Looking for direction on repairing this 62 Olds wheel that's going in my 56 F100. Any one have success with grinding out and epoxy repairing. Has it held up well?. Any idea as to the best type or brand for this. I'm going to be painting it to match interior so its going to be pearl white or white flake.
I've had good results using J B Weld. Grind the cracks out. Apply the J B Weld It's very runny and takes over night to set up. I put masking tape over the JBW as a dam to contain the product. Pull the tape the next day and sand using wet papers. Prime prep and paint. I do not have a before photo of this wheel but it was someone's throw away. It was in BAD shape.
This is the post about the wheel I repaired for the Ranch Wagon. HRP http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/steering-wheel-repair.675133/
Thanks, I thought that product might crack away from original plastic. That stuff is Killer Back when I was road racing motorcycles a friend grenaded his 2 stroke cases into 9 pieces and JB'ed it back together and he reduced the volume of the area where the crank spins ( its called Stuffing the Crank ) giving more cylinder pressure and that thing ran hard and long. When I've used it it hasn't been runny though. Just did a repair on a friends project with it.
I have done a few using JB and stuff made just for the purpose, both worked the same in imo. Something I did that some may not do is, sand/gl*** bead blast all the repair areas that are to be filled before applying the filler. Doing this removes all oil or contaminates as well as give a nice rough surface for the filler to grab on to. I painted using single stage auto primer/paint.
^^what he said^^ surface prep is everything. I used the epoxy for the rubberized wheel on my old GMC stake bed.....looked good. JB weld on the harder plastic wheel of my boat. Still have the boat.....would have to go to storage to snap a picture.....to my knowledge the wheels both still hold their repair. I tried to chemically strip the wheels first....before I gave up and just blasted the hell out of them with bead. Thought I was the only one.....but if 117Harv does it that way.....definitely do as he does.
Also, as far as longevity of the repairs, that all depends on the owner. The original wheel developed cracks and separation through the years from all the heat and cooling cycles as well as countless drivers pulling on them to readjust their seating position, or pounding out a beat to a song on the radio. After the repairs, the wheel will never crack again as long as it's in a climate controlled garage and you never drive it. The repairs if done correctly, it will hold up fine if you show that beautifully restored wheel it's do respect
You might want to check out this thread..... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/steering-wheel-restore-repair.951636/#post-10702444
Kind of like the turds that open their door with a foot and trash the hinge Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App
Just to drive the point home I have used JB Weld with good success as well. I did do one a little different a while back, I ground out the cracks then used little pieces of welding wire like rebar in concrete. I don't know how necessary it was though. Maybe just an exercise in foolishness.
Thanks for the input everyone. I didn't want to send it out and have someone else do what I can do. The total restorations where they recast the plastic from a bare wheel frame was a thought but I know the color would be off . Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App
Yep, tried J-B as well on a steering wheel on my 50 shoe that was so rough i was going to chuck it. Turned out well. Just V the crack. A lot of time spent thou.
Here's a write up I did awhile back using MarineTex; http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/steering-wheel-resto-job-finished.590437/ We start with the '41 Pontiac wheel needing just the outer ring restored as the rest is in pretty good shape. We have 3 options, send out to a pro shop if you can afford the $1000 to $1400 price tag or "V" cut all the cracks, fill and sand sand sand sand forever OR replace just the outer ring with a new or better one. I chose to replace the outer ring but first had to find a donor which turned out to be a 1956 Chevy wheel as it best matched the spoke location and size I wanted. So off with the '41 outer ring and off with the center of the '56 wheel, now to marry the two together. Inside every wheel is a round steel ring, this is what we will weld the 3 Pontiac spokes to after clean up. Weld up, fill up and sand to shape. I use MarineTex for filler as it blends well and sand the same as the outer ring material. If you wet your finger you can spread the Marine Tex around to shape and save much sanding. Next is epoxy high build primer as many coats as it takes to make you happy! After high builds comes the base coat clear coat of your choice & color. Hopefully pic's will explain it better.
I've used JB Weld on two steering wheels, so far no problem with either one, the second was a 40 or 41 Pontiac wheel but it was no where as attractive as the one brigrat restored, his must have been the "deluxe", just a little jealous
I used pc-7 to repair my 55 chevy wheel. D-ross and brigrat have explained the technique very well. Take your time and it will turn out great.
Not sure if it would apply to this particular topic's wheel, but another method aside from jb weld is sometimes used for small cracks or larger build-ups. It is a bit tricky to get the hang of because the reaction or drying time is so fast, but, regular super glue and baking soda. The cyanoacrylate kind. You apply a drop of super glue into, say, the deep part of a crack with a paper clip, then smother it in baking soda. Almost immediately you can knock off the baking soda and you will find a super hard and well bonding (but thin) buildup has begun. repeat..... Also builds up missing surface material. Can be filed or sanded when it has been slightly over-built up. I think you can use bone dust, too. Can't remember if fine sawdust works or not. I used this method on an almost white bakelite type wheel that was mostly still all there, but would have disintegrated with much handling. This worked to firm up the material to the point the wheel could be wrapped. There was so much surface lost I could not spend the amount of time needed to make it look perfect, but it did stabilize it enough to use it. Some day I will have time to go back and get it perfect. Not as bad as it is going to sound, but use very good ventilation or wear a good auto painters mask with the screw-in filters. Originally, the wheel sort of resembled Brigat's first pic in post #20, with gaps, etc., but mine was also porous throughout.
best thing I've ever found is the POR-15 epoxy putty. Its not runny....its like playdoh. sets up pretty quickly and you can wet your finger and smooth it out to eliminate a lot of sanding and shaping. Cures as hard as concrete but sands easily.
I have not used anything but Marine Tex. No complaints and lasts a long time. Spend the time on the prep. CA is good but nasty...
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