Projects Painting and restoring a steering wheel

I know this migth be a stupid question, but hey you are half way around the world.

2 part, does that mean base/clear coat or paint and hardner?

 

It can mean base coat plus a 2k clear or it could mean a single stage that requires a hardener.
Not a stupid question, I have painters that have been painting 20+ years that don't know the difference. They really have 1 year experience duplicated 20 times.

 

I did this with PC7. Base/clear coat. Hand made burl wood pieces.

 

Wow beautiful burl wood!

 

That is really top notch, How about some details?

 

Ago, more info on wheel or car?

 

I used PC7 for all the build-up and fill on the steering wheel for the '40 Chrysler in avatar.

My aim was to reduce the outside diameter from 18" to a more svelte 16". Took quite a while to do it. The 18" wheel was taken down to the steel core. The steel core was reduced by 2" diameter, then all the composite epoxied back on using PC7 (and plenty of it) . Then the PC7 was used for fill.

Important thing about the PC7, don't lay it on too thick. and give it a lot of time to cure up before adding more and also before filing it to shape....like a good day without disturbing.

I posted a bunch of pix before, but don't see the thread now.

Before/after pics...just needs some final paint.
Got more pics if anyone's interested




meant to add compliments for the wood inlay wheel....

 

Great work there, Fourdy.

 

My wheel has been painted. The paint is chipping off. Under that appears to be the factory blue coating. Question: do I need to sand off all of the factory color before redoing the wheel? Is there an easier or better way to get the paint off besides sanding? Seems that the PC-7 is the way to go to fill the cracks.

 

i would try to get all the chipping paint off and see what the original looks like. how hard is the sanding?

 

sanding the last paint coat off is not a hard thing. The original color is stuck pretty well. I just do not want to harm the wheel itself in this process.

 

leave it then [original paint]. sand it with 220, epoxy prime, filler prime, wet sand and paint.
what color?

 

Another vote for PC-7 I've done quite few but only got these pics of a Cadillac wheel I repaired then flaked.

 

nice. back to sanding I go. Probably will go with black.

 

The paint is actually harder than the plastic under it. Be careful once you go past the paint if you have any detail that should be preserved.

 

OMG, so many cracks were hiding under the repaint. I'll be at this for years. lol

 

My cracks (in the steering wheel...) were visible. The paint was worn off most of it. It takes a while to prep all the areas and then the fun of filling them. The initial batch I made of the PC7 was too big and started to set up too fast. Smaller batches worked out much betterer...

 

i am still in the paint removal stage. the dremel is ready to go once the paint is off.

 

I had the same problem with the JB Weld swelling. After I painted my steering wheel I put it in the oven to bake the paint. when it came out all of the repaired areas had swollen and I had a series of rings around the wheel.

I ended up using epoxy from the local model airplane hobby shop. I don't remember the brand name but it didn't swell up when I baked it.

I'm really glad that I found the problem before parking the truck in the sun; that would have been a nasty surprise.

By the way, if you bake panted parts in the oven make sure the wife don't find out. It makes quite a stink especially if the steering wheel tips and comes in contact with the heating element. 'Course that also results in another divot to fix.

 

Hi guys, never done this repair myself but re the swelling/shrinkage I've been told to not put all your filler in in one go, better to half fill, let cure and then final fill. This may perhaps alleviate the problems?
Cheers,
Arnold.

 

I,ve used the POR 15 Putty; works well, and you can smooth it with water while it is setting up for Minimal Sanding.

 

I need to remove added paint on a 1940 wheel. Will lacquer thinner hurt it?

 

I wouldn't soak it, get shop towels and wipe it.

 

Great job well done. The last pic doesn't need any words.

 

The guy I bought my cadillac from told me he files open the cracks, then fills with some MIG welding wire, then epoxy over that and it supposedly alleviates shrink and swell

 

Volvobrynk, you can buy JB Weld on Ebay. And propobly a bunch of other internet sites.

 

so I'm using a 49 Ford wheel in my low dollar 32 build. It was big fun making it pretty again. Ground out all the cracked areas and used a 2part epoxy kit I bought at our local auto paint store. Worked well and sanded pretty easily. Buried it in urethane high build primer. Its been sitting on a shelf for a while now waiting for the project to catch up with it.....wont be long now..