I would like to restore my original steering wheel on the '56. has anyone had any luck filling in the cracks that are common to this wheel. thanks

 

Have a look at Earl's website, he talks about the process with pictures. http://www.clubfte.com/users/earl/. You can also do a search of this forum and come up with quite a few discussions on the topic. Bottom line is there are some great ways to restore your steering wheel with products from the local auto parts place.

Good luck!

 

Hi Edwin...the wheel on my 51 was badly cracked and even had a few large "chunks" of rubber missing in a couple of places. I used a dremel tool with a sharp pointed HS tool bit to grind the cracks into "Vs" all the way down to the metal. Clean everything up with a tac rag and good degreaser and then fill the cracks with a two part epoxy called PC-7 and sand and shape from there.

I'm not done with the wheel yet as I wanted the epoxy to have some time to set and see if it would separate or otherwise "mess up". I started back on the project yesterday after a two month pause and the epoxy has not cracked or pulled away at all. Once all the cracks (chunks in my case) are filled and shaped and the wheel is rough sanded you use glazing putty and etching primer to fill the minor imperfections that are left. After that is sanded continue to prime and sand (now using a typical sanding primer) - prime and sand - prime and sand - until it's ready for paint. I plan to use an epoxy based enamel used for appliances as it is very durable and has a high gloss. I'm very pleased with how this is working out and feel like it will make a very good, servicable repair. LOTS cheaper than buying a new steering wheel and you get to keep the original equipment.

Kits are available to do this from Eastwood Company as well as POR. Or....as I did you can just buy the epoxy locally and get the primer and degreaser from any good auto paint supply house. The hardest part is usually getting the old steering wheel to part company with the steering shaft. Buy a good puller and some Blaster and hope for the best!!!

Leaks

 

I used the kit from Eastwood and worked very well. I still need to work on it some more but filled in all the cracks and chunks that were missing. If in doupt try it then if you don't like it get a new one.

CWR

 

I used the Eastwood kit, too. Great results, except the paint chips off pretty easy even with careful prep and multiple thin coats. Of course, maybe banging on it to mandolin and hammer dulcimer music probably doesn't help... I'll try the suggestions above on the appliance paint and surface preps.

Matt and "Toulouse"

 

I'm not sure what stands up to serious bluegrass or mountain music but the epoxy based appliance paints are pretty tough. Give that a try but I'd live with chipped paint before I'd give up the music!!!