Author Topic: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration  (Read 1659 times)

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CV355

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3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« on: September 14, 2020, 07:28:06 AM »
Hi guys,

We're in the final stretch of the resto on our '69 Mach 1.  The 3-spoke wheel (with rim-blow) has an original pad.  The pad itself is in excellent condition but the foam inside of it has lightly torn, expanded, and billowed out on the sides.  The edges do not line up with the wheel spokes due to this.  Short of sending this out and getting it refurbed for $550, I'd like to try it myself.  Does anyone have a suggestion on how to re-shape the foam so the spokes aren't billowed out?  I'll see if I can get some pictures. 

It'd be a shame to buy a re-pro since this is original and in otherwise perfect condition.

gregb

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2020, 11:01:26 AM »
They repro those now. I bought mine from NPD.  I tried for years to figure out how to fix the old one to no avail......

sixty9cobra

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2020, 02:29:49 PM »
I just replace mine also

hbstang

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2020, 06:39:46 PM »
i will be buying one of the repo pads,and was wondering what the quality of it was?also,i need to repaint my 69 deluxe wheel and was wondering what is the correct paint for these.made of some kind of plastic?
also here is a link with some info on restoring the pads.https://www.rimblowrestorations.co.nz/information-and-pricing.html

CV355

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2020, 07:07:02 AM »
They repro those now. I bought mine from NPD.  I tried for years to figure out how to fix the old one to no avail......

I'm going to attempt it myself first.  We have exhausted our budget on this car for the year (started as just a top-end build on the engine, turned into the entire engine, turned into a nearly full resto on the whole car), so we're open to "arts and crafts" to save some money if it's done right. 

I'm thinking about going to hobby lobby, getting some block foam and carving out a "mold" that matches the outside shape of the spokes.  I'll then carve out the old foam from the inside of the spokes, place the pad in the mold, inject foam on the inside of the pad in the cavities, and let it cure against the mold so it keeps that shape.  It's worth a shot I suppose, and it may only cost us like $10 in stuff from Hobby Lobby.  I have a heat knife that I can use to slice the excess foam. 


cjshaker

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2020, 08:15:08 AM »
They repro those now. I bought mine from NPD.  I tried for years to figure out how to fix the old one to no avail......

I'm going to attempt it myself first.  We have exhausted our budget on this car for the year (started as just a top-end build on the engine, turned into the entire engine, turned into a nearly full resto on the whole car), so we're open to "arts and crafts" to save some money if it's done right. 

I'm thinking about going to hobby lobby, getting some block foam and carving out a "mold" that matches the outside shape of the spokes.  I'll then carve out the old foam from the inside of the spokes, place the pad in the mold, inject foam on the inside of the pad in the cavities, and let it cure against the mold so it keeps that shape.  It's worth a shot I suppose, and it may only cost us like $10 in stuff from Hobby Lobby.  I have a heat knife that I can use to slice the excess foam.

That is exactly what I was going to suggest, but figured nobody would want to go that route. The only possible issue I see is getting the vinyl to adhere to the new foam. If it doesn't, a liberal application of contact cement between the vinyl and foam may help, once the foam has set up. How is your outer 'trim' ring? Mine is pretty much gone and I haven't found a suitable substitute to place in the groove. A chrome tape is about the best I've come up with so far.

If you haven't done the horn ring yet, I found that a guitar pick works really well to push the sides in without damaging the rubber or the copper strip. Worked really well on mine. I posted a picture of it in my "Mach 1" thread, but the picture hosting site is holding the picture for ransom...which I won't pay  >:(
Doug Smith


'69 R-code Mach 1, 427 MR, 2x4, Jerico, 4.30 Locker
'70 F-350 390
'55 Ford Customline 2dr
'37 Ford Coupe

CV355

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2020, 11:54:27 AM »

That is exactly what I was going to suggest, but figured nobody would want to go that route. The only possible issue I see is getting the vinyl to adhere to the new foam. If it doesn't, a liberal application of contact cement between the vinyl and foam may help, once the foam has set up. How is your outer 'trim' ring? Mine is pretty much gone and I haven't found a suitable substitute to place in the groove. A chrome tape is about the best I've come up with so far.

If you haven't done the horn ring yet, I found that a guitar pick works really well to push the sides in without damaging the rubber or the copper strip. Worked really well on mine. I posted a picture of it in my "Mach 1" thread, but the picture hosting site is holding the picture for ransom...which I won't pay  >:(

I'm going to give it a shot.  The pad and rings look pristine.  It's just the yellowed, crusty foam on the backside that needs attention.  Same thing with the seats- I think there is original or very old seat foam in them, which leaves a lot of orange dust.  We cleaned them up nicely and put carpet underlayment on the underside of the springs.  I figure we'll re-do the seat foam next year.

Everything foam and all insulation in the car was disintegrated or crusty.  For a 51.x year old car and mostly original interior, I'd say that isn't half bad.  The firewall insulation was the worst.  I had to put on an N95 and safety goggles to get that stupid thing out and it came out in clumps like cotton candy.   

CV355

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2020, 06:34:50 AM »
In case anyone is interested, I have some mild success to report...

I went to Harbor Freight last night after work and picked up six of the tiny bar clamps they sell for $1.69.  I cut up some wood shim and clamped shim on the spokes to flatten out the pad.  While clamped, I cut out the bad foam from around the steel inserts.  A hot-knife did not work well, so I just used an X-acto blade.  Once those cavities were exposed, I injected silicone into the pad and leveled it out flush with the back edges.  It is still curing but it is looking very promising. 

I haven't attacked the center section, but I'm thinking that the same approach will work.

gregb

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2020, 09:24:22 AM »
They repro those now. I bought mine from NPD.  I tried for years to figure out how to fix the old one to no avail......

I'm going to attempt it myself first.  We have exhausted our budget on this car for the year (started as just a top-end build on the engine, turned into the entire engine, turned into a nearly full resto on the whole car), so we're open to "arts and crafts" to save some money if it's done right. 

I'm thinking about going to hobby lobby, getting some block foam and carving out a "mold" that matches the outside shape of the spokes.  I'll then carve out the old foam from the inside of the spokes, place the pad in the mold, inject foam on the inside of the pad in the cavities, and let it cure against the mold so it keeps that shape.  It's worth a shot I suppose, and it may only cost us like $10 in stuff from Hobby Lobby.  I have a heat knife that I can use to slice the excess foam.

That is exactly what I was going to suggest, but figured nobody would want to go that route. The only possible issue I see is getting the vinyl to adhere to the new foam. If it doesn't, a liberal application of contact cement between the vinyl and foam may help, once the foam has set up. How is your outer 'trim' ring? Mine is pretty much gone and I haven't found a suitable substitute to place in the groove. A chrome tape is about the best I've come up with so far.

If you haven't done the horn ring yet, I found that a guitar pick works really well to push the sides in without damaging the rubber or the copper strip. Worked really well on mine. I posted a picture of it in my "Mach 1" thread, but the picture hosting site is holding the picture for ransom...which I won't pay  >:(

For the trim ring a friend used some silver pinstriping tape in the groove and then clear coated it several times.   Came out very nice, eventually I’ll do that to mine....

cjshaker

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Re: 3-Spoke Steering Wheel Pad Restoration
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2020, 10:40:16 AM »
For the trim ring a friend used some silver pinstriping tape in the groove and then clear coated it several times.   Came out very nice, eventually I’ll do that to mine....

That's basically what I did to mine and I thought it turned out fine. There's a company that replaces them with aluminum strips, but the silver tape looks factory and more correct than aluminum.
Doug Smith


'69 R-code Mach 1, 427 MR, 2x4, Jerico, 4.30 Locker
'70 F-350 390
'55 Ford Customline 2dr
'37 Ford Coupe