Whats the best way to restore a cracked steering wheel?

65Truck_Nut · Post by **65Truck_Nut** » December 25, 2006, 8:17 pm

I have tried jb weld and it looked good but is showing hair line cracks again. Then on another steering wheel i used quick steel on it but hav'nt road tested it yet. the quick steel sets up quick and hard and is a little harder to work(sanding by hand ) than jb. Just thought sombody might have a good answer. so I dont have to waste my time and it takes time and patients the way im doing it.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » December 25, 2006, 8:36 pm

eastwoods makes a kit, or you can do it with body filler.por-15 may have a kit too.

65Truck_Nut · Post by **65Truck_Nut** » December 25, 2006, 8:53 pm

body filler like bondo? I would have thought that it would crack from the flexing. COOL that would make it alot easier to work. How much does the eastwoods kit cost ? I would go power steering and get a grant steering wheel or something ,but i dont want to create more hoses and pumps to maintain thats what i love about these trucks ,is the simplicity of their design. Byron

Max · Post by **Max** » December 26, 2006, 8:07 am

The main ingredient in Eastwoods kit is PC-7 which you can buy at almost every hardware-type store. It's a 2-part putty-type epoxy paste (A & B side). You use a wax/grease remover first, mix and apply the paste to the cracks like you would bondo. After curing, sand it into shape, prime and paint.

I don't have the Eastwood kit, but had the PC-7 and tried it a year ago on an old steering wheel and it seemed to work well if you do it right.

DV65CustomCab · Post by **DV65CustomCab** » December 26, 2006, 8:41 am

PC-7 isn't much different than JB Weld, I'd bet.
I was going to try fixing mine, but after removing it and looking at how bad the cracks were and how severe they are in at the center hub I've elected to just buy the repro one. A lot of time fixing mine only to (likely) have it fail again isn't my idea of time well spent.

willy3486 · Post by **willy3486** » December 26, 2006, 11:51 am

I had a steering wheel that wasn't warped but had some pieces out. It even had some of the sides missing. I had a donor one that was warped but had those pieces intact. I cut what I needed out of the donor and then I removed some from the good wheel to fit the donor pieces. I did not cut any of the metal frame, be careful not to cut the metal. I used a dremmel mostly. Then to fill it in I used the short hair fiberglass filler type not the "bondo" pink type stuff. I made a "v" like groove where cracks and between the patched pieces. I did that to get a better grip. I then sanded after it all dried and smoothed out. Then primered and painted with the same paint as the truck. After about a year or two no cracks or splits. I saw a pro car restorer do this. Make sure if the fill in area goes all the way to the inside to put something like tape or cardboard to keep it from going past the the orginal area. I had a hard time sanding the inside where the horn button slides into. I was finally able to be able to get the horn button to snap into place.

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » December 26, 2006, 12:55 pm

I used the POR kit. Expensive, but totally complete. You don't even need to buy sandpaper. Worked great. My body man who painted my wheel said he couldn't have done better himself. High complement there.

Did it all with a garbage can between my knees while watching TV.