saving a 70 year old steerin wheel?

it's a basically sound wheel, but with all the cracks usually found in a wheel this old. anybody have any tips for re-surfacing this thing? i'm thinkin fill the cracks with epoxy and then using the stuff you dip tool handles in to insulate them as a kind of skin....... tips? ideas? thoughts?

 

I've had good luck filling the cracks with JB weld, sanding, priming and painting the wheel. I'm not too sure about the tool dip stuff, unless you want a really non-slip surface.

 

Eastwood Co. sells a kit to do exactly what you are referring to. Or you can buy just what you need (such as the expoxy) individually. Here is a link to where it is on their website http://eastwood.resultspage.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=steering+wheel They also have a tech article on how they did it.

 

Vinyl dip is hard to get a uniform thickness with.

Red Spot Paint has a soft touch paint that is used on hand held electronic products. It has a rubber feel to it.

 

J B WELD...only way to go...then prime and paint..over and done!!!!

 

jb weld, doing a wheel right now, works great. way cheaper than the eastwood kit too!

 

Send it to Pearlcraft!!!

 

J B Quick Weld is easy to work and you can get it at the auto store are the Ace.

 

I've always used PC-7 epoxy paste available at any home center. It shapes and sands at the same rate as the old Ford wheels that I've mostly worked with. You can build up missing areas and fill pretty wide cracks. Then the feathering and sanding makes an easy blend. Some epoxies are harder than the wheel and make sanding difficult but I haven't tried too many so I can't compare. It worked so well that I never saw a reason to try anything else. You can buy expensive kits with waxed mixing cups and pop-sicle sticks but I think I can do as well for a lot less money. JMO.

 

Ive restored a bunch of wheels with PC, may have used JB on a few.

 

JB weld, PC-7, Marine Tex, even that plumber epoxy will work to fix an old wheel.
The tough part comes when have to figure out if the amount of cracks in the wheel are worth fixing individually, or is it so bad you need to recast the whole wheel!
I thin at some point it's better to just plaster up the cracks, sand smooth, and make a mold of it. The break off all the old stuff, and do the whole thing. Smooth-On makes molding comound, and the right resins to do a whole wheel.
I'm hoping to do a re-pop of the old Chrysler "square" clear insert wheel this way...with Vic Collins' (resin model maker) help.

 

I used the A+B grey epoxy on a $15 39 banjo looks good havent painted or used it yet

 

just got back from a yard and couldnt help from noticing that the 100s of banjo wheels that i saw were all pretty rough. the wheels had turned soft and kinda wanted to scratch off easy. are they junk, or what would it take to cover them and make them solid?

 

on mine i sanded to top layer down lightly and it looked good underneath