restoring steering wheels

[michael.warshaw]

who restores them, because i callled gary and he said he gets 450 to do one which seems a little high to me.

do you think that 200 is a fair peice for a wheel that is all ready done, and getting a free core wheel?

[michael.warshaw]

you guys this powdercoating would look better then painting it?

[Arthur1947]

Michael,

You could buy a kit from Eastwood I believe for about $24. I don't think you can have a steering wheel powder coated for it would melt in that oven.

Best.

ARTHUR

[Young Ed]

If its painted properly no additional coatings should be needed. Find out what type of paint they used. Spray bombs might require extra coatings. Any 2part automotive paint should be fine as is.

[Plymouthy Adams]

ever wonder why this was never featured in a car magazine...not sure but have a pretty good idea that at 600 degree curing temp the powder needs to cure...am pretty sure the wheel may not surive..with the quote of 450.00..you will quickly see how the cost of doing a car by farming out a job will get you upside down faster than any new car financing will fling you..

has your book arrived yet?

[BobT-47P15]

Michael.....if your wheel just has cracks and chips, they can be filled in pretty

easily. Then paint with two or three coats, maybe some clear on top.

If all you have is a metal ring, with all the stuff gone, I personally would do some

shopping on ebay for a better wheel, even if it needs a bit of repair. Should be

less costly in the long run. The wheels come up from time to time, just gotta

keep watching. I think you can even do a setting on ebay that notifies you when

a certain type item comes up for sale.

The wheel on my coupe has a couple cracks that go all the way thru to

the metal, but can be filled and sanded.

[LAKOTA169]

On the Eastwood site, they say to open the cracks up with a triangular file. that would be great if the cracks were straight, but they're not. Someone on here said they used a Dremel to open up the cracks. Which tip would you use (a number or pic of tip would be helpful). Also, how wide and deep do you open up the crack before filling it?

[claybill]

try this ..it works..fast cheap easy and looks grerat...

the cracks..no matter how deep, open them up nice and wide..1/4 inch .use a rough file. keeping the surfaces rough.

fill with EPOXY P-C 7. by at ace hardware..comes in 2 cans, mix and jam it into the cracks. dont worry about it being level, just close.

after 2 days sand kind of smooth all the filled areas and then smooth out nicely with bondo putty..and sand and prime and sand and prime again.

then paint it! i used rustoleum rattlecan and then rustoleum clear..all rattlecan.

looks pretty good.....you cant make a mistake! thats the good part.

open up even the hairline cracks so you can shove the P-C 7 down deep.

Pc-7 is a paste epoxy that sticks to hard rubber like the steering wheel..it is tough stuff.! keep looking until you find this pc7 stuff. it makes the job work.

bill

[michael.warshaw]

HERE I THE STEERING WHEEL IM LOOKING TO BUY WANT TO KNOW IF THE COLOR LOOKS ACCURATE TO OEM ?

[buds truck]

restore it yourself, it is not that hard, as it was said, groove out the cracks good, I used jb weld in mine and it has lasted about 4 years now and looks great. I painted it with napa 2 part acrylic enamel, see pic Bud

[woodie49]

ever wonder why this was never featured in a car magazine...not sure but have a pretty good idea that at 600 degree curing temp the powder needs to cure...am pretty sure the wheel may not surive..with the quote of 450.00..you will quickly see how the cost of doing a car by farming out a job will get you upside down faster than any new car financing will fling you..

has your book arrived yet?

I think that powder coating requires being able to electrically charge the part being coated so the coating attracts and sticks. I don't think it could be done to a plastic steering wheel. There may be another technique for coating the part before it is baked on? But it does seem the heat would still be a problem.

I go to an auto swap meet close by here in Orange County and there is usually a guy there with 20 or 30 steering wheels beautifully restored, including the horn rings, etc. for anywhere from about $375 to $700, depending more on how hard to find and desirable the wheel is than on the intricacy of the design.

[Don Jordan]

I had mine done for $250 - it looks brand new. I could take a pic but just imagine a brand new wheel.

Give this guy a call: 661 252 9264

pretty amazing. He's in Acton, CA - north of Los Angeles.

[michael.warshaw]

ill call tom thanks

[BobT-47P15]

That nice steering wheel looks pretty close to original color to me.

[michael.warshaw]

I had mine done for $250 - it looks brand new. I could take a pic but just imagine a brand new wheel.

Give this guy a call: 661 252 9264

pretty amazing. He's in Acton, CA - north of Los Angeles.

can you show me a pic?

[claybill]

c'mon mike you can do it! this is one project that you cannot make a mistake with. it is all just fill and sand and then spray paint.

forget powdercoating..impossible.

bill

[David Maxwell]

Michael, everyone's monitor settings may vary so who knows what the color looks like on each computer. On mine, It looks PERFECT! I have an NOS wheel and I also have repainted several myself. The factory color was called "Vogue Brown" and had very tiny metal flake in it which your photos appear to have as well. All the recommendations about using epoxy are great. That will work and if you can match the vogue brown in a chroma base and then clear coat it, you will be very happy with the results. Best of luck!

HERE I THE STEERING WHEEL IM LOOKING TO BUY WANT TO KNOW IF THE COLOR LOOKS ACCURATE TO OEM ?

Edited August 28, 2009 by David Maxwell
typo

[Don Jordan]

It's not the best picture. I'll see if I can get a better pic Saturday. I've got to pull it off because I didn't get it on straight. I thought I got slot A into groove B but I guess I missed. Driving down the road the bar is at 12 and 6 o'clock.

It looks a lot better than the picture.