restoring GT wooden steering wheel

[jez1964]

Hi there
I have just bought a sv alpine gt ,it has the wooden wheel which is seperating itself into its 2 halfs
I plan on seperating them completly and glueing them Back together, then clamping to hold them tight while it sets
Then sand and refinish
Does anyone have any experience of doing this and if so which glue to use PVA?

thanks jez

 

[britbeam]

As far as the glue to use I have used Gorilla Glue in a lot of delamination situations. When the instructions are followed the two pieces of wood will not separate or break at the joint where joined. You can find it at Home Depot. Great stuff
Dwain Cooke

 

[mikephillips]

While you have the wood off the wheel clean and put a coat of paint on the steel rim as well. That'll keep any moisture from starting rust which could eventually pop the joint again.

 

[Andrew]

Wooden Steering Wheel

I used a 2 part marine / boat epoxy and it worked great (west system) to join the wood parts together and it sets up fast.
I also used an automotive spray lacquer for the finish coat and it looks fantastic (Jan gave me the note about the auto spray lacquer).

Regards,
Andrew

 

[jumpinjan]

I have restored a few GT wheels. Here is what you have to think about. You don't want to use a glue that you can see under the clearcoat. No black colored glues, etc., the best glue would be clear and you want a glue that will not soften from the clearcoat solvents, heat and so on. That narrows it down to the clear epoxies and thats what I use. I would sand blast the round steel bar if it's rusted, but I wouldn't paint it. You want good adhesion to the steel bar.
Don't remove the old finish untill the wood is reglued back on. It will be hell trying to sand off the excess epoxy from the sanded wood surface, right??? If you have places to fill, DO NOT USE A WOOD PUTTY FILLER. Use the clear epoxy as a filler.
I use an automotive clearcoat high-solids urethane for the finish and spray & sand between many coats, until it looks like glass.
The West system epoxy is the very best. Its nice.

 

[V_Mad]

Interesting to see the variety of methods and materials here.

Separating the wood is tricky and you need to take your time to minimise splitting the wood. I then thoroughly cleaned the metal rim then coated it with rustproofing fluid. Then I cleaned out the wood channel and trial fitted it until it sat neatly on the metal rim. Try to close the gaps as much as possible before glueing. I used "high grab" building adhesive to bond the wood to the metal rim.

After sanding, and filling I used a yacht varnish which resists cracking/peeling due to sun, moisture etc. but this needs to be brushed on quite thinly in 2 or 3 coats or it wont set properly. Sand before the final coat. There are no brush marks showing at all and its a high gloss smooth finish. Lasted two years so far and still looks great.

 

[jez1964]

thanks

Many thanks everybody for all your help

cheers jez