Projects Steering Wheel Rebuild

Cyanoacrylate Adhesive. It's a "family" of glue. Pretty sure "Super glue" and similar.

Damn..... tb33 beat me. Well, I spelled it right anyhoo......

 

Thanks fellas, I'll look into it.

 

Looks good. JB Weld is a miracle cure at times.

 

great job. as gunny highway says, "you adapt and overcome." i did one 40 years ago with epoxy and epoxy paint because that was about all i knew about. my steering wheel just had mostly hairline cracks after 25 years.

 

I can see why it cost $1K to have just the wheel recast.
Very labor intensive.

 

I'm sure I'll hear from the modern paint posse, but I like to use nitrocellulose whenever possible. For small jobs it is available (sold as an instrument lacquer) through Guitar Re-Ranch. Can't beat it for an authentic finish in easy to use packaging.

 

You know, people can say what they will about lacquer but, I have seen a car that my uncle painted with RM lacquer back in like 1984 survive till this day looking good! It has been through many a Colorado Winter and left outdoors. I have personally only ever shot 2 part urethane but, I definitely have a respect for lacquer and would very much like to give it a shot for dashes, interior garnish moldings, things like that. Thinking of giving it a try as we speak hence my inquiry to you. Thanks for the reply!

 

Ok I have a 50 chrysler what Di yinz think I can do with that. I'm not shore what material it even is.
Looks like it clear sort of


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It's far from clear maybe "cream" color. It's more "dirty Ivory". If it was clear you would be in a world of hurt! Fix it, paint it a cream color and clear coat. The clear coat gives it longevity..................................................

 

I think he means translucent.

 

Darn. And, I thought I was slick with bubble gum and nail polish. You guys embarrass me.

 

Keen to see if any one has recast the rim. My 39 Cad is looking very fragile and cracked.

 

I'm guessing bakelite. They made everything from jewellery to telephones out of it. Rub your thumb on it quickly until it gets warm, then smell that area; bakelite will smell like formaldehyde. Or heat a needle red hot with a lighter, stick the needle in (somewhere inconspicuous) and if it's bakelite you'll get that distinctive smell, if it's plastic it will melt.

 

If you qualify for a home equity loan, you might want to check with this guy.
http://qualityrestorations.com/cadillac.html

 

at some point the factories were experimenting with soy bean plastic, i wonder if they ever used it for steering wheels?

 

Ford.

I've explained it on other threads before, but the gist is this: less than 100% polymised plastic made from vegetable oil = free oil turning rancid over time and it stinks. Myself and others have Lincoln wheels like this.

An industrial chemist explained it to me. The technology at the time meant less that 100% was as good as they could get in some processes.

 

Most 40s-50s stuff I think was buterate (sp) many screwdrivers are the same thing. (when heated, smells like ass) Older stuff was a very hard rubber.

This was my solution. This was a wheel I built from scratch and I used wood for the rim. The wood cracked badly, so I did the hitching over the top of the wood. the rim is soaked in a water based varnish, so it is fairly smooth, but still gives a good grip

 

Pc7 is what I used... One trick I found shaping the wheel with wet figures.. End up using Rustoleum and a bunch of clear... Wet sanding w 1500 grit and then rubbing the wheel out with Meguires Super cut compound make the wheel look new... It was a few hours of wrk but well worth it for a cost of less than $25 bucks.

 

Did my wheel with PC7 about 10 years ago,painted with acrylic enamel. Just showing a hairline crack now.

 

Good thread and nice work on the various wheels.
It is down the list of mine but will be doing one at some point.
Have a spare to try it out, both have cracks but are usable as is.

 

Bigrat = Badass!