RE: [Chrysler300] recasting a steering wheel

[Ray Melton <rfmelton@xxxxxxx>]

Yeah, but OMG!  It cost what, $1,500?   I don’t begrudge those high-end artists for their consummate skill and the money they get for it,  but many of us don’t have the resources to devote such $$$$! to that singular item among all the other competing demands of restoration. 

 

I am currently restoring the typically cracked steering wheel from my late father’s 1957 300C, but I will NOT be re-casting the entire wheel (only the light-colored part was cracked) – I will be using modern high-quality Lord Fusor urethane resins, cleaners, primers and paints (as recommended by others intimately involved in the business of restoring urethane parts) to “putty”  up the cracks, then sand to correct finger-groove contour, coat with the special recommended primer,  then go for probably two coats of ivory-beige color, followed by several coats of urethane clear coat.   No, it will not be a complete re-cast of the whole wheel (the lower black part was essentially perfect), and it will not be done in one evening (but I can work long hours on the cheap for myself, and have only myself to complain about if I‘m dissatisfied!  And I can re-do and re-do until I am satisfied or go insane!)    I will be doing  all the work of grinding out and enlarging the cracks with my Dremel tool, mixing the dozens and dozens of small, two-minute pot-life batches of urethane resin to putty into each individual crack; then, when all are filled and hardened, re-contouring the finger-grooves by hand and sanding to final contour and smoothness.  I will leave the final priming, color-painting and clear-coating to the expert at my local body shop, who has agreed to complete that part of the job for $75.00.  I expect to have less than $200 invested in the entire job (all the materials are in hand for less than $90.00) – but will spend a bit on different grades of sandpaper, in addition to a few bucks for several new bits for the Dremel to clean out all the hundreds of cracks. 

 

I am taking pictures along the way, and when finished, I will post the exact part numbers, sources and costs for each of the ingredients needed, as well as incremental progress photos along the way.   No, I won’t have an absolutely gorgeous $1,500 totally re-cast steering wheel, but I expect to have a really great-looking wheel for a very modest investment (not counting my own labor with a dozen hours grinding, sanding, cleaning and re-contouring along the way!)  And I will want it to withstand scrutiny from barely 25.4mm away!     At least, I think it will be worth the investment for those of us who can’t afford the total mega-buck re-cast, and can take some satisfaction in doing some of the simple handiwork on our own cars along the way.

 

And of course, if my own job comes out crummy, you can bet you’ll never hear about it again!

 

Ray Melton  

1957 Chrysler 300C convertible

White/Gauguin

S/N 3N572517    

 

From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steve Simon
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 10:48 PM
To: Rich Barber
Cc: Leona Aumann; <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] recasting a steering wheel for a 1961 300g can someone tell me of a good place to have this done.

 

  

I had Dennis restore my G steering wheel and it came out great. 

Thanks,
Steve Simon 
Sent from my iPad

On Nov 21, 2012, at 7:31 PM, "Rich Barber" <c300@xxxxxxx <mailto:c300%40ez2.net> > wrote:

> Dennis Crook is highly regarded. I have no personal experience with him.
> http://www.qualityrestorations.com/ Click on Chrysler.
> 
> You can do a Google search on "steering wheel restoration" for other shops
> and a number of presentations on do-it-yourself kits. Good luck, whichever
> way you go.
> 
> Rich Barber
> 
> Brentwood, CA
> 
> 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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