For the guys that have followed my build on the "Ranch Wagon" you may remember I had expressed my thoughts of changing over to a 40 Ford steering wheel but I decided against that and I found a better 1954 Ford steering wheel than the one that was on the wagon originally but it still needs a work,, There are a lot of open cracks and chips,,,I know all about cleaning all the surfaces before attempting to V grooving the cracks and I'm using PC-7 epoxy,,, I haven't used PC-7 but I know a lot of you guys have so I'm asking your advice,,, My question,,, I read that this stuff cures in about an hour,,how difficult is it to sand and work the material after that period of time? Should I wait until I have several hours,,like on a Saturday to get started and try to finish all the epoxy work in one day instead of spreading it out over several evenings after work? HRP
Its pretty easy to sand after its fully dry. I'd do a few thin coats I think. Then sand. Seems like when I did one, I did the epoxy one day, primer and paint the next.
Not to hard to sand the stuff but it is kind of hard to work on a steering wheel in general...I find myself making sanding blocks and using various file shapes.....I first used pc 7 to repair and customize a steering wheel about 10 years ago and it's help up. Haven't heard of anything better yet.
I used Lepages epoxy on mine. It took many coats and much sanding, but it was cracked up real bad. I wouldn't expect to do it too fast, if you want a good job.
I just tried some JB Stik last night on one of the many cracks on my old steering wheel I"m trying to refurb. Think I'll try some sanding/filing on it tonight and see how easy it goes. Sets up in 1 hour and the preliminary test sanding looks like it will be easy to smooth out with sandpaper. Never tried epoxy, but would guess the JB would be easier to work with.
I've used JB on a couple. It works really well, but you need to file it close to what you want before it sets up completely. It dries harder that the material of the wheel. You have to be careful not to sand past your repair into the wheel. I'm sure you will use the same technique with Epoxy or JB. Good luck.... Show pics. Kevin
The thing about it that I like the most is that it sands and shapes the same as the original Ford wheels. It has always been easy for me to sand and get a good feather edge. I use a coarse file to get the basic shape and then sand to get a smooth transition. Some primer and sanding will give a nice base for painting. It's not that much different from doing a fender.
I used some plastic bumper repair compound on mine. Sounds similar to what your using. I took a small file and carved a V groove in all the cracks so the material would grab, sanded and painted it. It was a fun afternoon project Found a couple pic's in process but none of the finished wheel. I can add some more tomorrow.
I just did my wheel in my Ranchero last week using some 3M bumper repair kit simular to the Evercoat kit you used. Bought it at a Pep Boys, kinda pricey for a little tube of stuff but it worked real well. My wheel only had a few cracks, I'd use something from a paint store if I needed a lot more.
My buddy John uses epoxy panel bond. The stuff sets up quick, sands nicely. I've had good luck with short strand glass reinforced body filler. The wheel in my '36 has been two summers with no cracks or problems, it's about 2/3's bondo. I can't find a photo of the finished wheel, sheesh...
The epoxy is thinner than JB, so it will flow into the cracks and hold all the bits to the wheel core better. My Ford "banjo" wheel looks great!
I was told to use hack saw and make cracks deeper so you can get epoxy to fill, then sand to smooth. Will this method work too or is filing better way to go? Also what kind of paint are you using to finish wheel? Thanx
How is your horn ring ??? You know who ( near the BAR-B-QUE house ) has a new "donor " car ... a 4 door ( not the one I told you about last week ... another one
Actually,,the steering wheel I bought has a pretty nice horn ring,,much better than the one that was on the car. HRP
Lowes, Home Depot, hardware stores etc. Look on the pegboard racks that have the glues, liquid epoxies and such. I use the hacksaw blade to enlarge the small cracks so that the epoxy can be packed into the crack and it also cleans the surfaces of the crack for better adhesion. I bead blasted one of my banjo wheels because the steel hoop inside was rusted.
I repaired a nice 40 Deluxe wheel but choose to sell it to finance a Limeworks reproduction 40 wheel. Now I need to repair that because it cracked with in the first two years of use. What scares me, you can feel the movement in the pieces next to the crack and if you look up close, there are very fine lines forming every where. Makes me sick because I love the looks of this wheel in my 40 pickup.
JB weld works great on steering wheels. Don't use the quick setting type as it shrinks more than regularr JB weld. The important thing to remember is to v-groove the wheel all the way down to the metal ring. It's like fixing many other cracks, where you need to drill a hole at the end or it will come back on you. Block sanding is easier if you use a rough rasp file to shape the JB first (after it dries), as prevously mentioned by someone else. You can use bondo to fill in any deep scratches or low areas before primer/top coat painting. I've done 6 wheels like this and never had a crack come back. Have fun and take your time. The steering wheel is something you touch and look at every time you drive your car, do it right.
yep the slow jb weld is the strongest , a little tip for you here...part fill the crack with a tooth pick or whatever then warm the jb with a heatgun or hairdryer you will find it flows into the crack like thick paint instead of the almost putty like texture
HRP. PM me your address Im gonna send you some stuff thats way better than PC-7. Its a pre mixed 2 part expoxy resisn that is FAA approved for aerospace. Super easy to use and hard as nails. Matt
Here's a pic of the repaired wheel in my MG. I used PC-7 and had to make some special sanding tools, but found those big foum nail boards worked the best. finished it with an amature airbush wood grain and three or four coats of clear. It's an open top car, so it will be interesting to see how long it last in the sun. It's about 60% PC-7. It looks better than the pic because the flash washed out a lot of color. BEFORE AFTER
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