[Healeys] Refinish steering wheel

Sat Jan 2 03:17:28 MST 2016

Mike,

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and work method. Very informative.

I have also noticed that Moto-Lita is not to precise in fitting the 
rivets, especially at the rear where they (and the holes in the wood) 
can be very badly finished.

I do not think that steering wheels were ever finished by proper French 
polishing (shellac/ethanol mixture rubbed on with a pad, using a few 
drops of raw linseed oil to prevent sticking of the pad). Although it 
will give a superior finish (very high gloss), it is a very laborious 
process and it would not be resistant against moisture from e.g. sweaty 
hands.
May be a similar process was used but I suspect the manufacturers 
claimed a lacquered steering wheel to be French polished as the finish 
looked a bit like it.

I am surprised you use ammonia and bleach on the wood. I have always 
avoided that in fear of damaging the glue in the laminate.

Cheers,
Kees Oudesluijs

Op 1-1-2016 om 21:28 schreef mlempert at bellsouth.net:
> While I was once a regular reader and participant in this email list, 
> I rarely have the time anymore to read the digests I receive. I do 
> sometime scan through the subject before filing the digest email. I 
> just happened to do that and noticed the discussion about steering 
> wheel refinishing.
> There is much I can write and when I do I typically transgress into 
> all kinds of related trivia, but I will try to avoid that.  But first 
> some comments about the original poster’s wheel. It is indeed a 
> Derrington type, but it is very difficult to know whether it came from 
> Derrington or from another of a few makers. Moto-Lita was certainly 
> one of the makers and they did sell wheels as Derringtons. I can 
> usually tell a Moto-Lita by the workmanship if not the quality of the 
> ply laminate. A rivet poorly aligned with a spoke is an indication of 
> Moto-Lita.  In this case it is something else that I find unusual. 
> Notice how the nine mounting holes are misaligned with the spokes. 
> That was either a very poorly done job from new or it was a wheel sold 
> without holes which allowed the owner to drill and maybe misalign 
> intentionally... or accidentally.  More can be read about Derrington 
> in my blog here, although the information is not exhaustive: 
> http://www.pbase.com/mdlempert/victor
> Refinishing or restoring these type rims is difficult due to the time 
> and exposure effects and also the limitations of the wood grain in 
> spots as explained in my blog. It is always a judgment call whether to 
> restore or replace the rim. I have recently completed one rare Victor 
> Derrington for a Healey and am working on another for a Jag XK. The 
> Healey rim was worth saving because it was in relatively good shape, 
> but the Jag had to be replaced mostly due to bad work performed 
> earlier.  The old wood, mahogany and obeche, especially the obeche 
> colors gets muddled over time and no longer displays the original 
> contrasting colors, but can still look nice as an obviously old and 
> original rim.
> I do not use chemicals for stripping rims, I use a very sharp razor as 
> a scraping tool, being careful to scrape in the angle of the grain not 
> to damage – you can feel it, but laminates will have grain going in 
> multiple directions, so care is needed.  Only after fully removing the 
> finish will I do any amount of sanding, and never so much as to remove 
> much wood. I do most of the sanding by spinning the wheel on a lathe, 
> but obviously not the rear where the grips appear. In this case with 
> the Healey version, we went through more heroic efforts to save the 
> wood. It was scrubbed with a toothbrush using ammonia and then bleach 
> two times. Still, the colors were muddled, but better. After 
> neutralizing the cleaners and sanding again just to smooth any raised 
> grain, it was given the new finish. I have read that the original 
> finishing was french polish, or at least at some point in time 
> (Derrington, not necessarily Moto-Lita).  While you can select 
> whatever method you are comfortable or desire, I use a UV cure clear 
> finish. Over the years I’ve used a number of finishes, but for the 
> amount of work I do now I have moved to this UV system which I find to 
> be excellent in every way. I would also recommend Waterlox at least 
> for a sealer if not topcoat also. It is a wipe on tung and resin mix. 
> I have also used General Finishes water based (only after the Waterlox 
> seal) Enduro-Var gloss. It can only be applied after the sealer has 
> dried fully. It typically took five coats with sanding in between. It 
> dries quickly and feels great when done. I always polished the rim on 
> the lathe after finishing to smooth out perfectly and give the desired 
> amount of shine/sheen.
> This is the Victor Derrinton after all was done (UV cure), but prior 
> to the metal being cleaned and final polishing: 
> http://www.pbase.com/mdlempert/smalley
> Happy New Year
> Mike Lempert
> Lempert Wheels
> ‘56 BN2
> ‘59 BN7
> ‘60 Bugeye
>
>
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