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How to refinish the faux wood steering wheel

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Old December 26th, 2015 | 09:41 AM
  #1  
lemoldsnut's Avatar
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How to refinish the faux wood steering wheel

I have what I believe is a 68 Rosewood or what ever they want to call it fake wood (plastic) 3 spoke steering wheel. I have been thinking of putting it in our 67 Convertible for some time. It had cracks and those have been repaired and that is obvious due to the color difference. It is a nice wheel and it is the right diameter to allow seeing all the instrumentation when driving. Currently I have a Grant GT Real Walnut wheel on it. That is nice but is not the best for viewing the gas gauge or speedo.
I have a nice original wheel the one out of this car. But, I don't like how they feel and look. So, I will just keep it on the wall. The other thought is using a 4 spoke rally wheel. they look awesome and feel good when driving.


So, my question is how do I refinish the rosewood wheel to make it look nice? I mean a good step by step layout to refinish it.

I hunted for a past thread on it but I have not been very successful at searching on this site.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Larry
Old December 26th, 2015 | 10:09 AM
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Unfortunately, the "woodgrain" is molded into the plastic, so the only "refinishing" possible is to use paint to faux-woodgrain the surface. That's going to be difficult on the small diameter cross section. If you have unlimited bucks, you can have it recast by one of the wheel restoration services like Gary's. They do phenomenal work, but you pay for it (like $700 and up).
Old December 26th, 2015 | 11:08 AM
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just google it...theres at least 1000 pages on it..some step by step stuff that is really detailed..


youll never get the "grain" back but you can do some amazing stuff and get the "look" of wood

lots of faux finishes all over the net for home and furniture projects
Old December 26th, 2015 | 12:51 PM
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http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/475.cfm
Old December 26th, 2015 | 06:07 PM
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Originally Posted by 1969w3155
Awesome article

now I gotta go check my wheel and see if it has been repaired! It sure looked good to me when I bought it.
Old December 27th, 2015 | 08:00 AM
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Originally Posted by 1969w3155



I used this when I repaired my 68 steering wheel 4 or 5 years ago. The repair has held up well. One thing I did not do but would highly recommend is dying the epoxy. My paint matched fairly well but it's worn off at the 12 o'clock position and the clear epoxy can be seen now. If it was dyed it would be much less noticeable.
Old December 27th, 2015 | 08:04 AM
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Thank you very much that is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.

Larry
Old December 28th, 2015 | 04:47 PM
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I used the info from this link today. I had the testors paints and it was perfect. Looks awesome.

Thanks
Larry
Old December 28th, 2015 | 08:11 PM
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pics...pics...or it didnt happen..lol
Old January 20th, 2016 | 09:09 AM
  #10  
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Ok here is a few before and after pics. Not perfect but a vast improvement.

Your thoughts???
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
DSCN0884.JPG (533.3 KB, 53 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0885.JPG (630.8 KB, 43 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0886.JPG (613.6 KB, 47 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0897.JPG (916.0 KB, 55 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0898.JPG (1.06 MB, 59 views)
Old January 20th, 2016 | 09:46 AM
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Looks good to me ,and if you and your family are satisfied ,who else matters.Congratulations, on a job well done. Larry
Old January 20th, 2016 | 12:59 PM
  #12  
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It looks really good. I plan on doing mine as well.
Old January 20th, 2016 | 01:27 PM
  #13  
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Well done
Old January 20th, 2016 | 01:29 PM
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I have custom painted probably 400 Motorcycles in my lifetime ,and the only thing that I would do differently, would be to use clear epoxy paint as a topcoat..It will not rub through nearly as easily as lacquer or enamel based paint. Larry
Old January 20th, 2016 | 02:51 PM
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sweet..id drive it...
Old January 21st, 2016 | 03:31 AM
  #16  
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Going to put it in the 67 Convertible. I have a grant walnut wheel in it now. I have the original black factory wheel in better than average shape but never liked them. So it will stay on the shop wall next to the original emblems and stuff I replaced when we painted the car.
I used Napa Tecnique Lacquer Clear. It has 3 good coats. If it wears it was really not that hard to paint so could redo it when the time comes.

Wood grain formula for Testers paints as on the video is:
Red 4 drops
Green 8 drops
Gold 2 drops

I multiplied that to get a larger quantity and you do not mix till after all is in a container. Used a testers throw away brush with a zillion small strokes to give it a grainy look.

I am happy with it.
Old January 21st, 2016 | 04:38 AM
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One thing I have experienced over time is the epoxy has bulged slightly and the repair area is more noticeable. I'm not sure how to prevent it but it may have to do with the fact that the wheel was repaired when the temperature was lower than when I'm usually using the car. I'm going to re-sand and repaint the wheel this spring. I like the idea of the small brush strokes and recreating the wood grain




Did you end up coloring the epoxy? It looks slightly beige in the pics
Old January 22nd, 2016 | 01:20 PM
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Another method to achieve the wood grain look is with a pipe cleaner.Thin Testors black paint with a little thinner,dip the pipe cleaner in the thinned black paint, then roll it on a paper towel just enough to keep it from dripping,then with a (wiggling motion),apply it (Lightly ) to give th grain effect.
You may want to practice on an extra paint paddle, just to perfect the grain effect,before doing it to the painted wheel. Larry

Last edited by Rocketowner; January 22nd, 2016 at 01:25 PM. Reason: Add info
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