[Healeys] Steering wheel repair

[Laurie Wilford]

I am not sure of the material, but after my epoxy repair cracked, I broke the plastic off an old rim and dissolved it in a small jar of acetone until it became a paste.

When I did the repair, I brushed acetone into the cracked area to soften the old plastic before applying the paste. I used masking tape to dam up the shape.

That repair has lasted far better than JB Weld.

Laurie


-------- Original message --------
From: Michael Salter <michaelsalter at gmail.com>
Date: 2026-04-08 5:47 p.m. (GMT-05:00)
To: healeys at autox.team.net
Subject: [Healeys] Steering wheel repair

Many years ago, I repaired the large cracks in the original steering wheel of my Phase 1 BJ8 by grinding them out with a Dremel and filling the cracks with JB weld. After sanding and repainting with epoxy gloss black it looked great however, after a few years, more cracks appeared at the interface of the JB Weld and the original plastic from which the rim was molded. Back then I replaced the original wheel with a shiny new Motolita wood-rim wheel, with which I was never completely happy, and all was good, sort of.
I am now faced with having to do the same type of repair on the original wheel from the BN2 which I am currently restoring.
Before starting with the JB Weld process again I thought I should do a little research to see if I could find a filler material which would form a stronger bond with the plastic rim material.
Gemini told me that the rim was made of Bakelite but I was not convinced. Bakelite is a “thermoset” plastic which, when heated, does not melt. A simple experiment quickly proved that the rim plastic was a thermo-plastic material because it easily melted and could be deformed when heated and again unlike Bakelite it dissolved in acetone.
I have done some Googling and it seems that it’s very likely that the plastic used for molding the rims was Tenite™ cellulose acetate.
Does anyone know for sure what the original steering wheel rims were made from?

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