Eddie Hansen

As I said previously I didn't want to paint the whole wheel, so I called the folks at pc coatings great folks, and asked about their pigment kit after reading about a repair here where the fella added carbon to the epoxy, they said it would work, so here I am adding the raw umber to the mix, the mix comes with several colors
raw umber, sienna ( goldish) yellow, red, black and brown so I started with part a and added colour till I thought it looked right

Eddie Hansen

I used some popsicle sticks to force the epoxy into the cuts, kept pressing it in, a little at a time till it squeezed through the crack on the other side, then forced it in that side too, I imagine it will take a few applications and i will alter the colors a little to get that swirling look of the original plastic, here is one of the repaired cracks

Eddie Hansen

I'll cut clean the spokes with a razor after it sets a bit, but for a first attempt and initial application i think the colors are close, I have to wait a good while before I start shaping the goo, the pc 7 has a good viscosity and there is little sagging, will check it in a little while to make sure it is staying put, what i do not want to do is to try to push too hard now and form microscopic cracks or seperations between the original material and the epoxy so even if it sags a little I;ll add more goop later
some more pics

Eddie Hansen

Eddie Hansen

ok it will be a few hours before this sets up so this all for now..
I have it set out on a plastic lid, waiting and waiting
sorry for all the pics but it explains the process better

Eddie Hansen

this is how the pigments come, I tried pc-11 and pc-7, the 11 was too light for my applications, the pc 7 was best so far and it is the same as sold my eastwood

jon69olds

I think I have the same wheel in very similar condition. What is the name of the product you used? How hard of a repair is this on a scale of 1-10 10 being the hardest?
Thanks,
Jon

Eddie Hansen

jon I used pc-7, eastwood sells it for a steering wheel repair, I bought mine direct , but as a caveat I just started today, I read threw a ton of threads, and a buch of places on the web, but thought I would take a chance and try the pigment. I do not know how this will turn out, but I am hoping!!!
http://www.pcepoxy.com/

because they had the pigment, so far it seems to be about a 3? but I just started and we will see how it goes, I didn't want to paint, what I will do after it is all repaired is use some z-poxy finishing resin which i know dries hard and can be wet sanded and later polished

Eddie Hansen

well it took a good 24 hours to really harden where I thought i could sand it without clogging the paper like crazy, I cut down all the "big" globs using a rasp, then used 60 grit paper for the cutting down, I used a piece of paint stirrer so I wouldn't gouge the epoxy as it is softer then the plastic and you could gouge it like body filler, it came out ok, I could have added some more pigment! too late now

Eddie Hansen

I used finer paper but only to about 150 grit, as I have some small gaps that will need additional epoxy, I will make this batch a little darker, and will make some deeper scratches to get that swirling effect and camoflage the repair, but all in all it came out close, I think now I should have found some copper pigment as the plastic seems to have some metallic in it?

Eddie Hansen

I left the larger scratches in, and I think the epoxy might be slightly porous, so I brushed it with some black lacquer, then immediately wiped it off, it seemed to darken or stain the epoxy! neat!!

Eddie Hansen

I still have to go back and fill some minor spots where the first application didn't fill all the way, I am going to experiment with makeing some deeper scatches that will cover the area where the plastic was missing over to the plastic wheel, I am also going to try to rub the epoxy and wheel with some wood stains to see if i can hide it more, I will sand the whole wheel down now with 220, then 320, then 400, then I will see if I will apply the finishing resin.

The sanding is messy by the way, and epoxy is dangerous so where a mask, and you should wear some gloves and a long sleeve shirt as the dust is an irritant.

will keep you posted..

Eddie Hansen

I went back and filled some minor spots with jb weld quik and used the pigment again, this actually looked a lot closer to the original colour but this seemed slightky softer then the pc 7 , I then sanded everything used 100 grit, then 180, 220, 320, 400 and finally wet sanded with 600 grit, I then used a lacquer based sanding sealer which had a slight amber color, and added some pigment to that not a lot, it made a kind of candy color brushed this over the repairs, I then wet sanded it after it dried, the repairs became nearly invisible and you really have to look now.

I will wait till this hardens and shoot a coat of automotive clear or two. here are the repairs

Eddie Hansen

I noticed that the original plastic has a kind of copper metallic in it, I didn't have any copper, but I did have some gold pigment and some red, so I mixed a dab of this into the clear sanding sealer, it was pretty hardened this am, so i wiped it down with a tack cloth and shot a couple of coats of automotive clear out of a rattle can cause I had it, probably a two part clear would have been better but this looks great

you will not know it has been repaired by looking at it, you REALLY have to look here it is already dry but letting it harden a bit in the sun.. here you can see the original gold "swirl and one repair

Eddie Hansen

last few pics

Eddie Hansen

just read back over this and for being a non professional I am more then happy with the results
original

lil_no

Nice work... It looks really good and can't even notice repairs from pics. I'll have to do that repair also somewhere down the line.

Eddie Hansen

Thanks for the kudos, hoping it would help others I saw a guy repairing online it was in the 3-400 range!!! and i do not think it was a recast, so i felt it was the better way to go for my application anyway

1969w3155

Good job! looks pretty good. I am waiting until warmer weather before I start working on mine. I will need to get the correct hub and horn button. Fusick has the horn contact, so i will be good there.

Eddie Hansen

Thank you, I need to find a place that sells the right interior paint, and I will redo my column, and repaint the hub, I bought one from the parts place on fleabay, I bought the horn button from a member here, so I will get a new contact and the screw kit, weather is getting warmer so looking forward to getting back in the garage!!!

Indy_68_S

Wow. Very nice work Eddie ! ...and a great writeup/tutorial as well !

Eddie Hansen

well not sure what happened with the previous photos, I had to edit the steering wheel and use the pics I posted on my FB page,

as far as my progress ZERO
none , nada, zipp,

I wonder if this happens to all of us, had great big plans for the summer months and well life kinda takes over, been busy at work, traveling, and then my daughter is switching colleges, then getting her back, wow where does the time go???

I hope to get some stuff done shortly if I can get a few weekends to rub together, I am nervous about the motor, she is all wrapped up in shrink wrap etc but I would feel much better having her installed in the chasis so I could start it once in awhile, I know I will have to go through all the priming etc..

anyway feel like such a slacker...

Lady72nRob71

Eddie, you slacker!
For a while I almost thought the elephant stomped you...
It happens to all of us. However, if I can keep my motivation in the hottest TX summer on record, anyone can.
We want progress, so get on out there and get her back together before winter!

Eddie Hansen

No but it has been extremely busy... I am not pacaderm toe-jam yet LOL EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW


anyway not sure about getting her done, but if I get the components back into the chasis I would feel like I got a small victory... I have been reading everyone elses posts and just drooling!!!!

And as Hard as I tried when my daughters sable's tranny went ( 2200 ) I could not talk her or the missus into finding a nice cutlass s replacement car!!! narrow minded women in my house LOL....

Thanks for the encouragement though...

Eddie Hansen

ok, well no progress, My bumper did arrive and I will post some pics as soon as I get a few minutes to rub together, but I have been reading everyone's posts and threads to keep get motivated and came across this little thread regarding the FE2 suspension,

Now a long story when I bought my car It was badged as a 442, knowing no better then, there was no internet etc I said ok, thought it was peculiar with a 4 speed, posi rear, but had a 350 2 bbl? thought it was the highway version, anyway fast forward quite a few years and realize it is a cutlass s ( vin tag etc ) but what is strange is i see this thread on the fe2 suspension and my convertible has this as well, is this normal for verts? or do I have some kind of freak... I have these same extra brackets that KJR442 posted (this is his picture btw )




I am not really worried about pure originality, I am just motoring along building her the way I want it, I have already converted to 4 wheel disc brakes, I have the 455 rebuilt, the 4 speed rebuilt the posi rebuilt, but trying to look original somewhat while upgrading her for driving she was my daily driver for 20 years LOL... but just wondering what possessed the guy who ordered this car to order a 4 speed posi, then a 350 2 bbl and then sport suspension?

Indy_68_S

Not standard on 'verts, but (AFAIK) the FE2 susp could be ordered on any F-85/Cutlass/etc... With FE2 you got the braces, a rear sway bar & different shocks...(again...AFAIK)

Eddie Hansen

ok, it has been a long while since any progress has been made.

I have been cleaning and reorganizing the shop the last few weeks getting ready for the next push. I have ordered some new parts getting ready to lower the body back on the frame, and getting back to eating this elephant, so far the Motor, tranny, diff, and suspension have been done, I want to clean up the underside of the floor a little before I put the body back on the chasis. I also bought a second set of body mounts from inline tube, and the bolt kit, I had the set from year one ( and a bolt kit set) but I think I prefer the in-line tube set better. and definately the bolts are a better "match" for originals.

I also dry fitted the quarter panel up against the old panel, and with all said it looks pretty darn good.

anyway I just wanted to give an update and not that the car was going back into a slumber, I plan on dropping the motor in so I can at least start it up and circulate some oil, as said the tranny is done, will put that in and hopefully take a larger bite out of the elephant

pics to follow.....

Eddie Hansen

I was able to upgrade a few tools for the shop too.. I found a very reasonably priced plasma cutter it is a hypertherm 20 which will be great trimming bits when I get to the sheet metal, and I need to upgrade my mig... but getting there...... I also bought a vintage part washer LOL... wish I had it last year LOL but was a great price....

skryla

Go eddie go!

Eddie Hansen

Well thanks stan, getting a good jump on it this "season" and once she is back on her feet I know I will be on it like a hobo on a baloney sandwich... LOL .....

just clearing out the measely one car garage from all the clutter was a big job LOL.... looking forward to posting progress....

Lady72nRob71

Little overdue for a quarterly update...
You are reaching the top of the hill - keep pushing! When reassy begins, it is all downhill - and more fun!
I imagine the elephant is getting a little stale tasting now?

Eddie Hansen

Rob this elephant was stale when I started LOL... but I know what you mean, I do have to keep within a budget, last year the engine, tranny and Diff, ate it quickly, and now I am ready for this years push.....
will keep u posted.

Eddie Hansen

OK shop is cleaned, getting back to work on the irom maiden lol I plan to clean up the underside of the floors and trunk etc, I also want to get some parts I want a new gas tank does anyone make a stocker in stainless ? Or do I just paint one? I want to spray undercoating on after I por 15 anybody have brand suggestions? I will have some questions regarding lowering the body onto the frame but first I want to tackle the underside which is clean and partially done just some cosmetics I bought the por15 putty and filler I also bought por15 solvent which appears to be just naptha.
Thanks in advance

Eddie Hansen

back to eating this elephant LOL...

I picked up some stripper discs at harbor freight, these things look like a grinding wheel, but much much softer, they worked well, I managed to get a good start on the underside ( pics to follow), it is amazing how clean the underside actually is, and the rockers panels seem good, I am cleaning up some small weld seams from when I replaced pieces in the floor, thank god there aren't too many of them, I will also being doing some cosmetics around the tunnel and by the 4 speed hole as this was a little butchered by the P.O.. I picked up some POR 15 putty which is a thick Por15 and Por 15 filler so I will see how that works...

I also want to pick up a better respirator as the particles flow freely out of this disc, and even wit the mask i was spitting out black crap not impressed, anyway I figure I have probably a few days work to finish the main floor pan , less if I can work on it exclusively, but there were mother day honey do's so I only got a few hours on saturday.

Anyway I don't know if you guys are interested in this juggernaut, but I will keep posting LOL...

Eddie Hansen

I am happy at least to get a few hours in the shop I worked on the underside again yesterday, stripping off some paint and cleaning the tunnel, it is a very long and tedious job, and man it,s dirty work, I do not have a lift, so i am under the car, with sanders, grinders, brushes, and scrapers, and it seems I am the drop cloth. I am happy I got a better dust mask, the tunnel is nearly finished, as well as the flat parts of the floor, after the honey do,s today hoping to get back under and do another bit. I thought I could get her done in a day, but some of the underside paint is resisting my attempts at helping it lol... anyway will snap some pics underneath today getting closer to putting the body on.
One interesting thing I found was the overspray? My car was originally glade green, and that is what is on the trim tag, but the over spray is this metallic teal color. I. Think that was a special order colour, and I was thinking back to that special order thread, I wondered if they originally started to paint this a teal, then got the order for glade green? Doesn't matter really, just found it interesting...yes pics to follow :-)

Eddie Hansen

ok yesterday worked some more on finishing and cleaning up the tunnel, and grinding smooth the few welds, went pretty well, I then wiped all the stripped metal with some lacquer thinner, then applied por 15 down the tunnel. BTW Naptha is what Por-15 uses for a solvent, I was caref ul and wore rubber gloves, I appiled the Por 15 with a sponge brush and I have to say it looks pretty darn good. ( yes pics coming )

Eddie Hansen

here is a pic of the underside, this was the "teal" looking overspray

Eddie Hansen

here I have gound down all the welds and removed the paint in the tunnel, pretty clean


after a coat of POR 15 shiney!!!

Eddie Hansen

all in all it is pretty clean underneath, original fllors seem excellent compared to some I have seen

Eddie Hansen

just to show how small a space I have to work in here's the garage I know tiny, but it is mine and it is inside..LOL I like it..