60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

[William B.]

My 60 steering wheel is in rough condition. I previousely had a 59 wheel recast and finished perfectly but always lost points, Too Nice/no grain,
This a restored fuelly getting ready for judging, are the repo wheels good or should I again have my origional wheel redone?

[John H.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

My 60 steering wheel is in rough condition. I previousely had a 59 wheel recast and finished perfectly but always lost points, Too Nice/no grain,
This a restored fuelly getting ready for judging, are the repo wheels good or should I again have my origional wheel redone?

William -

I'd have it redone by someone who ONLY does C1 steering wheels, with correct color and graining; talk to Richard Dunham, (517) 339-8225.

[William B.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

John, Thank you I will call Richard.
When c-1 wheels are restored do they epoxy the cracks and repaint or do the restorers remove all plastic material, reweld spokes and then recast the plastic wheel cover over the steel rim?

[Bruce B.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

William,
Repairs are usually done by grinding open the cracks and using a special epoxy to repair. Then they are painted and textured or textured and then painted depending on the process.
I have found that repaired steering wheels have a tendency to crack if you drive the car.
I previously sold reproduction steering wheels and they generally judge pretty well with a small point deduction.
Bruce B

[Don H.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

William, I can't comment on how repros judge but I have not had much success with repair. As Bruce said, they have tended to crack but I drive my cars. Good luck, Don H.

[William B.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

Thank you everyone for you coments.
I want to have a wheel recast so it doesn't crack again. Is there any one who repairs C1 wheels that recasts the complete wheel?
I tend to agree any repaired wheel eventually will crack again somewhere because the origional casting plastic is old and brittle.
So my choices are; buy a repo(loose minimal points), have a wheel repaired(no point loss, but may break again) or find someone who will recast my wheel?
I like my last choice if it can be done? Can anyone help with suggestions?

[Bruce B.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

There is no one who will recast a steering wheel on to the old spokes and ring.
The manufacturer of the repro wheels which I sold was overseas and I asked if they could take an original wheel skeleton and use it to make a new wheel. I was told no, the logistics of getting it done would prohibit it.
In reality, the repro wheels are so good there was no reason to even try it.
As a small vendor I sold many of the repro wheels (150+) and had very few complaints.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

I have been to Richards house, seen his materials and his processes and personally viewed his work at all stages of repair. He has rarely had a wheel crack after repair, but if you are hesitant just give him a call. He would be happy to discuss your wheel with you. I compared NOS to repro to one of his, and it is tough to tell Richard's from NOS.

[Doug F.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

back in the day there was a place called backwards unlimited in poulsbo wa, that recast several 57 wheels for me, no texture, but they were beautiful and never recracked, i had a few judged and always lost o few points, but it was better than a repo, don't know if he is still around, the last info i had was , jim ellis, 360 697 1471,

[Robert K.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

Reverse lookup says it is still his phone number.

[Rex M.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

William,

For what it is worth. I had Richard Dunham redo my fawn beige wheel for my '61 about 5 years ago. I went to him because I was told that he was the man. He had my wheel for A YEAR. When I got it back, it looked very nice, but was THE WRONG COLOR. He had painted it the same metallic fawn beige that the dash is painted. The steering wheels in cars this color were a non metallic beige. There was plenty of original plastic on my whell if he needed to know the color. With shipping, I have $465.00 in the wheel. I called Richard and explained the color issue. He said that he would redo it. I probably should have sent it back to him, but I opted to use it on my "driver" car. It has been carefully packed and stored since then. I just got it out about 3 weeks ago to use on my '62. The wheel developed 3 or 4 fine cracks while being stored. Richard will also caution you to not use the wheel to pull yourself into the car to avoid cracking it. I believe that there are very good repos out there now for about $300.00 that weren't available 5 years ago. For my judged car, I am planning to by a repo. Just my opinion, based on my experience.

[William B.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

I too have seen beautifull wheels done by different vendors. But if you repair cracks, then that is what it is a repaired wheel with new plastic mixing with the 50 year old plastic. If you use it for a trailered car you may be ok, but even with limited driving it will crack again, that is why most venders give only a 1 year warranty.
I believe the only way is to strip the wheel, check the welds/reweld and recast the wheel with the newer quality plastics.
I am still looking for someone to recast mine.

[Dick W.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

After repairing several C-1 wheels at our shop, I decided it was way more cost effective to have Richard do the wheels. I have not experience any problems with his work and would feel good about recommenting his work to anyone.

[Richard B.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

Here's another endorsement for Richard's work.

Richard Brodeur
NCRS #4779

[Peter K.]

Re: 60 Steering wheel/ repair or buy repo,

I have used Gary's Steering Wheel Restoration for my 54 and my 60. Great results both times. His contact phone is 717-243-5646. Good Luck!