I use a hack saw blade to widen the crack effectively cleaning the sides of the crack removing any loose material. I like to under cut the crack so that the base of the crack is wider than the top of the crack. I was afraid that a hairline crack might appear over time and the patch could fall out. I was over thinking the thing. it never occurred in 15 years. On a really bad banjo I bead blast the cracks and missing areas to get rid of the rust on the steel hoop so that the PC-7 will bond. I like to prepare the surface where the PC-7 will adhere just like sanding before you paint. It has worked for me.
I have a little different approach to steering wheel repair. I am a jeweler and when I have to repair a gold item, I have to use the same material as the item that I am working on. Through a little bit of experimentation, I have found that if you take a bit of plastic that is similiar to the material that the wheel is made of, you can melt that and use it to repair the wheel. The trick is in the melting. I have a 1960 Chevy steering wheel that needed a large area to be replaced and this is what I did. I found an old steering wheel about the same age and cut some of the plastic off of it and put it in a yellow mustard squeeze container, (not affected by solvents). To that I added a small quantity of MEK, a solvent found at Lowes, etc. The MEK put the plastic into solution and then it was easy to use the squeeze container to apply the melted plastic to an area to be repaired. What's neat about this method is that when you apply this to the steering wheel plastic, it melts the material you are applying it to and forms a better bond than if you are using an epoxy that is disimiliar to the original material. In summation, use the same material as the original wheel to repair it with and there will be no shrinkage to foil the repair later on. A common sense addendum: The consistency of this mix can be changed the same as paint thinning. Thank you, thank you very much. Steve--- 1950 Pontiac & 1958 Corvette
I just fixd my steering wheel with marine-tex. I never used it on a wheel, but on other stuff with success! What kind of primer and paint y'all use?
HELLMET - Couldn't find SEM "Problem Plastic Repair" under that part number...however, I found it here http://semproducts.com/Catalog.asp?prod=245
DO you need to completely strip all the paint off the wheel before any repairs? Or just scuff it up with sandpaper? Want to restore my 60 chevy wheel that has had a few paint jobs in its day.
X2. I repaired cracks in my 63 Impalas wheel and replaced missing sections of a banjo wheel with this product with no cracking or shrinkage. Also can be force cured with a heat gun or work lamp.
MEK? ???? holy fuck your crazy Best carb cleaner ever. Pop used to set up the card table in front of the TV, and we'd all watch Mission Impossible while he'd rebuild a carb with MEK. It melts plastic, and brain cells. Might explain my stupidness.
I use enamel, epoxy enamel if I have the time. Acrylic urethane if I need to do an exact color-match. DO NOT use lacquer, unless you want to re-paint it every month.
Body filler (Bondo) works great on plastic wheels...after all, it IS plastic! I've been restoring wheels professionally for many years and all of the things mentioned work. Some products work better on particular jobs, depending on what the wheel is made of and what defects it has. Which one is "best"? What's the "best" tool in your tool box? Well, it depends on the job at hand, doesn't it? I re-do a lot of wheels that other folks have repaired before. The common complaint is that "it looked great for a few months!" I use JB Weld, Bondo, short-hair fiberglass filler, PC7, epoxy putty and a few other "secret" things. My Dremel tool gets a workout, as does my jitterbug sander and a ton of foam sanding sheets (one wrapped around a 5/8" dowel works great on finger notches). It takes a lot of time to prep a wheel properly...and a LOT of sanding. To do just ONE wheel, you have to spend more cash than you'd imagine to buy all the stuff you need to do it. But if you've got the time and the inclination..... Also, I'm glad to offer advice from the years of mistakes I've made....if you want to drop me a line. A pic' of the wheel your working on is helpful if you want advice on specific products. Paul
I have few small cracks that need attention, but the added problem of trying to repaint a wheel with a moulded in decal??
I've used PC7 with great success on my Ford. Go easy with it, the stuff dries as hard as superman's kneecap. Sand, sand and sand some more. Minor voids after I fixed with JB Weld. After the 1st round, I squirted some primer on it... more sanding was in order. It wet sands nicely. After I was happy with it, I shot some Duplicolor primer on it, followed by Duplicolor touch up paint. This was 4000 miles ago and still looks great.