Steering Wheel Source

[bobw]

A while back I mentioned that I had met a local guy who does steering wheel restoration for Sunbeams.

Some of you were interested is his contact info so here it is.

I spoke with him this morning to find out if it would be OK to give his contact info, and obviously it is.

His services are:

Repair/restore steering column covers.
Complete steering wheel restoration.
Steering wheel repair (small crack repair of rim and hub).
Re-pour of the plastic hub section (SIII to SV/Tiger only).
Repair of tiger wood rims.
Rimming wheels with hardwood (I saw these, they look very nice).
He mentioned he currently has several hand made wood rimmed wheels available, and more later this summer.

Contact is:
Ken Corbin
303-364-5787
He is in Aurora CO.

Tell him Jarrid from Arvada sent you.

This thread was started in the Stock Alpine forum, but since these wheels aren't stock, I moved it over here. I spoke with Ken a couple of days ago and again today. He sent me some pictures of his work which I'm posting here. Ed doesn't have a computer, so he had a friend send them. As Jarrid mentioned, he has several wheels on hand. You need to send him your old wheel, horn rim, etc. and a check for $400 and he sends you a rebuilt one ready to install.

If you would like to see some higher resolution pictures:
http://bob-white.com/photos/alpine/KenCorbin-Steering-Wheels/index.html

Bob W.

 

[puff4]

The wood rims are pretty, but they seem a little 'fat' to my eye... does he not make thinner wood ones somewhat more like the originals?

 

[bobw]

They are definitely fatter. I think he considers it a feature. You should probably give him a call if you're interested to see what he has to say. I'm going to order one but it will be a few weeks before the Alpine is running and I can actually drive with it. It will make a nice compliment to the wood dash I bought from Rick Ryan. I will post some pictures of the dash once it's finished.

(BTW, In my last post, when I said Ed doesn't have a computer it should have been Ken doesn't have a computer.)

Bob W.

 

[puff4]

Yeah, see, I think the whole look is ruined by a fat wheel... the point of the Alpine's styling is lightness, grace and elegance, and a fat wheel kind of contradicts those design principles IMHO.

 

[RootesRacer]

Yeah, see, I think the whole look is ruined by a fat wheel... the point of the Alpine's styling is lightness, grace and elegance, and a fat wheel kind of contradicts those design principles IMHO.

He has to bond the wood to the stock rim frame so I imagine it has to be large enough for that to work out.

He does to repairs to stock tiger wheels, so if you have one of those, you get the look you are probably after.

 

[go faster]

I have one of Ken's rebuilt steering wheels and it is a very sharp, well done piece of work, I would highly recommend them

 

[mikephillips]

Thing to do is to remove the plastic from the rim and leave only the circular rod underneath. Then you have exactly what the original wood wheel used and can add a wood rim like the originals.

 

[bobw]

I received the steering wheel from Ken Corbin a couple of weeks ago, but just now getting the photos posted. This wheel is made of Mesquite. When I bought it, I didn't realize it was cut down to 14 inch diameter, so I will see how I like it in a couple of months when the car is running.

Higher resolution photos at:
http://bob-white.com/photos/alpine/steering-wheel/index.html

 

[skywords]

This reminds of a post on the bus forum I belong to. I have a 1965
MC5A greyhound and the steering wheel is very large diameter. Many people with older buses like mine want to get rid of their large beautiful steering wheels and replace them with a modern smaller wheel. I made the offer to buy their old steering wheels at whatever the cost was for a new one but my mistake was telling the reason I like the old wheels better. Not a single taker. Ha

 

[Bill Blue]

This reminds of a post on the bus forum I belong to. I have a 1965
MC5A greyhound and the steering wheel is very large diameter. Many people with older buses like mine want to get rid of their large beautiful steering wheels and replace them with a modern smaller wheel. I made the offer to buy their old steering wheels at whatever the cost was for a new one but my mistake was telling the reason I like the old wheels better. Not a single taker. Ha

I imagine it is the same reason I won't even look at the modern wheels even though I can probably make up some sort of adaptor using the old hub.

Bill

 

[tdoman]

thanks to all for the feedback!

This helps me get a good start in the right direction.