No, really, it does. Just got a 41 Lincoln steering wheel for the sloper project and it's in fantastic condition, nice translucent dark maroon. Only trouble is it has a really strong cheesy smell. Now the Mrs says she won't be going in it if it smells like that. Any ideas?
i know that if you get REAL bakelite warm, it smells bad. i don't know about those wheels, but mabye that's it.
lol Those early plastics had a lot of organic content. You can spray it with a sealer (check for compatability on an incon****uous spot) or drive with clothes pins on your nose...
I was thinking a clear over it. I don't want to loose the translucency of the wheel by painting it a solid color. The plastic isn't real hard either so I'd have to clear with some a little flexy?
lol,, I have a screwdriver drawer that stinks like someone pissed in there. Something to do with the old plastic handles I think.
Plasticides. (the things that make plastic soft) As they evaporate, they smell. They also leave the stuff all over the inside of a new car that makes it look like you smoke even if you dont. As your plastic loses this, it gets harder and more brittle. That's why new cars need dash carpeting. You could try sealing it. Or baking it out under vacuum to remove the smell, but it's going to get real brittle. Craig
I had a NOS Merc wheel that smelled like puke. I mean baaaad. About the only thing that worked was that Fabreez stuff for fabric....But after a while it would kind of come back..I finally had to get rid of the damn thing. Hope you figure something out. -Abone. PS. Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where the vallet's BO stunk up Jerry's car so bad he had to give it away??
Seinfield ****s. On my Model A cowl, there was and old plastic electrical box, I guess it was bakelight....anyway, the screws weren't coming out of it, so I broke it apart with a hammer. Smelled like rotten eggs when it broke.
hahahaha, i got one of those drawers,too. only mine smells like somebody used one of those swapmeet screwdrivers i bought for an enema!! i finally traced it down and got rid of it!! too funny...
Thanks for the kind words. I do remember the Seinfeld episode. Mmmm, maybe sealing is the only way out.
......I was thinking the same thing too (kind of a puke smell). My screwdriver drawer has a real bad funk. Got to get out in the garage and find the offender... May have to slip it into someone elses tool box! What a wealth of information on the HAMB...
If the wheel is "breathing" it might lift the clear, no? I have a new flake wheel that's got a "smell" to it that seems to be going away. See if leaving it out somewhere helps
Either sell it to a guy in Wisconsin or try a little oxyclean in an incon****uous spot...or make a mousetrap out of it
A chemist friend of mine was over last night, so I showed him the wheel and he took a good sniff. He said that he couldn't be specific without knowing the exact compounds it's made of but, as it's probably made from vegetable oil (Ford = soya bean) the smell is most likely rancid oil. He says that when they were making polymers from the oil 60/70 years back they didn't have the refining ability we do now and a lot of un polymised oil would still be in the plastic and that has gone rancid over the year and hence the stink. I'l be trying clear coats in incon****uous places to see what works best. I'm keeping the wheel!
Did you ever get your steering wheel to stop smelling so bad? What about putting some wax on it? would that put a shiny glaze on the wheel, and seal up some of the pours in the plastic? Seems like it would make the wheel look good and help with the smell.
If your wheel is giving off fumes, maybe you could soak it in something more pleasant smelling. Just so it's not oily or a solvent. Then put it out in the sun for a bit? Tough one.
A lot of later GM wheels get the drips; when the car sits for awhile the wheel develops "sweat" beads which become dripping rivulets. The stuff is stinky and sticky! I had great luck with 3M Adhesive Remover available at your local auto parts or some hardware stores. You have to scrub like the devil to get the stuff gone but it leaves a nice finish with no smell or stickiness. You might try it on your wheel. Test a spot on the bottom first to be sure it doesn't wreck the finish.
Our '58 Olds wheel seems to intermittantly stink. I was gonna try to do something about it one day, but the smell had gone. I'm sure it'll be back, though...
I think its from absorbing the smells of whatever bad smelling is put on it. One time I was working under the dash of my old Comet (r.i.p.) in the sweaty blazing heat of SGV and as I was getting up the shift lever/knob hit the back of my ear...it was hot and I was sweaty. Couldnt get the sour, sweaty, behind the ear smell out of it with anything, and it got worse when it was hot. I think maybe the application of a nice mild scented oil might do the trick. I dont know what you guys are doing with your screwdrivers
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