I just finished writing a Tech Tip on repairing your steering wheel see attached
STEERING WHEEL REPAIR By Bob DePaola
The first thing you touch in your car is your steering wheel. The last thing you touch when you exit your car is the steering wheel. Your grab it, you hold it tight in your hands. You tap it, hit it, squeeze it, even love it. When you get in your car the steering wheel becomes an extension of you. You are in contact with your car. You are in control.
Your steering wheel gets a lot of use. It gets sun baked, dirty and it cracks. That’s when it needs repair.
Of course you can try and find a reproduction steering wheel, but in some cases they are nonexistent. For example, the 1955 Thunderbird. The best, most supply companies can offer is a used or repaired one. A replacement 1956-57 will run you about $350.00 and you can get it in most colors. However in most cases you can do it yourself with a little time and a few products that are sold today. The cost of the repair for me was under $45.00.
Now I realize most supply houses sell an epoxy two
part system for repair, they are good, but I have read several comments on line on how after time they cracked again. What I found is, because of the two
part epoxy paste doesn’t really get down into the bottom of the cracks leaving air pockets.
Steering wheels in the 50’s were made mostly of a variety of Bakelite called Catalin. It was a popular type plastic as it was all but transparent and could be pigmented in any color. This type plastic was cast around a steel frame. What I used was a product called Plastifix by Polyvance. It is easy to use and flows easily. The set cost me $39.95. Before I go any further I have to tell you after I had completed my repairs, I happened to accompany my wife to her local nail salon. As I watched my wife getting what they call a fill. I realized they were using the same stuff as I did. They used acrylic nail repair. You can purchase the complete kit of acrylic liquid 120 ml, 3 jars of powder, pen, and dipping dish. For under $18.00 and you get three times as much.
OK now back to repairing. First thing you need to do is remove the steering wheel from the column and remove all chrome and plastic
parts. If you are not in possession of a high speed rotary drill and a cut-off wheel, get one. It will make fast work of all the cracks. I used a Dremel but any other brand will do just fine. I used the #426 fiberglass cutoff wheels to V (bevel) the cracks and a V shaped High Speed Steel (HSS) grinding tip. It’s easy to use and the chips flow for faster stock removal with little or no clogging. You can purchase a verity 20 piece bit set for under $10.00 Once you have cleaned out all the cracks, use a citrus-based cleaner to get the wheel as clean as possible. I then followed that up with a wipe down of lacquer thinner. Be sure to use rubber gloves when dealing with these harsh chemicals. Like any job the foundation must be firm. Even here, where you are going to paint the finished wheel it must be super clean. I used an air hose to blow away any dust or debris left on the wheel.
I used aluminum tape to hold broken plastic
parts together while I did the plastic welding. I wrapped it half way around the wheel to create a well for the real bad cracks I had. Following the instruction with the Pastifix, I applied small amounts in each crack and allowed it to flow into the crevices. The working time is 3-4 minutes and fully hard in 15 minutes.
Once I had one side done I removed the tape and repeated the process on the other side to make sure I had all the crevices filled completely. Now it's time to start sanding. This is the most time-consuming
part. Using finer and finer grit sandpaper, I sanded, and sanded it as smooth as possible. If I found any low spots while sanding, I filled them now before I forgot where they were. There's almost no waste when using the needle dropper method.
After the initial cleaning, I went over the whole wheel with 320 grit paper to give the primer a base to stick to. It’s a good idea to hit this with a precleaner as well. To get the steering wheel ready for primer. I taping off what I didn't want to get painted. Even though I thought I had this steering wheel really smooth, the primer helped me to see the imperfections. I cleaned the steering wheel with a Super Prep. Plastic Cleaner spray for paint.
Once everything was sanded, I cleaned the steering wheel with Super Prep Plastic Cleaner again and applied Plastic Magic Adhesion Promoter to get it ready for the sealer. I use Polyvance’s All Seasons Waterborne Sealer and sprayed the entire steering wheel. I filled in any remaining scratches and pin holes with spot putty and sand them smooth.
I used Imron 5000 paint which is a polyurethane enamel used on heavy-duty trucks, bus and trains. I mixed the smallest amount possible in my pint mixing cup. I applied the paint using a touch-up gun since the surfaces needing paint was so narrow. I allowed the paint to cure for about 24 hours before removing the masking tape.
