I had this tan steering wheel laying around in my basement for years, so I decided to try my hand at restoring it. I actually started this project last summer, but life sort of got in the way and I only now just finished the wheel. This wheel originally had 6 deep cracks in it, 5 going all the way down to the steel core. I ordered some PC-7 Epoxy from Eastwood to fill the cracks with. First thing I did was bevel out the cracks in a V shape down to the steel core with a cutting disk on my handy dandy Dremel. Once all the cracks were beveled out, I mixed the epoxy and filled the cracks, making sure not to have any air bubbles in the epoxy. I let the epoxy dry for about a week and then started filing and sanding. This is the most time consuming part of this project. The hardest parts to sand were the finger grips and the groove that goes all the way around the wheel. I used a stone grinding stone on the dremel to rough out the finger grips and a miniture file to put the groove back in the hardened epoxy. All the sanding alone took about a week to do, most of it by hand with 180 grit sandpaper, 320 grit and finally 600 grit wetsandpaper. There were a few pits in the epoxy so I had to smooth a thin swipe of exopy over them and sand the repaired areas again. At this point the wheel was wetsanded with 600 wetsand paper and it was ready for paint. That was 5 months ago. Today I finished the wheel. I sprayed the wheel with SEM Plastic Prep, and then SEM Adhesion Promoter. I should have sprayed the wheel with a flexible high fill primer, but since I have no intention of using the wheel, I skipped this step. Then the wheel was sprayed with Tan SEM Plastic and Vinyl dye. The wheel actually came out looking pretty darn good if I don't say so myself. I'm happy enough with this wheel that I will now tackle the red steering wheel in our other Maverick. If I get good enough at this I just might consider going into the steering wheel restoration buisness. Here are some pics of the wheel after the repairs were made and before it was painted. The finished pics will follow this thread.
And now the finished wheel. The flash from my camera makes the wheel look a lot lighter than it really is. My plan is to let the wheel sit for a few days and then polish it to put some gloss on it.
Nice work Jean!! I have done a few steering wheels myself and was just this afternoon looking at a wheel I gotta do. Precision filing and sanding is the key for a good outcome. Dan
Thanks guys. I seen so many cracked steering wheels over the years that I thought it would be better to try to fix them than just junk them. I do have a question for you, Dan. Since you have done this before, did you prime the wheels before painting them and if so, what kind of primer did you use? Also, did the paint or dye ever wear off over time? I would really like to restore more of the Maverick steering wheels, but I want to do them right and be sure that they will hold up for many years.
That is awesome job!!!! I guess you could do it any clolor they have in dye? Jean, how long do you think the dye will hold up in a driver?
You must have been bored. I would have just gotten a good steering wheel for the car. Nice work though...
Jean, I've never done one but always thought that if I did, I would try clearcoating it to keep from wearing into the color. I wonder if the dye would hold up to clearcoating.
That is a good question. Iv'e never done this before so be honest I really don't know. This was my test wheel to learn on. I do believe that I will need to clearcoat the wheel to insure that the dye does not eventually wear off. What I need to find out is what kind of clearcoat should be used on something like a steering wheel.
Jean, I have used interior dyes and once cured I used adhesion promotor to add clear coat. I have never left one just plain dye. I get interior dye mixed at my local dupont dealer. I have also used regular basecoat/clearcoat on wheels. Yes I do use primer, usually duplicolor primers, I always seal them prior to topcoating, basically I just treat a steering wheel like the outside of a car. In fact I use bondo to fill the bad areas. Dan
Get good at it and there is much money to be made ... http://www.therimblowbuddy.com/page/page/458615.htm
nice job Jean i would think if you can use bondo and primer, then you can use any paint then clearcoat. ...Jeans' friend Frank...
