>Dan and listers,
>I too am challenged with the shrunken steering wheel center hub. I am
>planning to use a product called Dura-Mix to fill the hub and then refinish
>it. If anyone has restored these wheels before with good success please fill
>us in on the appropriate products and techniques for both the wheel hub and
>the woood rim.
Dan, Tim, listers:
I used the ribbon type epoxy putty to repair my steering wheel hub. It has
held up for ten years.
The wood was a little more work. Mine was split across the front as well as
radially. I used a razor knife and cut the wood open the rest of the way
around the OD of the wheel. I was helped by the weakness of the original
glue that held the two halves together. I cleaned up the wire and the
inside of the wood cavity and then selected a long cure epoxy (4 hours) to
give me working time plus minimal shrinkage. I filled the cavity in one of
the wood halves, and put all the pieces together (The front half came apart
in two pieces from existing cracks) I then wound a heavy cotton string
around the entire wheel, one coil next to the other-like whipping the end
of a rope (or line for the sailors out there). This is where the working
time came in handy. It was a major mess, but after the string was unwrapped
and the excess epoxy was sanded off, it was very difficult to see any
evidence of repair. A few coats of poly urethane, and again tens years of
success.
Bob Melusky
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