Hot Rods Thoughts on a leather wrapped steering wheel in a nostalgic hotrod.

Well! It's obvious to me that you guys just don't drive as hard as I do

 

I bought a Limeworks '40 Ford wheel( one of the ivory ones) years ago from a now defunct shop in the area. Somehow due to improper storage or whatever, it had a some cracks. It was offered to me deeply discounted, so it was a perfect fit. I have no plans to "fix" it.

 

Same here. After a 4 hour drive with the bare wheel my hands hurt, the muscles and ligaments were tired and sore; I needed a larger diameter to grasp comfortably, the rope gave me that, the texture enhances grip.

 

Ok, easy fix,and it doesn't look like real wood so if it is then maybe not.

Mat'ls needed; regular plain ol paste wax, 2" masking tape, duraglas and regular bondo. Tape a section of the wheel big enough to "replace" the biggest area missing. Coat the tape with the plain paste wax. Mix up 50/50 bondo and duraglas and put it on ½ the wheel rim taped and waxed surface. Once cured take it off and you have a mold for that ½, do it again for the other side so you have the finger grip side and the smooth face side molds.

The next trick is to prep the existing wheel rim to accept an epoxy repair. I like some small holes and 80 grit scratches. I also like JB KWIK for this in their "steel" flavor. Tough, sets quickly, even pours a little if you preheat with a hair dryer. Now that you've recast the missing parts smooth and paint as desired. If it is real wood, sorry. No quick fixes in my bag of tricks for that. In my build thread for the 39 there's some steering wheel **** happening there with pics. Might help. I had cracks, not missing parts. Share whatcha come up with...

 

I know I talk a lot of BS on here at times but there is a fairly simple solution to putting a wooden rim back on your wheel. A wooden form made of plywood with a ring of dowels with an outside diameter just smaller than the inside diameter of your existing rim. Using a straight grained piece of hardwood longer than the cir***ference of the wheel, cut strips about 1/16" thick, wrap them around the form and laminate them to a thickness just larger than the outside diameter of your wheel. It would be easier to make two of these rings than try to cut one down the center. Using a ball end router the same size as the diameter of your rim in a table, rout a groove around one flat surface in each ring. Rout the radius you prefer to the inside and outside of each half. Fit each half to the rim making sure you allow for the cutouts for your spokes. Fit, glue and clamp the two halves together and you're done, except for applying the finish you prefer.

 

& if different type &/or color woods are used, a nice striped-effect can be had, depending on staining. Didn't think about steam-bend laminating. Thanks for that one.
Marcus...

 

With all the people who built hot rods from the late 30's to the late 50's, I'll bet someone somewhere wrapped a steering wheel in leather. Just because others have not seen one doesn't mean no one ever did it.

 

O.K., in the '50s (when I was young and $$ wise) we went to Tijuana and got cars upholstered.
There was a 'service' offered by 3 shops I knew of, "Want your steering wheel leather-wrapped?" (usually in an over-wrap style, two colors... ended up looking like a Backgammon board.)
I asked the 'boss man' how long that had been going on..."Oh, 10 years..." This was in '57.

Perplexes me to think a guy named 'Rusty' would have a wooden steering wheel.

My '55 F100 has always been more 'hot rod' than 'custom'. When I got it, the column had been cut down 4" for a 2" dished wheel, according to the P.O.
My choice was my old genuine Bell 3 spoke, in front of an engine-turned dash insert full of S/W gennies. Big Moon gas pedal makes for a familiar 'office'.

Some azzhole broke my drivers side wing and stole my 15" 3 spoke Bell!
I got a 'repop' from the gent that bought Ford Parts Obsolete, close enough...It was in there for years.
Pal Mark Codd HAD to have my 3 spoke, (slightly rusty, for the 'patina'...) so I got hold of Limeworks, hoping for another 'plastic' flat 3 spoke.
Nope. All I could get was the sewn leather rim, but I took it.
Monterey Speed & Sport had a perfect Bell repop, only $895. I'm not That nostalgic.

Anybody looking in thru my gennie FoMoCo green tinted gl*** side window can see it's no 'street rod'... (Gotta sand and paint the damn thing, afraid it's liable to get towed as an 'Abandoned Vehicle'!)

 

My take on the period correct thinking. Love the look of my '59 Impala steering wheel and how it gives me a clear view of the instrument cluster. However, it being so big, I barely clear it with my body. How do you fix this? A new repro smaller diameter wheel would be great, but I can't justify the cost. A tilt column and I get accosted by the '65 critics. My metalflake wheel's spokes don't give me a good view of my instruments. The solution? Ignore the naysayers and do whatever I like.

 

nothing pisses me off more than driving home with a pair of vice grips for a steering wheel! I have a quick release on my dune buggy's wheel and I worried about someone stealing my flake moon wheel so I bought a cable lock and secure it to the roll bar when I leave it unattended (or around my a-hole friends that like to pull pranks).

 

Same. I love that there's guys out there that want every single little detail show-worthy of from the era. I like seeing those kinds of rides. But it's another level of obsession imho, and the idea that guys like that sometimes think if you're not doing it to that level you're not up to snuff, is not so.

Kudos to the perfectionists, I am not one in the area of automobiles....

Wrap ur wheel if you want it wrapped.

 

Even though our founder is a fan of the genre, I'm not sure rap is traditional (a thought I had listening to Public Enemy on my home). Just sayin...

 

J.C. Whitney was selling leather steering wheel wraps back in the late ‘50s as I remember. I have leather wrapped several steering wheels that were too skinny for comfort… I changed out the wheel in my ‘50 Dodge because the diameter was so big, it was in my “line of sight”. I adapted the original horn ****on to fit an old 3 spoke wheel I had. Comfort first- nostalgia second…

 

A 27 Hot Rod with a steering wheel that has a few cracks, sounds completely traditional to me.

 

And I mean no snark against those kind of guys or Mark Moriarty. Truly, I think he's a living museum, and I can't tell you how amazing I think his projects are, or how much I enjoy marks stuff. But if we were all like mark, he wouldn't be that amazing now, would he?

We make him look good by our mediocrity! Lol.

 

After my previous comment, I went for a drive in my car and realized that it was the rim of the steering wheel that was in the way. Back to the old Impala wheel; my old body isn't as flexible as it once was.

 

Hello,

When we were in the throes of cruising around in the Flathead Sedan Delivery, the stock 40 Ford steering wheel was just fine. But after seeing several cars in parking lot shows, we tried our version of the leather wrapped steering wheel. With left over heavy duty string, we carefully wrapped the wheel from the crossing bar around the top and to the other joint. Taping the beginning of the wrap down, so it would not move.
When it sat all day outside in the sun, at the beach or in our backyard, it was not pleasant to get inside and feel the hot steering wheel when backing up or going forward. It definitely needed something.

It seemed like a simple process with the string wrap neatly pressed together. With each strap, the progress looked good. Until the other crossing point, when the thumb curves and width of the cross bar gave us some difficulties. We had to tape the wrapped string until we could figure out which way would look the best.

For all of the wraps from different styles of string, the end tie is the hardest. As one turns the covered steering wheel for parking or even backing up to park, the knots can’t be showing or it constantly rubs against the hand. We took care to put the final wrap in an incon****uous place near the beginning and the bump was not as bad. But, when turning and grabbing the wheel, the bump could be felt.

Jnaki

Then the commercial leather wraps came on the scene and they had perforated surfaces for stringing the lines and to provide a better non-slip type of surface. The wrapping was done on the inside of any steering wheel and therefore, the tiny knots at the finished end were not a “bump in the road,” when making any turn or a 360 motion with the wrap in place. But, one had to get used to seeing the criss-cross weaving, flat string or line all around the steering wheel. YRMV

The solution was to get a car/station wagon or any car with a solid surface that felt good and did not give a bump when turning or making full turns. So, every time we had purchased a new car, it always had the stock wheel smooth surface or matching black leather covered wheel ring if we could order one.

Back when we had the 327 powered sedan delivery, we purchased a 3 spoke Moon Wheel to solve all steering wheel feelings or applications. Now, that was a cool steering wheel. Somewhat padded, felt good holding it while driving and easy to clean/maintain. And, no bumps on the hands when parking or turning. Plus, if my wife was enjoying the feel of the Moon Wheel, who can complain? It certainly was better than driving around in an old Corvair…YRMV

Note:
It was black and had a great grip while driving. The surface may have been a little warm on a hot sunny day. But, the rubber coating dissipated the heat quickly and felt great handling on long distance rides.