<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Hi All<br><br></div>I have to agree with John Spaur and Michael Salter that restoring an original wheel is hit and miss at best. It is so difficult that both Roger Moment and Don Fisher recast their wheels on the original frames versus trying to repair/restore them. Don is not only a dentist but has taught at the UCLA dental school for over 50 years, so casting the wheel was not difficult for him. The same with Roger whose fabrication skills are second to none and his recast wheel was nothing short of brilliant. BTW Roger initially repaired his wheel and it cracked again in short order which is why he re-cast it.<br><br></div>Also as the trafficator/Bakelite expert I can state the the steering wheels were NOT Bakelite but plastic. See attached photos of my restored '55 BN1 wheel that never had any cracks whatsoever. I just lightly sanded and polished the rim and painted the hub with a high quality epoxy enamel.<br><br></div>Better yet, buy a correct period wooden wheel from Michael Lempert as I also have one of his wheels for my car.<br><br></div>Cheers,<br><br></div>Curt Arndt<br></div>Carlsbad, CA<br></div>'55 BN1, '60 AN5 :{)<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 3:27 PM, Michael Salter <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:michaelsalter@gmail.com" target="_blank">michaelsalter@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small"><span class="">"I would not recommend restoring the original plastic steering wheels when<br>
excellent reproductions are available."<br></span>I would have to concur with John on that. However, if you are looking to restore a very early 100 wheel, either adjustable or non adjustable 17" diameter or a 16 1/2" non adjustable wheel they are unavailable in reproductions so extreme measures are called for!!!<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">The last wheel that I restored using the acetone method, suggested to me by Bob Yule BTW, was on #174 andthe result was good enough to score concours gold at Gettysburg and shows no signs of cracking 3 years after I finished restoring it.<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">I believe that the real problem is that the plastic used to make these wheels originally tends to shrink over time and eventually cracks appear to relieve the resulting tensile stress. <br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">In my experience any filler material, other than the original, fails to bond strongly and as a result cracks appear at the material boundaries very quickly.<br><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">Just sayin'<br><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small">Michael S<br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="">On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 5:03 PM, John Spaur <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jmsdarch@sbcglobal.net" target="_blank">jmsdarch@sbcglobal.net</a>></span> wrote:<br></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><span class="">I would not recommend restoring the original plastic steering wheels when<br>
excellent reproductions are available.<br>
<br>
The reason the plastic has cracked is because water has penetrated the wheel<br>
and it has started to oxidize the metal reinforcement which has expanded and<br>
cracked the wheel. That process may of slowed down, but it will never stop.<br>
<br>
I stored an original wheel in my garage for several years intending to<br>
restore it. It appeared to be in the same reasonable shape when I went to<br>
inspect it in preparation for restoration. When I pull at parts of it that<br>
looked to be in good shape, it just crumbled in my hands.<br>
<span><font color="#888888"><br>
John Spaur<br>
'62 BT7<br>
</font></span></span><div><div><span class=""><br>
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