ausmini :: View topic - Painting original steering wheel

If it's the older type of wheel, they are very "crumbly".
If it were me I would wash it down in epoxy thinners. Then soak or apply liberal coats of thinned out epoxy resin.
This should soak in and bind the surface. This will take a day or three to fully harden. You can speed it up by putting it in the oven at low temp for an hour...bit risky as it's easy to forget and a horrible stink will fill your house.
After which you would carefully sand and maybe coat again with epoxy.
And then paint/finish as you desire.
I haven't done it yet but I have one waiting for attention.
Depending on the look you are after, consider going for a lustre rather then a hard gloss finish to give it an "aged" look.

Author:	phillb [ Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:58 am ]
Post subject:	Painting original steering wheel
I have spoken to a number of people who have restored original steering wheels using 2pak. A mate is having some steel wheels painted black so maybe I can get my steering wheel done at the same time. My wheel is in reasonable condition except where the original "coating" has worn away. What sort of prep do I need to do beforehand? Sanding? Primer? Thanks in advance

Author:	MG Rocket [ Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:39 am ]
Post subject:
If it's the older type of wheel, they are very "crumbly". If it were me I would wash it down in epoxy thinners. Then soak or apply liberal coats of thinned out epoxy resin. This should soak in and bind the surface. This will take a day or three to fully harden. You can speed it up by putting it in the oven at low temp for an hour...bit risky as it's easy to forget and a horrible stink will fill your house. After which you would carefully sand and maybe coat again with epoxy. And then paint/finish as you desire. I haven't done it yet but I have one waiting for attention. Depending on the look you are after, consider going for a lustre rather then a hard gloss finish to give it an "aged" look.

Author:	willy [ Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:17 pm ]
Post subject:
I removed my old (bakelite?) steering wheel on the Moke, and had it powdercoated white. Came up really really well - I did get them to sandblast it first though. Filled in all the old gouges from the rim itself, but it still has the typical horrid cracks around the centre

Author:	68Rusty [ Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:23 pm ]
Post subject:
Flute's how to http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=51326

Author:	GT mowog [ Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:07 pm ]
Post subject:
willy wrote: Filled in all the old gouges from the rim itself, but it still has the typical horrid cracks around the centre willy, do you mean that the Powder Coat filled in the cracks or did you fill them before Powder Coating? I have a wheel that someone else restored (looks a million bucks) and they did finish it with 2 pak. I don't know if they didn't do it right or just the way it is but after an hour or so of driving, the wheel starts to feel a little tacky.

ausmini https://www.ausmini.com/forums/

Painting original steering wheel https://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=69538	Page 1 of 1

Author:	phillb [ Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:34 am ]
Post subject:
MG Rocket wrote: If it's the older type of wheel, they are very "crumbly". If it were me I would wash it down in epoxy thinners. Then soak or apply liberal coats of thinned out epoxy resin. This should soak in and bind the surface. This will take a day or three to fully harden. You can speed it up by putting it in the oven at low temp for an hour...bit risky as it's easy to forget and a horrible stink will fill your house. After which you would carefully sand and maybe coat again with epoxy. And then paint/finish as you desire. I haven't done it yet but I have one waiting for attention. Depending on the look you are after, consider going for a lustre rather then a hard gloss finish to give it an "aged" look. Thanks MGRocket, mine is not really crumbly. Most of the surface is OK except where the original coating is worn away where the spokes meet the rim. Your idea sounds good but I'm a little hesitant to try somthing that hasn't been tried before. Thanks also 68Rusty. I have seen Flutes thread but he uses arcylic rather than 2pak at the end although the primer he uses looks to be suitable for 2 pack also so maybe that could be the way to go. Any other suggestions??

Author:	willy [ Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:38 pm ]
Post subject:
I meant that the powdercoating made its way into the cracks. In an ideal world I would have filled these before powdercoating - but it was a last minute decision that was sandblasted and powdercoated at no cost, so I couldn't complain

Author:	68AUTO [ Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:28 pm ]
Post subject:
I am going to be doing the same thing. At Sydney recently I saw a wheel that was restored and painted in 2pac... and it looked awesome. The owners had told me that it felt great when driving too. As I have 2 steering wheels to do I purchased the POR 15 Steering Wheel Restoration Kit ($150). It has everything you need to prep the wheel. I then will get the local painter to paint them in a nice 2pac black. Here's the link to the POR kit. http://www.por15.com/WHEEL-RESTORATION- ... tinfo/WPK/ They also have info on how to do it - which may also help you.

Author:	GT mowog [ Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:39 am ]
Post subject:
willy wrote: I meant that the powdercoating made its way into the cracks. In an ideal world I would have filled these before powdercoating - but it was a last minute decision that was sandblasted and powdercoated at no cost, so I couldn't complain What to complain about? Thanks

Author:	Flute [ Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:51 pm ]
Post subject:
and I found some minor cracking has appeared over time to the clear coat so not sure about it.

Page 1 of 1	All times are UTC + 10 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/