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Post by mongoose on Apr 17, 2011 11:35:53 GMT -5
Here is my original steering wheel and components that were subject to 21 years of Texas sun (I think the car spent most of it's life parked outside), and an additional 24 years stored in various attics. Shane identified the missing cap retaining plate, and is kindly sending me a gently used version. I'm going to send the wheel to Koch's for a recast, and attempt to restore the rest of the parts on my own. Of course any tips on restoring the horn button inserts and center caps will be greatly appreciated. What finish should be used for the black ring painted on the inner trim dome? Flat, semi-gloss, or gloss? I've ordered all the inner workings for the column (discussed in a different thread), and expect them to show up this week. I'll add more pix as I make progress.
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Post by RAM Z on Apr 17, 2011 12:01:29 GMT -5
0000 steel wool on the center bar with some chrome polish will clean it up. Yours looks like its not pitted and will clean up nicely. 3M makes a plastic polish that Ive used on tail light lens and will work on the horn cap. Just dont get close to the painted rocket, dont want to mess that up. I guess the outer ring on the stainless dome was flat. Ive never had to repaint that piece.
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Post by mongoose on Apr 17, 2011 13:23:07 GMT -5
Gave the pieces a good washing. That alone made a big difference. The center cap looks pretty good... other than a few scratches on the underneath side (must have happened during it's 24 years of storage). I'll try RAMZ's suggestion on the 3M plastic polish (O'Reilly's/NAPA?) to see if the scratches will go away. But the rest of the clear cap appears to not have yellowed or frosted. Now look at these close ups of the horn bar. After the washing, they still had a blotchy film. I ran them against a cotton buffer in my bench grinder with some "white stick" polish applied to the buffer. The shine looks pretty good... but as you can see there is still some pitting. I'd consider dropping the piece off at the local plater to have the pot metal piece re-chromed, but as you can see in the photo, the finish of the chrome appears that originally the surface was treated to a brushed finished. Is that the case? If so, I'm not sure that the shop would do a good job recreating that. What have you guys done? I just hate to put an 85% piece into a 100% recast Koch wheel.
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Post by mongoose on Apr 17, 2011 13:51:12 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 10:46:20 GMT -5
Has anybody tried the Eastwood's steering wheel restoration kit?
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Post by RAM Z on Apr 20, 2011 12:06:13 GMT -5
Thats the worst wheel Ive ever seen! As far as the horn items, keep a look out on ebay. I fellow had a center bar that looked pretty good, and it was a west coast piece. I dont think it sold. Getting western chrome pieces is always your best bet.
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Post by Big Mike on Apr 20, 2011 12:30:29 GMT -5
That's what the wheel looked like that I gave to Ralph that Jeff sent to Koch's
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Post by dolzinnig on Apr 20, 2011 13:38:46 GMT -5
Thats the worst wheel Ive ever seen! Really? I better take a picture of a couple that I have just for fun!
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Post by stan65cutlass on Apr 20, 2011 13:50:42 GMT -5
i have one that color too
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 14:06:04 GMT -5
Try Henry in Austin. 512-272-4114. I'm buying a radiator support and some other 64 parts.
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Post by RAM Z on Apr 20, 2011 15:51:29 GMT -5
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Post by mongoose on Jun 3, 2011 10:06:51 GMT -5
Got the recast wheel back from Koch's! Fantastic... simply fantastic. Here are some comparison pictures... Before After Before After Before After Before After The steering column has been refurbished too, so the assembly is ready to be put back in the car. Maybe I'll get to it this weekend.
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Post by 442scotty on Jun 3, 2011 10:28:08 GMT -5
They do nice work! Too bad they cant do the wood ones...
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Post by stan65cutlass on Jun 3, 2011 23:43:00 GMT -5
nice work, they recast the whole wheel?
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Post by mongoose on Jun 4, 2011 6:06:10 GMT -5
Yep.... they strip all of the plastic/epoxy/whatever it is from the wheel, leaving only the metal sub-frame. That is placed into a mold, and the new material is poured in, colored to your specification. They asked me to send a spray out card in the color I wanted to make sure they created an exact match. Seemed odd they weren't comfortable with working with the color code, but their point was that my painter could be using a formula slightly off when painting the column, so I obliged. Matches the color of the restored steering column perfectly.
They also asked if I wanted the 4 chrome trim rings re-plated, as they noticed that those had signs of pitting and corrosion. That was of course a "yes".
BTW... I also picked up that center horn bar from the link RAMZ provided. Pretty nice piece... not perfect... but a good quality unrestored California piece.
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Post by RAM Z on Jun 4, 2011 7:28:49 GMT -5
Looks awesome.
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Post by stan65cutlass on Jun 4, 2011 12:44:56 GMT -5
cool, thats alot of work hence the $$$$$$$$$
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Post by 64b09 on Jun 4, 2011 23:21:28 GMT -5
That wheel is beautiful.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2011 12:05:33 GMT -5
I got a little tear in my eye looking at that . Very nice work.
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