Steering Wheel Restoration

[phantom309]

As we all know the steering wheels on old cars and trucks will eventually develop cracks.

I just thought I'd do a post for the benefit of someone that might be thinking about restoring their steering wheel.

It's a bit of a job but if you can handle basic body work you can restore a steering wheel. I'm sure there's lots of great info on the web that will suggest various styles of epoxies etc. but you can get great, long lasting results using regular auto body supplies.

The most important thing you have to do is to use a Dremel grinder or a die grinder and grind out all the cracks. This will of course make the wheel look worse than ever but it's really important because the filler won't stick worth a darn if you just try to force it into the crack.

For best results you shouldn't ignore the small cracks, they too should get ground out.

Here's the wheel after the cracks are ground out.

Now you're ready to fill the cracks. I should mention that it's important to wipe all traces of grease and oil off the wheel. It has to be absolutely clean in order for the paint and filler to stick.

I used to use a two part epoxy to fill the cracks but regular short or medium strand re-enforced body filler seems to work just fine. I use that to fill the bulk of the crack then just use regular filler to smooth off the last bit.

It'll take a few coats to get everything smooth but it's just like doing body work.

Then you just lightly sand the entire wheel and apply a coat of primer and then paint.

I've always used fairly good quality urethane paints (two part, paint with hardener) and the cracks have never come back even after several years. These good quality automotive paints are also pretty tough, they won't wear off anytime soon. I'm sure regular spray paint would work but it won't last nearly as long.

I have a pole stand that I put the wheel on for painting. It's a little tricky to paint them without getting runs so it's best to use light coats.

If you want you can probably get any body shop to do the actual painting.

I should point out that I'm certainly no expert but that's good because if I can do it you can.

Here's a picture of the finished wheel.