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Monte Carlo, GT, Sport Steering Wheel Restoration.
I acquired a wooden steering wheel that needed restoration. This is the eighth wheel that I have restored, so I am getting the hang of it.
The first step was to repair the split wood with wood glue and several clamps. I repaired one crack at a time over the course of a few days, being careful not to overtighten the clamps. If you make to clamps too tight, the wood will crush, creating flat spots.
The next step after gluing the cracks is filling any voids with wood putty. Sand off the excess after the putty has cured.
The next step is to repair the scratches and corrosion on the aluminum spokes. The wheel had deep scratches and staining. To remove the scratches and stains, sand the spokes with progressively finer sand paper. I started with 600 grit, followed by 1000 grit and finally 2000 grit (wet). This takes time and a great deal of patience.
Before polishing the aluminum, protect the wood with masking tape, you do not want dirty, black aluminum polish soaking into the wood!
The next step is to sand the wood; before doing so, mask off the aluminum spokes so the sand paper does not scratch what you just repaired. I used 150 grit on the wood, followed 300 and finally 600.
The clear coat on the wheel was long gone; the owner of the car must have been a mechanic, because the wood was coated with grease and dirt. It took a lot of time to sand through all of it, finally reaching wood that was acceptably clean.
I did not use stain on the wheel, I wanted to preserve its natural color. I did however stain the tiny areas where I used wood filler, because those areas were considerably lighter in color then the rest of the wood. A little mixing of different stains resulted in an acceptable match.
The final step was to apply semi-gloss polyurethane with a foam brush to protect the wood from future greasy hands.
It is far from perfect, but considering the starting point, I am happy with the results.
Labor total, approximately eight hours.
Bruce Turk, 2024.
The first step was to repair the split wood with wood glue and several clamps. I repaired one crack at a time over the course of a few days, being careful not to overtighten the clamps. If you make to clamps too tight, the wood will crush, creating flat spots.
The next step after gluing the cracks is filling any voids with wood putty. Sand off the excess after the putty has cured.
The next step is to repair the scratches and corrosion on the aluminum spokes. The wheel had deep scratches and staining. To remove the scratches and stains, sand the spokes with progressively finer sand paper. I started with 600 grit, followed by 1000 grit and finally 2000 grit (wet). This takes time and a great deal of patience.
Before polishing the aluminum, protect the wood with masking tape, you do not want dirty, black aluminum polish soaking into the wood!
The next step is to sand the wood; before doing so, mask off the aluminum spokes so the sand paper does not scratch what you just repaired. I used 150 grit on the wood, followed 300 and finally 600.
The clear coat on the wheel was long gone; the owner of the car must have been a mechanic, because the wood was coated with grease and dirt. It took a lot of time to sand through all of it, finally reaching wood that was acceptably clean.
I did not use stain on the wheel, I wanted to preserve its natural color. I did however stain the tiny areas where I used wood filler, because those areas were considerably lighter in color then the rest of the wood. A little mixing of different stains resulted in an acceptable match.
The final step was to apply semi-gloss polyurethane with a foam brush to protect the wood from future greasy hands.
It is far from perfect, but considering the starting point, I am happy with the results.
Labor total, approximately eight hours.
Bruce Turk, 2024.
