painting steering wheel question ???

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Guys,

A while back there was a thread about refinishing steering wheels...
I made the promise that I would report how came out...
So far, I have tried both Rustolium and Krylon without good results, both
wrinkled really bad... I didn't use a primer.
I am in process now of stripping the last attempt with Krylon.
I am wondering if anyone has had any experience with refinishing a steering wheel...
Any paint recomendations? primer or no primer ?

Thanks in advance,
KaptnKA S

[NM5K]

I don't think it will work.. At least not using
the usual paints.. It will melt the material I bet..
As you say, they have wrinkled so far..
Get sticky too I would think.. Probably won't hold
up to wear very well either.
There is probably some kind of finish that would
work, but I don't think it's going to be your usual
paint. You need something almost rock hard when
it dries, and almost like plastic.
I dunno what would work well..
Mine is not too bad, "blue" but it is getting a few
black worn areas around it.
MK

[kaptnkaos]

Yeah NM5K...

Both paints just wrinkles or orange peels...
The surface is non-pourous, and it really isn't plastic, but I can't remember what it's called.
I am going to try to find some Plastic-Kote and try that...

KaptnKA S

[seattle67]

All the posts I have read in the past said to just use a standard spray paint such as Rust-oleum. I am looking at doing this in the near future, so keep us informed Kaptn!

[1970FordTK]

Kaptn, I painted my three spoke wheel with the same paint I painted the colum with. My prep on both was sandblasting all the old stuff off both, I has some cracks to repair on the spokes of the wheel (like thats not the norm) the colum got POR-15 first. I primered the wheel, (primered the por-15 while it was tacky being I had the gun going for the wheel) sanded with 600w/s. Then just shot my piant on, you may need to chemical surface prep the wheel, its been a long time sense I've heard of rust-oleum or krylon doing that on a clean surface. Link to the photogallery is of the colum and the wheel back in the truck.


http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... 485&pos=12

Sorry about the photo quaility, I'm still in the 35mm world. And I'm not good at the picture taking. Hope this helps.

[kaptnkaos]

The steering wheel itself is mint...
there isn't a crack or a chip in it, so it doesn't need any repair work.
It is just dull and faded looking.
I wonder if I could just buff it up and get some shine back...

I was reading up on restoring these kind of wheels...
The article said to use a self etching primer for plastic, then wet sand it with 600 grit, after it's dry, you can paint it with any kind of paint.

KaptnKA S

[fordman]

yes you have to properly clean the oils off the whel and then use primer. then you can paint over it.

[Creecher88]

I just got through helping my friend paint his rims for his integra. I would probably use a heavier grit paper so the paint has something to stick to. I wouldn't wet sand it. Definitely clean the wheel to get rid of all of the oils and grease before painting and try putting a clearcoat over all of that.

[Supermike]

Hey Kap'n, believe it or not, LMC sells a book on refinishing steering wheels AND a kit for doing it... might be worth checking out...

[Joshpow]

Has anyone tried Krylon H20 paint. They advertise it will stick to plastic and bond well, so I thought it just might stay on a steering wheel. Also, has anyone tried adhesion promoter? Just a couple of thoughts.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Guys...

I tried something and it seemed to work pretty good...
Since there were no cracks, chips or other flaws in the wheel,
I took some really fine steel wool... "0000" and some penetrating oil and buffed up the surface of the wheel.
It looks pretty darn good.
I'll probably get one of those lace on leather wheel covers for it.
The original '68 wheel had one of those and it made it feel good, especially on those hot days when the sun makes the wheel so stinkin' hot you can hardly touch it.

KaptnKA S

[sargentrs]

Anybody know if our wheels will stand up to the heat of powder coating? Where I work, we do a lot of powder coating and it would be easy for me to slide a wheel in when we're painting gloss black. But will it stand up to a 400 deg. bake oven for 15 minutes?

[4th effie n counting]

I don't think the powder would adhere to the non metal surface, of course i could be mistaken. again

[sargentrs]

A friend of mine just turned me on to this:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?item ... pe=PRODUCT

[Supermike]

EDIT. I'm an idiot... had too many "Fordification" windows open and crossed my topics.