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I'm looking at buying an OEM 4 spoke steering wheel for my 72 Cutlass Supreme and have read a lot of chatter about the wheels being "sticky". What causes this, can it be cleaned, and once cleaned, will the stickiness come back?
I've purchased in my life time some items which did the same thing - in particular, handles on various tools, etc. You'd think they'd get it right. Maybe some things they (various manufacturers) thought they'd either save the expense of the final process (step) or (heaven forbid) they thought it would be better by being sticky? Charlie Goodyear got it right - vulcanization.
I tried an alternate route 18 months ago. I cleaned the wheel with naptha and sent it to have a leather cover put on it so it would color-match my interior.
The stickiness may saturate the leather one day, but no trace so far.
Incidentally, if the wheel proportions look a bit strange, that is a Starfire wheel (smaller diameter), but the materials of construction are identical to the Cutlass N34 Custom Sport Wheel.
They probably didn't intend for these wheels to have a 50+ year lifespan so the sticky reaction over time wasn't even a consideration. Once I wipe my sport steering wheels with full strength Simple Green on a rag, they're fine for a few years. I have two 1968-70 Mighty Tonka Shovels whose yellow rubber handles gas out the same way and get sticky.
Terry
I tried an alternate route 18 months ago. I cleaned the wheel with naptha and sent it to have a leather cover put on it so it would color-match my interior.
VC, that looks terrific. Where did you have the cover done? I'm considering doing the same for mine, even if I get a somewhat universal kit from Amazon/eBay for me to try covering it myself.
My wheel is a horrid reproduction that's some sort of red rubber, coated with a shiny layer of thin black vinyl (?) paint. The black coating is flaking off, leaving some sort of adhesive in its place. Anything--even my own DIY job with one of those universal kits--would be better.
April 29th, 2019, 12:51 PM
