Has anyone here used the Eastwood Steering Wheel Master restoration kit, and if so what were your results, impression of the product, etc.. I need to restore the '57 Ford steering wheel for my roadster project, and am looking for suggestions and any advice that may be helpful. Thanks, --- Jim
I am certain that PC-7 costs less and works fine. Check archives. Jusr bring your own tools and grit.
Super glue and baking soda... Seriously, look it up. There's how-tos on the net... and it's strong and cheap.
Save $30+ by buying the included products separately. PC-7 = $13 @ Home depot SEM Plastic Prep = $22 @ local paint supply not really needed Eastwood Pre Paint Prep = $22 which is just wax and grease remover = $20 a gallon @ local paint supply Total = $57 Eastwood Steering Wheel Master restoration kit = $87 The PC-7 is the important(and cheapest) part the rest is just cleaners use your preferred products. Alcohol, Acetone or even brake clean they will all work just fine.
Years ago I bought the Eastwood kit, but found it basically includes PC-7 epoxy along with a little plastic mixing tray, mixing sticks and some plastic gloves. Save yourself money and just get the PC-7 at the local hardware store.
Thanks everyone for your responses, I looked at the Eastwood on line catalog, and they are out of stock anyway. I also found out that they probably would not ship to Alaska any way , or they would charge an outrageous haz-mat fee. Thanks everyone. I will look into all your suggestions and local availability of the needed components.
The gray steering wheel - heavily cracked throughout was done early 2000s with just JB Weld and Duplicolor Spray Paint The white one done about 3 years ago just because I had it - heavily cracked and missing a couple of chunks. Again JB Weld and Rustoleum Appliance White. No return cracks on either and look pretty good! Ron
At the collection I work at we use PC7 for steering wheels. We have some that were done years ago and still look new. I have one I did years ago and it still looks great and is used.
There are many different ways to repair a steering wheel,this is how I did mine. I decided to repair my cracked and damaged steering wheel for the '54 "Ranch Wagon" and thought my photos might inspire someone that is thinking about repairing their own steering wheel. This is what I started with, Basically the wheel had a lot of chips and hair line cracks,,and a few really deep cracks that need filling. The tools are simple and I would think most of you have them in your tool box,or in a kitchen drawer. files,assorted utility knives,hacksaw blade,sandpaper,bondo spreader,assorted toothpicks and pieces of wood and a screw driver,and PC-7 epoxy,your tool list may be different but I think you guys get the idea. After all the gouging and spreading the cracks to get a slight V groove I started trying to wipe the PC-& on smoothly with the plastic spreader and small pieces of wood,it became quite apparent within a few minutes that I had the best spreader for the job attached to my hand,my fingers worked extremely well. At this point I let it dry until the next day and started to sand,I'll point out my mistake now so you guys can avoid it,,this stuff doesn't sand as easy as you would think so smear it on just enough to cover the chips and cracks,don't cake it on in spots like I did. This is what the wheel looked like after a few hours of sanding,I did have to go back and address a few small hairline cracks I missed. After the final sanding I wiped the wheel down the final prep and shot it with etching primer. At this phase of the project the wheel sat idle for a while,,the time between priming your steering wheel and painting it may differ from my time frame,you could paint it the next day,mine got put on hold for about a year and four months and it finally got painted on Friday. And this is how it looks in the wagon. I used the same color on the wheel as the outside window trim,Dupont urethane base coat/clear coat. I think it turned out pretty good. HRP
OK , I decided to try and find some PC-7 at the local Home Depot as suggested by some in this thread, but, as usual not available in Alaska. We get that a lot up here. I will check other places, and if not able to locate it locally, I will have to consider one of the other options suggested. Thank you all !!----Jim
In the past 40 or so years, I have used the following successfully: PC-7, Marine Tex, JB Weld, and thickened epoxy resin. I think I even tried using that 2 part epoxy they sell to fix leaking gas tanks. Don't remember if it held up a long time, but it was not easy working with something that thick.
Try a marine store for a product similar to PC-7. JB weld with something to thicken it so it stays in place will work too.
Can't you just order it on Amazon and have it shipped to you? https://www.amazon.com/PC-Products-...id=1738542469&sprefix=pc7,aps,135&sr=8-1&th=1
Had a friend of mine recently say lord furor panel bond works really good, doesn't shrink and sands nice. Tempted to try it as it shouldn't Crack, its a panel bond and I wouldn't think auto manufacturers would allow that. If I give it a try in the next couple months I'll do a build thread on it and we will see how it goes !! ...
I did mine about 30 years ago. I used JB Weld. Primed it and sprayed it with a good epoxy paint. Still looks good.
For the record my 1960 Dodge pickup which isn't housebroke (meaning it lives outside) I did the steering wheel probably 11 years ago now and I used JB putty Weld that you basically cut a little chunk off and mix it between your fingers. I used it because it's fairly easy to apply, I used a simple razor blade to cut off a small chunk then mixed it together with my fingers and then pushed it into the giant cracks then I used the razor blade before the JB Weld fully set up to trim it up so it was real close to the end shape that I wanted. I also used it to reform the bottom edge of the steering wheel where it meets the column where I think somebody at one time probably stuck a screwdriver underneath it to pop the steering wheel up, anyways I remade the missing chunk out of epoxy weld and it has survived for a long time out in the California Sun. I used cheap black spray paint, It may have been rust-Oleum brand but honestly it was probably Walmart brand back then. I don't have a picture of the steering wheel but when I last actually acknowledged it a few weeks ago it did not have any cracks in it and actually looked really good still. I don't think you need any particular epoxy or even a steering wheel restoration kit if you have sandpaper in varying grits at home and you take your time You should be able to make a pretty decent steering wheel. I sanded my steering wheel by hand starting out with 80 grit and I think I went up to 320 before I put it in primer but again it's been a really long time... I also did my Ford Model A steering wheel a few months ago in the exact same way and it is sitting outside bolted to the steering column which is bolted to the chassis in the weather It looks good I just wanted it to quit leaving black stuff on my hands but it was pretty disintegrated before I started sanding and filling cracks. Again I probably used six or eight bucks worth of materials if that much. Obviously if you're going to use a quality paint it's going to cost more but some epoxy and some sandpaper is almost free.
Ace and True Value Hardware stores carry PC-7 (at least at some stores). If you have either of them local check there, alternately both stores list it on their websites. Like any other product these days you can also order it from Amazon. I can't say for JB Weld or other products, but my understanding is PC-7's expansion and contraction properties are essentially the same as the plastic used in steering wheels, which minimizes the chance of cracking. I know I used it on the wheel in my F-100 25 years ago or more, and it still looks good.
I did this one for my 49 Buick with PC7. I don't have a before picture, but it had a bunch of cracks in it.
The Jalopy Journal
