Blue steering wheel question

[GERMYS_72]

What did you all do to restore your steering wheels ?

Finding a blue one might be hard and pricy. Is this salvageable using epoxy rebuild , or should I just switch to a black one ? I would like to keep the interior blue

My horn pad looks ok.

 

[tpj71mach]

The steering wheels are definitely repairable using epoxy, just make sure to remove all loose material and clean and etch/sand scratch all edges and mating surfaces very well. It is a time consuming process shaping and cutting new lines in and sanding, but it is worth it in the end. I like to use a loose hack saw blade to cut the diagonal lines that connect the pair of parallel lines that run the circumference of the wheel. I apply masking tape to a good area and use a sharpie to mark lines on the tape and then move the tape to the repaired area. The tape now serves as the template, I drag a loose hack saw blade across the sharpie marks on the tape to cut the lines. If you take your time you can cut the lines fairly straight and evenly spaced to look original.

For paint you can go to a paint supply house and have them mix up an interior paint to match. They will need the vehicle info and interior trim code and I also like to show them a sample of another interior piece that you want to match. A lot of paint supplies can even put it into an aerosol spray can for you. Make sure to use an adhesion promoter like Bulldog, (not cheap but worth it) to make sure the paint adheres well to the wheel. Bulldog or another adhesion promoter is very important on interior trim and plastic parts. You always want to use a respirator and be in a well ventilated area for any paints but definitely with Bulldog, it really stinks.

I prefer to clear coat the wheel with an epoxy clear after painting, this makes the steering wheel more durable and resistant to oils from your hands over time. That is the disadvantage of a painted wheel and why Ford molded them in color originally. You can buy these two part epoxy paints in aerosol cans, Eastwood sells them but I am sure other vendors do as well. I almost exclusively use Eastwood products myself, because I like their stuff and have good experiences with them but also I am fortunate enough to live 20 minutes from one of their only two retail stores in the country. You just pop the activator and shake the can well and once it is mixed, spray it on. The paint will harden in the aerosol can once it is activated within 24 hours. I have had luck getting a couple days out it before it hardens by putting it in the fridge, if I have a second project to do.

I attached a couple pics of my steering wheel before and after I repaired and painted it for my car. I think it turned out really well. I had it installed for a couple weeks at the body shop, while I finished restoring the rim-blow. I had the opportunity to buy a tilt column with the rim-blow steering wheel from a member here. Even though I had just fully restored my standard column and deluxe two spoke wheel, I always wanted a tilt and rim-blow combo. I jumped on the chance to upgrade to the tilt column and rim-blow wheel, even though it meant I needed to start all over and restore the tilt column and rim-blow wheel, haha.

 

[GERMYS_72]

It is repairable using epoxy, just make sure to remove all loose material and clean and etch/sand scratch all edges and mating surfaces very well. It is a time consuming process shaping and cutting new lines (hack saw blade) in and sanding, but it is worth it in the end. I use masking tape in a good area and marked lines and then moved the tape to a repaired area. This now serves as the template, I drag a loose hack saw blade across the mark on the tape to cut the lines in the smooth repaired areas. If you take your time you can cut the lines straight and evenly spaced to look original. For paint you can go to a paint supply house and have them mix up an interior paint to match. They will need the vehicle info and interior trim code and I also like to show them a sample of another interior piece that you want to match. A lot of paint supplies can even put it into an aerosol spray can for you. Make sure to use an adhesion promoter like Bulldog, to make sure the color sticks well. I like to clear them with an epoxy clear, these are also sold in aerosol, Eastwood sells it. You just pop the activator and shake the can well and once it is mixed, spray. The paint will harden in the aerosol can once it is activated within 24 hours. I have had luck getting a couple days out it before it hardens by putting it in the fridge. I attached a couple pics of my steering wheel I repaired and painted for my car. I upgraded to a rim-blow that I also needed to restore since then.

Looks great!