64 Sport Wheel Restoration Service
 

I am looking to have my 64 Sport Wheel restored back to its glory.
Wheel is actually in decent shape but has one crack in the rim.
Any recommendations for a quality restoration shop?

Thanks in advance
Larry

I was very pleased with Mike's. http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=822945

If there's only one crack, why not do it yourself. I've had good success using 3M 8115 epoxy to fill and bond the cracks after cleanup with a file or sandpaper. You can dye the final layer to match the color of the wheel. I've done several '64 wood wheels as described with decent results. One had cracks 1/8" wide.

It would be helpful if we had a method of restoring the woodgrain texture. Most of the '65 and newer "wood wheels" are completely smooth with no texture and don't look at all like wood. Any ideas?

64 Sport Wheel Restoration
 

I appreciate all responses! and have reached out to Mikes for a cost estimate.

Dick I appreciate your response, I thought about tackling this as well as the rest of the car but with the long laundry list I have in this project I have tried to leave some aspects of the restoration in the hands of Subject Matter Experts like yourself.
Hence the reason I had you build the Tri Power Setup for me, this allows me to stay focused on the larger pieces of the project such as Body, Chassis, Interior and Drive train.
If I continue to get quotes @ $999.00 however I will have no choice to restore this one myself.

By the way this wheel has the one crack that has seperated about 1/8 inch opening as well. What did you dye the final layer of epoxy with in your restoration process?

I restored one recently and had mixed results restoring the wood grain. The method was emailed to me in a PDF file of an old article, probably from the '70s.
Mine turned out nice and looks like wood to most anyone...but it does not look like an original Pontiac simulated wood wheel because of the difference in 'grain'. Just looks like a wood wheel. I'm pretty happy with it. I have re-done it once again since this photo. Used a slightly lighter stain and slightly more gloss.
I can email the method to you if you want it. Just send me a pm as a reminder.
Before and After:
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1548484133
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1548483863

Dick

Some time ago Chris at Performance Years offered a recasting of the '65,'66 and '67 custom sport steering wheels that not only had the wood grain but also faux dove tails. I had several recast at that time. The cost was about $300. He published a newsletter years ago and wrote about the process. If I recall correctly he made the molds from NOS wheels and was able to pickup the details from the originals. The turn around time was lengthy as he sent the wheels out to an individual who did them on the side. I don't believe he still offers this service but it would be interesting to find out if he still has the molds.

A friend of mine is a woodworker. He loaned me his stash of dyes for wood stains. I mixed the dyes with the final epoxy (8115) layer until the color was close to the wheel color.

This is my steering wheel that I had restored back in 2014 by Gary’s Steering Wheel Restoration. I met him at a Spring swap meet at Carlisle Pa and he restored my boat steering wheel about 15 years ago and it looks like the day I picked it up. Admittedly both wheels live a good life and stay indoors when not in use. I told him how I wanted it to look and this is how it turned out, may not be for everyone but I like it

Ahhhhhh, the good old days. Chris had a great job done on them. Anybody remember that guy "restoring" them at night in his hotel room at the GTOAA nationals in Wichita or St. Louis, don't remember which?

It kills me that you can get these wood wheels doe for cheaper than you can get a stock regular wheel done. The cheapest I have found for a 64 standard Tempest steering wheel is 610 dollars

The cheapest I have found for a 64 standard Tempest steering wheel is 610 dollars

Have you contacted Jamie at Koch's? 661-268-1341

I had mike do a 64 wood grain for me about 3 years ago.
( http://www.steeringwheelsbymike.com/ )
Web site says he has done over 1000 restoration for any wheel that is wood grain.
His process is to remove the factory pattern and fix cracks and then put his version of wood grain on the wheel.
I only wanted a crack filled with the matching color and do not touch the factory finish. He can not match the 64 grain with his process. Eventually I talked him into "fill the crack and make it match" He finally agreed and did the job. Came out with matching color and crack hidden. As good as could be expected. Still charge the same $300. that he charges for a total wood grain job. His work is great unless you want it to look like the 64 only wheel.
Next time I will do as Dick B. stated.