I'm considering having the steering wheel refurbished (stripped & recovered) in our '48 DeSoto rod. I'd like to keep the OEM wheel for reasons that would make sense to no one else. Our wheel has numerous cracks & missing pieces. I'm told the process is pricey. Any personal experiences out there?
There's a lot of people on here who've done it themselves.... You might hit the search function and see what you find! Or the tech archives?
Makes sense to me. Do it yourself. I believe the best stuff is the black two part epoxy with the white hardener. Devcon?? Patch it with the epoxy, prime and prep as you would for paint and spray it
Depending on how much is missing and or how cracked you could do it yourself. I have done a couple in the past with the two part epoxy, clean, apply, rough it in, detail and then paint it the color of choice. I had severall VW wheels done in calif. by Bob Koch, Koch's restorations, he restores all makes and does quality work and is reasonably priced.
I tried the search function first & could find no similar posts. Most of the cracks are deep & wide & I would seriously doubt they would hold up.
If it's made out of the normal black hard rubbery ****, then you should be able to fix it yourself. I like to Vee out the cracks and use the two-part epoxy in it, the kind you knead in your hands. It's easier to fill and form with that. Then sand it all out and repaint it. If it's made out of that stinky white ****, the kind that crumbles in your hands when you touch it, you'll either have to have it recast, or I did one in the past where I found another steering wheel of the same diameter, cut the outer ring off of it, and then cut the ring off of the wheel I was fixing (a '54 DeSoto wheel, oddly enough) Then I ground the donor ring down to where I had access to the inner metal ring, and welded my center into that ring. I had to fill it all back in where I did the welding, it took some time but turned out real nice.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=215724&highlight=translucent+steering http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=255551&highlight=restoring+steering+wheel http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62315&highlight=restoring+steering+wheel http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=494639&highlight=steering+wheel+repair http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=492878&highlight=steering+wheel+repair ...and there are links INSIDE those links.
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