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Thread: Steering Wheel Restoration
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15th Jul 2016, 12:30 PM #1Member
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Steering Wheel Restoration
Hi all
Ive been stumped on how to restore or just tidy up my steering wheel.,
Refer to my pic. Wheelmis 50 s vintage, European. Structural ok I guess. There are a few cracks and of course worn off paint. The material is some sort of tough stuff .. dont know what it is ...
Im thinking of filling the cracks with Epoxy then Sanding and the painting. If so have no idea what to use.
Randal
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15th Jul 2016, 01:05 PM #2
Yes that's what I do. Fill in the cracks and then sand it all down, use a auto acrylic paint of the appropriate colour ( rattle can is ok ) and do a few coats , rub it back with a fine wet and dry paper , then cutting compound . Repeat the painting and fine polishing if you need to , it will come out looking like a new one !
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16th Jul 2016, 08:35 AM #3Member
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Morrisman
Thanks for the tips. I have a structural epoxy I used for work. Or should I get some car bog, I'm thinking this might be a little more flexible.
Also a mate of mine suggested I open up the cracks more with a Stanley blade to get the bog in.
Randal
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16th Jul 2016, 03:37 PM #4
Stick (ha!) with the epoxy.
Polyester car bog is best left for... hang on, I'll get back to you on that when I think of something it's actually good for... (the only good point it has is that it is cheaper than epoxy if you are buying at Bunnings).
From the pics, it looks like some sort of cheap diecast/pot metal or possibly one of those weird 50's era plastics - in either case, opening up the cracks a little can't hurt adhesion - but some low surface energy plastics can be pretty much impossible to get anything to stick to, so if it is plastic, it could be difficult to get a good bond no matter what you do. But since it's painted, I'd be expecting diecast!
Other than that, standard car acrylics are good; if you want something that will really stand up to handling/sunlight/sweat, then you really can't go past 2 pack paints. Northane is something I discovered recently, and although the sticker shock is of Festool magnitude (approx $80/litre), it's as good as the very best automotive paints.
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16th Jul 2016, 08:37 PM #5
Hi Randal
Yes you can open up the cracks , I did that myself and it turned out to be a effective strategy . I used 2 part araldite to fill the cracks . I applied the paint in quite a lot of coats, a slow thick build up is better than a thin layer, this gives you plenty of meat for the sanding back. stage. Don't worry if the paint runs a but, you can sand it all out . It takes time and patience to get the result , but its worth it . Mike
Your wheel looks not to bad, I've seen some shockers far worse than yours that have been restored.
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16th Jul 2016, 11:52 PM #6Golden Member
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it looks like it might be Bakelite, if so, I think epoxy would be the way to go with Bakelite plastics, I did a quick search and got plenty of results for "repairing/painting Bakelite. Good luck
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18th Jul 2016, 08:06 AM #7Member
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Guys
Thanks for the info. Yep there are some good Utubes. Ill keep you posted.
Randal
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17th Sep 2016, 02:05 PM #8
On the matter of filling and stabilising ...... gentlemen, you need to become aquainted with marine epoxy ..... this stuff comes thin, runny and unfilled ..... it is specifcally designed to get into fine cracks and the like.
Mostly you then thicken it with an appropriate filler ..... filler can vary with your needs.
You can make anything from a penetrating, surface bonding, sealer undercoat right thru to a heavy paste bog out of this stuff ..... AND it is inert and impervious where bog is not.
These marine epoxies make the general commercial and retail epoxies look sad and you have much more control. They also bond better to a wider range of materials.
Auto bog is bassed on the same resin commonly used to make fibreglass .... that resin has a fairly narrow material compatability range and realy is not a particularly good adhesive.
There are some surface conformal coatings, bassed on this family of epoxies ..... clear coats, bar toppings, fake marble and pearlescents. These would make excelent steering wheel coatings.
of course the base resins can be coloured and have metalics and peraescents added.
For a steerinbg wheel top coat you need a UV stabilised resin.
cheersAny thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
Most powertools have sharp teeth.
People are made of meat.
Abrasives can be just as dangerous as a blade.....and 10 times more painfull.
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30th Aug 2021, 12:32 AM #9Senior Member
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- Mar 2011
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- Taree NSW
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steerig wheel restoration
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