[Healeys] Steering wheel repair

[sentenac.rw at gmail.com]

It is a long and exacting job.  I only did it because replacement
Healey Hundred steering wheels are not available.

I used PC-7 Epoxy.  That's the easy part.  First you have to grind
open every crack down to the metal rod in the center of each part of
the wheel.  Clean up any rust you find.  You'll give your Dremel tool
a workout. 

Then you fill the cracks and sand or file to contour. Getting epoxy to
fill in where the plastic has chipped away from the wheel spokes is a
chore.  Getting it to look right is a bigger chore.  Probably take a
few applications to get it right.  When the surface is perfect you
spray on a couple of coats of epoxy primer, followed by sandable
primer, Sanding, followed by automotive hardened urethane paint (maybe
base coat clear coat will work, I didn't do that).

The result looks great and hasn't cracked again in two years.

-Roland
BN1 #724 now on the road

On Tue, 22 Oct 2019 00:57:43 -0400, you wrote:

>While we are on the subject of repairing the Trafficator and Bakelite, for forty years my steering wheel has been wrapped in a leather cover which hides the cracked and missing pieces of the plastic looking material where the round wheel meats the spokes.  I seem to remember there is a process to repair and/or fill in the voids.  Does anyone on this list have a suggestion?
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>Regards,
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>Bob Begani