Enough B-J, TECH clear glitter steering wheel resto

I thought about using silver solder wrapped around a groove in a steering wheel to separate two tone paint, but for this one the tubing butts up to the edge nice and doesn't really need it, they didn't have anything there originally.

You can feel the seam on it and you can see it if you're looking for it but it's not bad at all, nothing that would bother me. If I were restoring a '60 Matador convert or something like that I'd spend the money to recast it, it's not that nice, but for my use I'm real happy with it, I doubt anyone would notice that it's not stock unless they actually sat in the car, looked the wheel over and felt it.

As for a mold, my '60 Plymouth wheel I'd buy a mold for to recast it, problem is the wheel is square-ish shaped, it's not round, so you'd have to make a specific mold just for it. Generic sized ones might work for the Pontiac and Dodge wheels, but that'd be about it I think. There were only a few cars that used this type of clear plastic on the steering wheels, if you made 4 or 5 molds you'd probably have them all covered.

I'll post an update after this summer's over to show how it holds up. Clear vinyl is the same shit that a rear window in a convertible is made of, it'll probably be softer in the hot sunlight below the huge Chrysler windshield but we'll have to see how it goes, I don't mind if the vinyl is soft to the touch as long as the glue holds up.

 

X2!!! Excellent idea Jon!

 

Great low buck post to create a unique steering wheel. I like it.

 

Cheap tech - I love it!

 

Having repaired a 1962 Imperial square wheel and adapted it to an Ididit column, I can appreciate the work involved in your project. I am still trying to figure out a good horn button for it.
Enjoyed and appreciate the post!

 

Thanks for the tech! These are the kinda DIY lowbuck post that make the HAMB great. I want to try this this week.

 

Great post Squablow I really like it!I just gotta find an crappy old wheel to play around with.

 

Looks great!!

 

I have a '60 Dodge Dart and was trying to figure out how to restore the cracked steering wheel. THANKS!

 

I havent seen anything related to cars that got me as excited as this tech has, in a couple of years...wow, this is COOL.

 

Very cool. I'm sure this has a lot of folks thinking about other ways to use your idea.

 

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but Squablow, how did the wheel end up holding up over the summer? Any issues with the glue letting go etc?

 

had you thought about maybe spraying some clear coat with large metal flake in it on the inside tube? If that something you have on hand anyhow it wouldn't cost any extra and the coverage would be much more even. It would only have to hold long enough to get the outside tube glued on. Not a pro but thought I would share my idea. Please Please no autograghs

 

I don't need to repair my free DeSoto wheel but have a couple wall hangers to play with

 

Came across this and thinking of using the idea, any updates as to how it has worked out?

 

Glad you brought the post back up. I hadn't seen it before. Any tech tip is a good tech tip .

 

The car this was intended to go on got sold. It hung on my shop wall for about 5 years then I sold the wheel. The wheel still looked great after all that time but it wasn't being used so I really don't know. I wish I had a better updated than that but that's all I've got. I still think it'd hold up fairly well assuming the car it got used on had power steering (to keep the force on the grip to a minimum).

I do plan to do it again with my '60 Plymouth. Even if it doesn't hold up forever, I could redo it every year or two, for $30 a crack plus an afternoon, vs. $1300 for a recast, that still seems like a pretty good value. Hardest part is finding clear tubing that doesn't have lazer etched size info printed on it.

 

"Hardest part is finding clear tubing that doesn't have lazer etched size info printed on it."

Funny how things like that cause so much hassle.
I bought a set of Chinese "stainless steel" acorn nuts for a set of aluminum wheels, but couldn't get them plain - only with a choice of a few goofy logos.