41 60 special steering wheel

[mr41cadillac]

im thinking of restoring my steering wheel. 1. how do you remove the wheel. 2. anyone used the por 15 epoxy ? any information appreciated

[Steve Passmore]

Twist and turn the horn button and remove it with the back plate and spring.   Remove the three little screws you see and remove the bezel and horn ring. Undo the large centre nut then a puller is needed threaded into the two holes you will see in the centre. Easy to make a puller of some description by using a flat steel plate with two holes that correspond to the threaded holes.    Leave the nut on there a few threads to protect the threads and the little horn connection.

[harry s]

John, I'm right in the middle of redoing a  large (22") steering wheel from a truck. It is like a standard Cadillac wheel in that the hub is plastic along with the spokes and rest of the wheel. I opened up the cracks with a Dremmel and beveled the edges. I used PC-7 epoxy which worked very well. It is slow to set and works best when the temp is above 65 or 70. After sanding the epoxy I primed the wheel with filler type primer then going around and doing the small imperfections with glazing compound. I've done two filling and sandings and I think one more will do it. I plan on using SEM flexible bumper paint in a spray as a top coat. They have a pretty good selection of colors and there is one that comes close. They also have a clear that can goes over the color and maybe help with wear on the wheel. The $800 estimate to do the wheel is what inspired me to try it. Good Luck,     Harry

[Steve Passmore]

That's what I have done on the majority of my wheels Harry but I drew a blank on the 41's. The difference with Johns is that 41 is all metal hub and spokes, the only plastic being the rim and its no where near the quality of the earlier wheels like our 37's. The plastics doesn't just crack but shrinks incredibly. My wheel had 1/2 " gaps every 1" and most of the plastic was just falling off and spinning on the metal core. Luckily I found someone in this country to re-cast it.

[mr41cadillac]

thanks , steve I see now how to remove the wheel. harry do you think pc7 is better than por 15 ? steve my wheel too has  parts that will just spin around. but I guess the epoxy would solidify everything. my gaps are not too muc h nothing like the 1/2 inch. my wheel is off white or maybe ivory, was that original color ? this will take time but after I saw a restored one for 1200 I think I can do it as well. the rest of the wheel button chrome is excellent thanks john

[harry s]

 I know what you mean the material in the '41 wheels gets to the point where it just crumbles. I'm not sure about the POR 15, I have never used it but is probably about the same as PC-7. A the price of recasting the '41 wheels it would be worth a try. The worst that could happen is you would have to break it all off and go to recast. I would say the original color of the wheel would be off white toward a bone color. I've seen some that are more white and they just don't look right to me.     Harry

[mr41cadillac]

ive got the steering wheel off and using the dremel.  looks like arounf the rim was a plastic like material? question what do I need to duplicate that material in bone color ? thanks john

[Steve Passmore]

I'm really sure you will never match that colour John. They used to be cast in an almost translucent material and you will loose all the shin sanding down whatever you apply to it . The best you can hope for is to fill, sand and coat the whole wheel after.

[Quentin Hall]

My 39 rim was similarly deteriorated, everything loose and  cracked. So I broke it all off then welded another small dia rod to the back edge of the wheel ring . Then wound polyester 1/4 rope round and round. Then soaked in fibreglass resin. The resin is compatible with the rope. Took about 4 applications of resin with sanding in between. I didn't worry about the finger contours on the back cos I was going custom, but a half round file and some more time would fix that.
Every wheel I have seen that was epoxied over cracked shrunken rims has eventually recracked.

[mr41cadillac]

hey guys please go to google type in             tech translucent steering wheel how to               and tell me what you think. maybe I will get these items and try on another junk wheel to see how it comes out. article states this is how to get the translucent effect thanks john

[harry s]

John, Thanks for the info, the wheel in the article turned out really nice. It will be interesting to see how much the material costs to do a wheel as described. Let us know if you go that route.    Harry

[Steve Passmore]

Yes, after buying some paints last week I bet getting all the necessary materials will not be cheap.

[harry s]

I just finished the truck wheel I was working on. The paint is SEM Flexible Coat color is Santa Fe with a satin clear coat. It turned out a little lighter than the chip. You can see in the picture compared with a recast '41 wheel the difference in color.    Harry

[mr41cadillac]

that looks great harry