restoring stock steering wheel

[kaisermusic]

hey, what type of paint should i use to restore my stock 60's steering wheel?

im tired of that black crap rubbing off on my hands anytime its humid or wet....

 

[1975SPORT]

this is a question and a suggestion at the same time??? But cant you powder coat plastics as well...you might look into it I personally think that would give you the best finish if its possible...may sound dumb but dont they powder coat motorcycle plastic and stuff?

 

[Pokey71]

hahah yes the black is a B**CH

i wrapped my steering wheel with a golf club wrap. works great but now im getting a new one next week

 

[kaisermusic]

I'm sure powder coating would really be out of my budget. any other suggestions? I don't want to wrap the wheel, cause I know I would just end up tearing it up.

I'm thinking regular spray paint is not exactly what I want to be using?

 

[Carl]

I dont think you can powder coat plastic. I thought it had to be metal, because the powder is electrically charged and the metal conducts electricity. Or something like that. Check with Eastwood, I think I have seen steering wheel restoration kits in their catalog.

 

[BroncoMarc]

I put a steering wheel cover on mine back in '99 and it's still in good shape. It's the perforated leather kind with the vinyl sting that wraps around it. The only problem I've had is with the vinyl string getting loose, but it could be tied in better. I put it on because I was tired of having a black line across my leg all day at work.

 

[kaisermusic]

im thinking of using some rustoleum spray paint laquer in gloss black and applying 4 coats.

any reason this would not work?

 

[Carl]

Here it is. It says it is for interior plastic and vinyl.
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=14623&itemType=PRODUCT

 

[03COBRA]

http://www.krylon.com/main/product_...lid=10&productid=1751&content=product_details


Maybe this stuff will work better then standard spray paint.

 

[Heus33]

You could always just buy a new one from this great guy I know... <cough> <cough>.. ahem...

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZhlpbroncosQQhtZ-1

 

[kaisermusic]

i talked with some car guys i know, and they recommended using a quick dry lacquer spray. i am gonna go with 4 coats and fill in all the cracks with some epoxy.

if there is interest, i can make a tech article out of this, complete with pics?

 

[Broncitis]

Powder coat is actually pretty cheap to have done, but is NOT what I'd use on a steering wheel (It won't work on that plastic anyway most likely).

My dad restored one of his wheels and shot it in mutiple coats of laquer. We also had a couple professionily resored by a guy who does nothing but old steering wheel restorations. He also uses multiple coats of laquer.

Ours turned out OK for the first time, but Gary did an incredible job! He is not cheap though. I think it cost over $300 for him to do each one.

We have one of them available if anyone wants a true show quality wheel.

 

[cbford]

I used laquer thinner and scotch-bright pad to clean the old coating off mine, filled the cracks with plastic epoxy, sprayed it 2 coats with Rust-Oleum plastic primer, then painted it satin black and clear coated it. Then I polished the horn ring the chrome polish and it looks like new.