steering wheel muck

[stevenelle]

Sort of an odd situation here - on damp mornings when I go to work, the steering wheel is sort of moist and slippery. As I grip the wheel and drive it, my hands immediately get coated with this black wet residue. It is not dirt, but much finer and somewhat difficult to remove from my hands. On normal non damp mornings, the wheel is dry and nothing rubs off. I have tried to wash the steering wheel with various cleaners. Large amounts of this black muck come off in the process, but the next damp day, there it is again. Any ideas what this is? I was thinking that maybe the old plastic is just breaking down with age, heat, sun, etc and coming off in very fine layers. Has this happened to anyone else?

[MBF]

I have this same thing with my '36 Plymouth. I think the plastic is porous due to age and wicking in moisture which makes the surface sticky-I was thinking of clearcoating it to seal it up. Mike

[Norm's Coupe]

Sounds like rubber from the steering wheel to me. On the P15's the steering wheel is made out of hard rubber. When the paint wears off you start getting the black rubber on your hands. Repaint the steering wheel and the problem should disappear.

I restored an old P15 steering wheel a few years ago. When I sanded it down, it made a real mess with that black rubber dust all over. Hands got black every time I touched it until I painted it.

[Vintrader]

I have had a few old steering wheels do the same thing. And yes I think it is just the compound breaking down. There are a few repair/repaint systems out there but are a bit pricey. I have done a few now with a black epoxy paint made for appliances. It is very thick and glossy, drys fast and hard, one rattle can will do the whole wheel. About 4 bucks. Just ruff it up and spray it on, I have even done one with out pulling it off first. If you have cracks in the wheel, a dremel tool and 5 min epoxy will have it shape in no time. Dutch