hillbilly4008 Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hi all, I've got a '53 DeS with the nice ivory steering wheel. Problem is, mines not so nice. I'm looking for a replacement wheel that I can still use my DeS horn ring on. I really love the looks of that Ivory wheel. While Googling various mopar steering wheels I noticed that the '53 Desoto and the '53 Plymouth have a similar outer wheel. Does anyone know if this is really the case? I hope to go to a local private yard tomorrow, the owner says he has 4 '53 Desotos, and 3 '54s. You would think that with 7 total cars with the same steering wheel I would have good odds of finding a decent one, but honestly I've never seen a stock '53 Desoto wheel thats not cracked or disintegrated down to the steel. Any tips would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackster Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 neither have I! all Desoto steering wheels were just a bare rod. I saw one on Ebay totally redone and they wanted $600 dollars! i cant swing that for a steering wheel! any who! I hope you find one in the yard for a cheap price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
54Illinois Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 Which style of wheel do you have? This came out of Motor's in the Dodge section. Desoto and Plymouth had no pics. My 53-54 Plymouths all seem to have the style on the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly4008 Posted March 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 It looks like that Dodge wheel will bolt up fine, but the wheel itself is different. Doesn't look like my horn ring will work with that wheel. It doesn't look like i'll be able to get in the yard today as I hoped. Our schedules don't mesh. I really was hoping to get in there this weekend as I have my car on my lift with no steering wheel on it, and no way to move it. I really don't want to put the original back on if I dont have to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly4008 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I made it into the private yard today. The owner stood me up, but luckily his son was there to take me in. He didn't know exactly where the Desotos were so we just walked the yard looking for suitable steering wheels. We did find 5 out of 7 '53-'54 Desotos, every one had a steering wheel that made mine look good. (Mackster, they made you original one look like GOLD) There was a '54 Firedome convertible in there, that must've been a beautiful car in its day. Shame. Eventually I found a steering wheel from a '57 Plymouth Savoy with the "square" horn ring. I haven't tried putting it on the '53 yet, but I hope to god it fits for the time and money I have spent getting it out of the car. The outer wheel is totally black and all the paint is gone. It leaves a nasty black film on your hands, what the best trick to prepping this for paint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackster Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I made it into the private yard today. The owner stood me up, but luckily his son was there to take me in. He didn't know exactly where the Desotos were so we just walked the yard looking for suitable steering wheels. We did find 5 out of 7 '53-'54 Desotos, every one had a steering wheel that made mine look good. (Mackster, they made you original one look like GOLD) There was a '54 Firedome convertible in there, that must've been a beautiful car in its day. Shame. Eventually I found a steering wheel from a '57 Plymouth Savoy with the "square" horn ring. I haven't tried putting it on the '53 yet, but I hope to god it fits for the time and money I have spent getting it out of the car. The outer wheel is totally black and all the paint is gone. It leaves a nasty black film on your hands, what the best trick to prepping this for paint? I hope it fits just right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT-47P15 Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) Hillbilly......it will be ineresting to see if and how that 57 wheel works on your car. If others will work, and they have a horn ring, then you could probably swap the whole works. As I recall from not too long ago, Moose on here rebuilt his steering wheel on a Chrysler. I think he gave an account of his process and the material he used. I know I saw a local 47 Plymouth they had put the comlete 47 Dodge wheel and horn ring on---seemed to fit in just fine. Found this link to a previous thread with some pics..... http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=25882&highlight=steering+wheel Good luck. Edited March 5, 2012 by BobT-47P15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly4008 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 The steering wheel bolted right up. I didn't take into account the depth of the wheel. I'm not sure how this will feel while driving. As you can see It is crying for a paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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