Steering wheel restoration

[oilnsteel]

Daan, it sounds like your wheel is hard rubber. The cellulosic plastic ones are translucent all the way thru, the hard rubber ones are opaque black and painted. Once you repaint
your wheel after filling the cracks, the dusting problem will go away.

[RadioRoy]

I have the steering wheel molds and core inventory. Plus the rubber and plastic molds.

Those rubber molds look like products of the old Metro Molded Rubber company. Is that so?

[studerex]

Those rubber molds look like products of the old Metro Molded Rubber company. Is that so?

All from Shrock. Hundreds of molds and patterns. Mostly 1923 to 1950. Added some new ones. 1929, 30, 31, 32 34,35, and 41 tail light lens.

[J_Cole]

I just had mine done. My mechanic filled the cracks with a special steering wheel epoxy and sanded it down before taking to a body shop to paint. He said he was nervous before trying it as he’d never done if before but it turned out fantastic. Easily my favorite part of the car. He said he spent about a day on it between filling the cracks letting it dry and then sanding it down. Well worth in my opinion to get rid of that ugly wrap.

i don’t have any pics with the wrap off but it had 4-5 cracks or more?

[57SilverHawk]

I have "rebuilt" several steering wheels using JB Weld epoxy (buy the big tubes). I just finished a 1958 Chevy Apache steering wheel that was down to the wire in places. I just layer the JBW on and using a business card, gently shape it as it dries. Let each layer set up before applying the second. I apply thick layers of JBW so that I have sufficient material with which to work. I start shaping the repaired areas once I have an excess of material. I use a $5 electric die grinder and a sanding drum from a Dremel kit to shape the dried JBW (a Dremel tool is too large and bulky). Once it is finished, I sand it lightly, primer it, and apply four to six coats of enamel, usually from a rattle can (matched colors from local Advance Auto). I have rebuilt steering wheels others have thrown away, and am yet to find one that can't be prepared. If you have cracks, just work the JBW into the crack. If you want, i can send you pictures of ones I have done. Here's one in a '57 T'Bird. It had about a 4" section missing at the top. They will last as long as the original did. I did this dash and the steering wheel while sitting watching old re-runs of Laramie. The only item I had to buy was the seat covers, which I also installed myself. Total cost, except for seats, was less than $25. After all, it is a hobby.