<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/><title></title></head><body><p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="ryNqvb">Hi Michael, </span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="ryNqvb">I don't know what material was used for the steering wheels back then, but I've learned that different materials were used for the Bluemel steering wheels over the production run of our Healeys.</span> <span class="ryNqvb">The material used in the AH 100 steering wheels is much easier to repair than that used in steering wheels from the 1960s.</span> <span class="ryNqvb">I've repaired steering wheels for a Daimler SP250, and it was very difficult.</span> <span class="ryNqvb">The cracks kept reappearing.</span> <span class="ryNqvb">I don't use JB WELD here, but on the advice of a steering wheel restorer, I use PC-7 epoxy.</span> <span class="ryNqvb">This works wonderfully on AH 100 steering wheels.</span> <span class="ryNqvb">But even with this, it's very difficult to permanently repair some of the later AH 3000 steering wheels.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="ryNqvb">Hope this helps a bit.</span></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="ryNqvb">Josef Eckert</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="ryNqvb">Königswinter/Germany</span></span></span></p>
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<p>-----Original-Nachricht-----</p>
<p>Betreff: [Healeys] Steering wheel repair</p>
<p>Datum: 2026-04-09T00:44:19+0200</p>
<p>Von: "Michael Salter" <michaelsalter@gmail.com></p>
<p>An: "healeys@autox.team.net" <healeys@autox.team.net></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "">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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "">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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "">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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "">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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "">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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "">Does anyone know for sure what the original steering wheel rims were made from?</p>
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