There have been many comments about the horn ring needing to be re-chromed. UPDATE! The horn ring has been re-chromed and an image has been posted here: www.polyvance.com/images_old/SteeringWheelReChromed.jpg
I used JB Weld as my filler. Also, I opened the cracks a little to get the filler in place and to help it grip. That was a ot 12 years ago. It's doing great.
JB Weld has almost limitless uses. I actually just fixed a steering wheel with body filler (sparing use of hardener) and then coated the wheel with polyester resin and pigment.
I was wondering about using JB. I've used it on old plastic grille pieces before with good success. There's a LOT of different JB epoxies out there to choose from.
Fantastic job that took far more patience than I would have, and I can't believe that there are those who don't see this as a complete restoration. the only step further that I can think of is re-manufacture. top marks to all concerned.
I've always considered repairing a steering wheel like this, and then finally undertook the endeavor. I was able to come out with a beautiful steering wheel. However, I am right back to where I started five years ago. The problem is that the original plastic will continue to crack in new places despite all you've done, ruining all of that exceptionally hard work. There are a few wheel restoration specialists that use injection molding to remake these vintage wheels using a much more durable plastic. I think that is really the only permanent solution.
it helps to heat gun the steering wheel first to anneal the plastic and release built up stress. This will cause a crap load of cracks as the stress is released but afterwards it shouldn't happen again.
Absolutely excellent, informative, clear detail instructions, great photography, very helpful. I have a 1965 Ford Mustang and a 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado with the original black steering wheel. Looking forward to performing this repair. Much appreciate your efforts in producing this educational video. 🏎🚙👍🏻😉🙏🏻🇺🇸🙏🏻🇺🇸🙏🏻🇺🇸
Tip: when mixing small amounts of paint. weight the liquid to the correct ratios and you'll have more accurate mixes. buy a small digital scale. Depending on lines on a plastic cup with small amounts is inconsistent, especially if you have to mix extra.
View this video on on our website for helpful information and product suggestions for this repair: www.polyvance.com/video/plastifix/steering-wheel-restoration
I make a habit of being positive in my comments. Thank you for very clear instructions, and high quality video technique. I aspire to production with this high a value. The remainder of this comment is an exception to my usual habit. I am at 5:32 and stopped. beyond very clear instructions, I just dont see this particular repair working or holding up over time. I do 6 to a dozen steering wheels each winter. Here I see a steering wheel that is just flat out filthy that I would not work on until properly cleaned. I see filth in cracks that are being repaired. This stuff sticks to dirt but does not stick to polypropylene? Just look at the filth in the finger grooves! I see cracks with no fresh edge, no keying, and no hope of holding a repair as expansion and contraction take place I see unaddressed spider cracking directly adjacent to areas being repaired. the time for that dremel and the sander was BEFORE you laid in a lick of plastic to make clean, keyed crevices that will hold material! Based on the experience of seeing failed repairs, The "tiny and not too deep" cracks at 6:30 require cleaning and enlargement and keying using a dremel with a disc or burr so they dont show up at the primer step and they do not fail later. You made it look easy, however, the truth is cleaning that wheel properly was a detailed 3 to 4 hour job, and keying and cleaning cracks prior to filling was hours more. And a full keying job would have produced the need for much more material. (a positive for your bottom line!) In addition to your high quality video and narration work, Your paint job was great!
The nature of the PlastiFix adhesive is that it will not stick to PP. Adhesives are formulated for a specific application. You may disagree, but just ask the guys who put in the anchor bolts in the "Big Dig" ceiling in Boston. They used epoxy, but it was the wrong epoxy and the adhesive failed and caused the ceiling to fall, squishing some poor folks. Plastifix adhesive is ideal on this type of material and holds up well. I'm not sure if filthy is the appropriate term for this wheel. True, it wasn't surgically cleaned but it was cleaned well enough. So far the wheel is holding up fine.
Thank you! You're right, there are lots of different plastics on cars! PlastiFix works on rigid plastics like ABS, PC, ASA, and PVC. For other plastics like PP and PE, we recommend fusion welding. We make top quality nitrogen plastic welders as well as many airless plastic welder kits. Not to mention the 20 different welding rod materials we carry!
Amazing improvements in technique. I had a 57 Corvette and original steering wheel with cracks was preferred to aftermarket or poor fixes of the time. That plastic covers a metal rim underneath.
It drives me nuts that you went through all that work to produce a nice finish on that steering wheel and then you put back that crappy looking metal horn trim. You could have at least taken a light bit of steel wool to it to clean off the rough surface finish of the horn metal. Overall though, it was good work.
@@polyvance I hope I didn't come off sounding like a complete prick. I'm a recently retired auto upholsterer after about thirty-five years of doing that for a living. I'm afraid I'm just anal-retentive about stuff like that; even though I'm no longer in the game..
Totally see what you mean, just a good cleaning of the chrome would have made that nice restoration look that much better! Glad the parts were eventually restored, nothing like seeing well done work. I love doing restoration and having people enjoy the finished job.
@@JohnMartin-ni2pj Uh, that's true. They still placed the metal ring in the injection moulding machine and molded plastic around the ring though. My comment was pointing out that after watching all of this labor to repair the wheel today, I thought about the guy who stood in front of a machine in the early 60's, putting metal rings in and retrieving finished wheels thousands of times, over and over.
when using very thin strips of sanding papers (10:40), its a good, if not essential idea to put strong sticky tape or packaging tape on the back of the sanding paper. masking tape isnt usually strong enough.
Very helpful! Now I'm about 90% certain that my truck will be getting an aftermarket wheel. Results look great, but entirely too much time and effort for a non restoration like mine. Not like I really need the 17" wheel with the power steering upgrade and the extra belly room would be nice.
Labor intensive, definitely need the correct tools to complete this project or it will be a disaster. However, anything worth doing should be done right.
being one that has worked many a long day in trauma rooms i realize and respect what the airbag has done for safety, but sure has taken away the uniqueness and style of these old steering wheels...
@@polyvance That's ok. When any car collides with a '66 Chrysler, that other car will absorb almost all of the impact. It might be easier to think of the entire other car as a crumple zone. This steering wheel looks great by the way!
No. PlastiFix is a special type methylmethacryalte designed for ABS, PC, Acrylics and other hard plastics. Superglue only bonds to the surface of the plastic. It is also very brittle and only has about 30% the strength of a PlastiFix repair on hard plastics. PlastiFix chemically etches itself into the plastic and should not fail. Plastifix uses a liquid monomer to polymerize the powder to form MMA plastic in an exothermic chemical reaction. The most common forms of MMA include acrylic and lucite. The individual components have no adhesive properties without the chemical reaction of the two ingredients, unlike super glue. Because the components can be reacted directly on the surface to be bonded, the added benefit is that the reaction incorporates the surface molecules of the base plastic, creating a chemical as well as physical bond on some materials. The chemical AND physical bond make this type of repair extremely durable and impact resistant, plus it is sandable and easily painted, unlike super-glue or gorilla glue type repairs.
@@CreatorCade I'd take your bet; you will lose. Its a different chemistry than CA glue. By themselves, the power nor liquid has any adhesive qualities; its only when they are mixed does the magic happen.
Extremely detailed video. Entertaining also I love how you sped up thru the mundane steps like sanding & stuff yet still kept my "short attentions span theater level " glued to see what's was next Great results ,product & video. how long did it actually take from start to finish?
I'm afraid the old plastic will just continue to crack and check. Do you have materials that could be used to take a mold and re-cast the entire wheel?
Hey guys l have a 70 dodge coronet the steering wheel is rough classic industries makes a repo for $249 no horn ring it’s a the pebbled finish will this work and cost compared is it worth it. Thank you. BTW awesome video.
That is awesome.. I love your ease of directions. I wonder if you could take the dimensions of the steering wheel and 3D print one? (Using some of the new printing elements like carbon poly, or some of the new harder materials?
I would say you could definitely do that, but you would want to print it out of something that is heat resistant, not PLA. PETG might work, as would probably ABS or PC. It would be an interesting project if you had a really bad wheel to start with, one where the plastic was just falling off or you just had a metal ring. I would make it in two parts that fit snugly around the metal ring and snapped together. I would also use adhesive, like 2510 PlastiFix to lay a bead between the parts before assembling. (leave a space for the adhesive so it all doesn't get squeezed out). I don't see any reason why this wouldn't work, but it would be up to you to determine its road-worthiness. I'd love to see it attempted, anyway!
@@polyvance Just type in OEM steering wheel for Chrysler Newport and they will come up. Found one on Amazon for $289.00 and another from JEGS for $299.00. There are others.
@rats arsed how could you possibly know if its durable or not? And as far as original, good luck finding the right original wheel in perfect condition. Restoration, by definition is not original , its a repair of something to look as original as possible.
Great video, the final product looks great! How does this hold up considering that it is painted and the originally the steering wheel was the same color all the way through.
🤔 what about the chrome why go threw the trouble to do that and not chrome the horn rails. Also wonder how long that will hold up auto paint and hand oils. Not to sure about this. Also the filler and the sun see that cracking Just my two cents
The individual PlastiFix kits are currently $38.95 each. Our least expensive aluminum tape is $16.95 and our least expensive cleaner is $16.95. Those are the products for the repair. The rest of the products are for refinishing. The list of all products can be found here: www.polyvance.com/video/plastifix/steering-wheel-restoration This does not include the grinders, sandpaper, etc.
Yes! This video (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gnCl6ogtfZI.html) and this video (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QNu-pQdPWKY.html)
Watched the whole damn video twice. Got really interested in the product. Tried to buy it. 'It won't ship overseas'. Thanks you for waisting my time!!!
Nice restoration but the images before and after were not shot equally. The after had extra light so the result looked much better. The difference would haven’t been that huge if you shot them in same lighting. This is the same trick ads have used for ages. On the other hand, the chrome parts look really bad when you have much light. They need some polishing now.
You are right. The photos weren't shot equally, but there was no intent to trick anyone. One was shot with the car parked outside; the other was shot inside a garage. No special effects were done, nor was any Photoshopping done. Also, the chrome parts were re-chromed after this video was made. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss the video showing the completed restoration and the re-chromed parts.
Mattikaki, I have a 4 year college degree in advertising photography from RIT and I can assure you, no lighting tricks were used to make the "after" look better. Perhaps the only discernible difference would be a minor unintentional difference in exposure, because "AUTO" mode was used. "More lighting" as you put it, (which I'm going to assume would mean softer, broad light sources, similar to what is used frequently when photographing jewelry, chrome, and other shiny stuff), would only enhance defects anyway. Not only that, but take a look at the wheel while its being painted, shiny and smooth. When using a single stage paint, the paint doesn't shrink much, like evaporative cure paints do, so what you see is generally what you get.
Scott B I am Senior Video Maintenace Engineer and photographer and have been working in large TV company I know that those images are different. It is due to the ambient lighting. You can see the difference when looking at the speedometer. In the first picture it is dark and in the other one it is lit.
That's a lotta work and unfortunately nobody makes replica steering wheels for these vehicles. So it's repair or replace with aftermarket, not much choice!
Good question. To the best of my knowledge, acrylics, polycarbonates and bakelite were all used. They are all hard plastics that are fairly stable. They will continue to shrink somewhat (they start shrinking as soon as they are made) but at a slow rate. The repair will also shrink over time, but should last just as long as the original if done correctly. In fact, because old cars are generally not stored outdoors like they are when new, the repair may last longer as its won't be subject to harsh conditions daily.
It's not super glue and baking soda. PlastiFix is a special type methylmethacryalte designed for ABS, PC, Acrylics and other hard plastics. Superglue only bonds to the surface of the plastic. It is also very brittle and only has about 30% the strength of a PlastiFix repair on hard plastics. PlastiFix chemically etches itself into the plastic and should not fail. Plastifix uses a liquid monomer to polymerize the powder to form MMA plastic in an exothermic chemical reaction. The most common forms of MMA include acrylic and lucite. The individual components have no adhesive properties without the chemical reaction of the two ingredients, unlike super glue. Because the components can be reacted directly on the surface to be bonded, the added benefit is that the reaction incorporates the surface molecules of the base plastic, creating a chemical as well as physical bond on some materials. The chemical AND physical bond make this type of repair extremely durable and impact resistant, plus it is sandable and easily painted, unlike super-glue or gorilla glue type repairs.
