect. The guy had it sent from North Carolina to have him do the work. I've also seen some others that he's done and they were all perfect.
Here's the link and though this website shows VW's he may have another site that has his other services.

http://www.kochs.com/contact.html

[k1rodeoboater]

If you have a dremel tool, JB weld, needle files, and sandpaper you can DIY.
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[Southcity]

Originally Posted by k1rodeoboater

If you have a dremel tool, JB weld, needle files, and sandpaper you can DIY.
Posted via Mobile Device

^^Agreed^^ - plus patience but it can be done and you will have the satisfaction of having done it yourself. There are a few "how-to" threads on this board that will be helpful if you go the DIY route.

[64fleetside]

I did the same as eastside, turned out well-I used plastic bumper repair epoxy, basically its JBWeld that stays pliable.

[theastronaut]

PC-7 is the epoxy to use; I thnk it's what Eastwood sells. It's available at Ace Hardware stores. Use a dremel to grind the cracks open all the way down to the steel frame. I had the wheel I restored lightly soda blasted to take all the old paint off before I started, which helped the epoxy have a fresh surface to stick to on the outer layer of the wheel. The PC-7 is fairly dense so it's easy to shape it like you want it, and can be smoothed with lacquer thinner to minimize sanding. Sand the repaired area smooth, then use Slick Sand primer to get the wheel ready to paint. Slick Sand sticks to the steering wheel material very well and is great to sand out minor imperfections prior to painting the wheel. Guide coat the primer and wetsand the wheel with 400-500 grit paper and it'll be ready to paint. I wouldn't recommend spraying Slick Sand on the spokes of a '66 deluxe wheel, or similar wheel as the thickness of the primer will alter the texture of the grain on the spokes.

I don't have any pics of just the wheel I restored by itself, these are all I have of it after it was installed.

[rbar]

I sandblasted mine at a low psi. I then filed the cracks open bigger, filled them with epoxy, and then carefully sanded it with a drum disc on a dremel. The steering wheel is very soft and chalky and if I try to sand them together the steering wheel is the only thing to give away, which is why I used the dremel. The auto body paint store sold me a can of spray that is supposed to lock down the "chalk" and allow primer to adhere to it. After doing that I could touch the wheel and not have black get all over me. It's clear and seems to sink into the wheel. Then I primed out with a high build primer. Once I sand that I will use dolphin glaze over the primer to fill the low spots and then I can finish it up. The P.O. Had painted it and it all peeled off, so I was worried about the adhesion.
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[jimmydean]

From what I read if you just want to restore to OE, a good sand-able epoxy, time, and some paint. There is a write up on here of a member who cut down a stock wheel and it looked factory when done.

I was going to go that route before I got taken in by technology.

[Woogeroo]

faq truck tech is your friend...

restore 67 wheel by East Side Low Life(RIP).

-W

[dthela]

polyuerathane adhesive in caulking tube at home depot, dries hard as a rock! but original good wheels are cheap. I think I have one around

[dthela]

my wheel

[sambudo]

Originally Posted by dthela

my wheel

nice

[Lugnutz65]

FWIW: Here's a link to my SW restoration page.

Here are some sample photos during the process.

[stevenfromtexas]

WOW!!! i know this is an old thread but i sure am glad i stumbled on it!!!

thank you to everyone who posted how they restored these wheels. my '67 wheel is cracked in all the "normal" places. this gave me the inspiration to try the fix myself. and an excuse to buy a dremel

[Lugnutz65]

I lost track of this thread. Glad you found it. DO NOT TAKE THE ADVICE I POSTED IN THIS THREAD! I was initially very happy with the way my steering wheel looked. Then I put my steering wheel in dry storage for 2 years. When I got it out again, all the KBS epoxy was cracked and it looked horrible. I cannot recommend KBS epoxy for restoring your steering wheel. I wasted time and money and I apologize if my earlier enthusiasm steered (no pun intended) anyone in the wrong direction.

[w00dst0ck]

"Restored" mine last year. Same method as everyone else. PC-7. Lasted about 8 months. Now it just has hairline cracks where all the work was done.

Just buy a repop. I doubt there is a way to fix them for good, especially if you live somewhere where it gets hot.

[theastronaut]

I've done a few with PC-7. No cracks so far and one was done 6-7 years ago.

[Newtynewt]

Thanks for this post. So what do you recommend as first step. Sanding off all old paint or filling cracks with epoxy?
I just need to get started
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[aotte1]

Theastronaut,
Do you drive any of the the repaired steering wheels regularly. Interested in durability thru use.

Also thinking of using 3M body panel adhesive.

Thanks,
Les

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by aotte1

Theastronaut,
Do you drive any of the the repaired steering wheels regularly. Interested in durability thru use.

Also thinking of using 3M body panel adhesive.

Thanks,
Les

Les, I haven't restored any of my own wheels yet, other than my '66 C10 wheel that I resized but haven't painted/used yet. I have kept up with the first one I restored for a customer 8.5 years ago and the last time I saw it it was still holding up well but it's not driven a lot.

Part of the problem is extreme temperature swings with the steel inner ring expanding and contracting, causing the plastic to crack, this will always be an issue and will get worse as the plastic ages and becomes more brittle. Another is if the old cracks aren't cleaned out fully, and with enough surface area for the epoxy to bond to the cracks can come back. Any plastic repair will benefit from a lot of surface area for the new and old materials to bond.

[LT1 Burb]

Por 15 makes a 2 part epoxy , that is what I used on my wheel and it still looks good.

[Mario72]

Hi, I'm joining this thread after a long time. I want to share my experience with steering wheel restoration.
I have a 1967 c10 manufactured by GM Argentina, that is why you will notice differences with the American model.
Like all of them, my steering wheel had cracks, mostly hairline and some quite thick.
Seeing some tips from forum members I went over all the cracks with a dremel.
Then, I filled the cracks with an epoxy-type putty that is known here as "POXILINA"
Then 60 and 100 sandpaper to match, I'm still in the process since I'm doing it little by little. But 3 years ago I started and the first repairs are without any damage until today, that's all I wanted to tell you.
I hope it has been helpful and I will update the status when I can finally finish it.

[The Rocknrod]

Nice work Mario.