Why is it many of the old steering wheels have split? Is there a repair for this?
Steering Wheel repair
- Thread starter Chachie
- Start date
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Living in the Past
SILVER Star
Mainly because of age. Your style wheel was last used in 72 making them over forty years old. Then figure the spline change in 7/69 and all the ones that would fit your steering column are even older. We also live in a desert which doesn't help with the material used to make them. I traveled up to the Seattle area back in 05 and hauedl back a rusted out 61 just to get some parts. One of which was a almost perfect steering wheel. The Pacific Northwest has been kinder to plastic than the desert. A few years back a member who went by ceejay was trying to get a group together to have some of these early steering wheels restored professionally. At $900 each each it never happened.
Post a picture of your steering wheel and you will get a options of either trying to restore it or find one in better space to restore. My 68 and 70 both have pretty good steering wheels for being in AZ their whole life, but were kept out of the the sun for the most part. I have other steering wheels that have areas of the metal core showing and won't be worth the effort to try and restore because they would never look good.
You can install a thin, leather lace-up type steering wheel cover and that will improve the appearance. Any sort of stretch-to-fit type cover is usually thick, bulky, and cheesy, IMO. Not sure if anyone still sells these for oversize steering wheels like FJ40s have, but SOR did, years ago. I think Eastwood also sells steering wheel restoration kits.
I repaired mine by filling the cracks with JB weld, sanding and treating it with SEM plastic adhesion promoter. I then primered and painted it with SEM Color Coat Landau Black plastic and vinyl paint. It looks brand new.
SOR is selling restored wheels now, but they are pretty spendy.
SOR is selling restored wheels now, but they are pretty spendy.
GregRay
Old Member
POR also markets a steering wheel restoration kit that uses epoxy, primer and POR paint. It is somewhat expensive.
Check Millardo's build thread, and you'll see he did a great job restoring his steering wheel. You can also try and follow the advice in this post:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=7519576&postcount=32
A lot will depend on just how cracked your steering wheel is. There are a lot of hot rodders who make kits for restoring steering wheels, but they tend to be pricey (200+ dollars for the kit), so it really depends on just how much time versus money you want to put into making it look good.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=7519576&postcount=32
A lot will depend on just how cracked your steering wheel is. There are a lot of hot rodders who make kits for restoring steering wheels, but they tend to be pricey (200+ dollars for the kit), so it really depends on just how much time versus money you want to put into making it look good.
we're getting ready to use the eastwood resto kit and the landau black paint, just have to get the steering wheel off. that's proving more challenging than anything
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- Thread starter
- #11
I will check out the post and snap a pic of my wheel
Here is a thought...
I carve duck decoys, and when putting in the glass eyes and covering the head to body seam I use a moldable epoxy. It comes in two containers; the hardener and the base. Its consistency is like silly putty. One equal part of each rolled together then apply. It is water soluble but dries waterproof and hard. When dry, it can be sanded and painted. The nice thing about it is that you can smooth it out when it's wet so almost no sanding is needed. I've used it to repair my plastic console with excellent luck. It's tough as hell when dry.
Here is the manufacturer product info:
Apoxie Sculpt
( Google it for several retailers)
Apoxie® Sculpt offers economy as well as performance. This 2-part product has a putty-like, smooth consistency, and is easy to mix & use. It is safe and waterproof with 0% shrinkage/cracking! Working time is 2-3 hrs. Cures hard in 24 hrs., and has a semi-gloss finish. Adheres to plastic, resin kits, wood, metal, ceramic, glass, polymers, foam, fiberglass, & more! Can be seamlessly feathered before set-up, or sanded, tapped, drilled, carved, lathed, or otherwise tooled after set-up, without chipping, cracking or flaking! Save time & money on finishing jobs by using Apoxie® Sculpt colors. Simple water clean-up or use Aves® Safety Solvent. Endless uses for artists, crafters, restorers, modelers, students, and more! Great for creating 3-D graphics and outdoor projects! Available in 12 colors.
The stuff really is amazing. Good luck.
TFJM
I carve duck decoys, and when putting in the glass eyes and covering the head to body seam I use a moldable epoxy. It comes in two containers; the hardener and the base. Its consistency is like silly putty. One equal part of each rolled together then apply. It is water soluble but dries waterproof and hard. When dry, it can be sanded and painted. The nice thing about it is that you can smooth it out when it's wet so almost no sanding is needed. I've used it to repair my plastic console with excellent luck. It's tough as hell when dry.
Here is the manufacturer product info:
Apoxie Sculpt
( Google it for several retailers)
Apoxie® Sculpt offers economy as well as performance. This 2-part product has a putty-like, smooth consistency, and is easy to mix & use. It is safe and waterproof with 0% shrinkage/cracking! Working time is 2-3 hrs. Cures hard in 24 hrs., and has a semi-gloss finish. Adheres to plastic, resin kits, wood, metal, ceramic, glass, polymers, foam, fiberglass, & more! Can be seamlessly feathered before set-up, or sanded, tapped, drilled, carved, lathed, or otherwise tooled after set-up, without chipping, cracking or flaking! Save time & money on finishing jobs by using Apoxie® Sculpt colors. Simple water clean-up or use Aves® Safety Solvent. Endless uses for artists, crafters, restorers, modelers, students, and more! Great for creating 3-D graphics and outdoor projects! Available in 12 colors.
The stuff really is amazing. Good luck.
TFJM
Nothing beats a quality puller.
Leave the nut on the end of the shaft and use a wide pad/foot on the puller screw instead of a point style.
btdt. bent the screws it had so much tension on it.
Volcanic Iceberg
Addict
I refurbished my wheel. I used a moldable plastic epoxy from home depot and rustoleum paint and clear coat. Turned out great. Had it done start to finish in one day. there are several how to videos on Youtube.
I've restored a few garden tractor wheels using 2-part epoxy , some VHT black spray dye and Eastwood's Diamond Clear - one is over 4yrs old now and still looks new .
Sarge
Sarge
- Thread starter
- #19
So the rehab on the wheel is awesome. Can you give me a little better description of exactly what you bought and how you prepped the wheel?
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