Anybody have great success with some business to restore a stock steering wheel? I need it done for my '61 Galaxie .
Gary's Steering Wheel Restoration 2677 Ritner Highway Carlisle, PA 17015 PH: 717-243-5646 [email protected] Does very nice work, just did a Z28 wheel for a friend. He was very happy with it!
I did the deed on my '53 Chevy pickup wheel using the epoxy made for the task and still got hairline cracks after a couple months. You can get it restored nicely but the original Bakelite covering is hardened and will crack.
Quality Restorations Inc. in San Diego is one of the best. Not cheap, but the best never is! His website says he has molds up to 1964 for Fords.
PC7 is good stuff, it has similar expansion/contraction as the original plastic on the wheel so cracks shouldn't come back. I used it on an F-100 steering wheel 20 years ago and it still looks good.
Second Quality Restorations, I know Dennis and he does great work! Not inexpensive, but perfect results....
My buddy used this guy a few years ago, kind of high dollar but worth it. It still looks as good as it did when he got it back and the car(a 63 1/2 Galaxie) is driven a lot!
I spent a lot of time repairing my '39 Ford banjo steering wheel, but had to let it sit ready for primer for a year in a metal storage shed because of moving. I used PC7 as everyone suggested. It was gawd-awful hot here last summer (in the 90*s almost every day for 4 months) and hotter in the steel shed, I'd guess. When I got it out of storage, the rim had a few cracks that I'll have to repair before painting it.
I did mine, but 4 years later, cracks are showing up again. But mine was in real bad shape before the fix.
Some epoxy putties can be smoothed out by wetting your fingers. So it eliminates the sanding and grinding. The most wear resistant coating would be a two-part polyester urethane. Polyester urethanes have a much higher resistance from acids and chemicals and your hands. They also are very abrasion resistant
I looked into getting my O/T '65 Mustang wheel-which is really simple and basic-done by some of the restorers at Hershey. A new wheel would be 1/4 the cost. So, not a good option if there's a source of new parts. I kept the original wheel with its cracks.Completely redoing an original wheel and claiming it's original is like the story about George Washington's axe.
I'm watching Crime Stories here in my quarantine and it features all the cars from the late fifties early sixties and most all of are painted beautifully you can see the steering wheels all separated in a lot of them. Must be an epidemic
It helps to use a little file and work those small cracks into a V before using the PC7 epoxy. Sent from my LM-Q720 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I was minding my own business online yesterday when I got a pop up ad for Bondic. It looks like it could be a good candidate for steering wheel crack repair. It says that you can sand it to shape and hardens when exposed to UV light which the applicator tool supplies. That would mean that you have lots of time to work it into place. Hate it when epoxy hardens before you get it right. The price is very reasonable too. Has anyone of you tried this?
I'm not so sure about this whole steering wheel crack repair. Its a time consuming procedure and no matter what you seem do those hair line cracks continue to reappear after a period of time. The only one who can ever see them is yourself.
Out in WA State, there is a place called Backwards Unlimited. You may not get your wheel back, I never did....
It's the nature of the beast - plastic technology of hamb era steering wheels is poor. The expansion rates of the plastic skin and the steel skeleton are different. I could get a repro '59 Impala wheel but they have that inappropriate smaller diameter, so patch it, and hope for the best.
repaired mine and have the hairline cracks.thats ok by me now after all its a truck not a show car.i try not to pull myself into the cab by the wheel.you get used to the cracks after a while.
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