[indiantony]

Has anyone tried restoring their steering wheel themselves using a kit from Eastwood?
Thanks
Tony

[vin63]

I've done a few steering wheel diameter reduction and restorations for other vehicles. I always use the PC-7 two-part epoxy that sets up to nearly the same hardness as the original plastic. I recently did the steering wheel diameter reduction and restoration for my Pontiac powered '63 C10 shop truck.


After welding the hub spokes to the outer ring, this is the first application of epoxy:


A couple more applications of PC-7 epoxy and about 50 hours of sanding and shaping (there were a lot of cracks in the hub), here is the steering wheel prior to prepping for paint:


Paint and assembled:

[Stuart]

I bought the kit from Eastwood to use on my '66 F-100 pickup, but it's basically a can of PC-7 epoxy, a plastic tub and stirring sticks, and some instructions. You can just go to your local Ace hardware and buy the PC-7 directly.

Having said that, the PC-7 is good stuff. Use a hacksaw blade or file to clean out the cracks. This provides room for the epoxy, gives the plastic some 'tooth' for the epoxy to grip to, and just generally cleans out debris and dirt. After applying the epoxy and letting it dry, use a combination of sanding blocks, rasps and files, and riffler files to smooth out the surface and blend it into the correct shape.

Just like when using body filler on a fender, you can do some initial shaping before it completely cures and is still soft, but be careful that you don't take off too much when doing this.

Also, just like doing bodywork, the final finish will all depend on how good your work is. Don't leave any scratches, waves, or file/sand marks behind when it's time to paint.

PC-7 does have pretty much the same expansion/contraction qualities of the original plastic. I did my steering wheel nearly 20 years ago, and it still looks great.

[TempestFugit]

How well does the paint hold-up with use?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by TempestFugit

How well does the paint hold-up with use?

The wheel in my pickup has been fine, but it's going to depend on the quality of the paint and how well it's applied. Mine was done with the same paint used on the body (Deltron basecoat/clearcoat) so it's pretty tough. I imagine eventually it could wear eventually, given enough time and use.

[vin63]

On a couple of my older steering wheel restorations, I wore through some of the clear after about 5-6 years of weekly to daily driving (the wear was mainly from my wedding ring), so I scuffed them down and re-cleared them.