Before
After filling cracks
Filled with POR-15
Primer
Ready to go
The POR-15 Steering Wheel...
The POR-15 Steering Wheel Restoration Kit comes with everything except a steering wheel and final color coat. Not only does it come with a drill bit, hacksaw, and file for preparing the cracks for the epoxy putty, it also includes a sprayer for the primer, sanding blocks, sandpapereven the pin to puncture the tube of primer catalyst. An added bonus was the bottle of POR-15 High Gloss Rubbing Compound for that show-quality shine. Those guys think of everything. The instruction booklet is clearly written, easy to follow, and provides plenty of tips for doing the job right.
It seems like lots of guys building customs want a '59-'60 Olds wheel for their heap. It's just one of those things, you know, like DeSoto teeth in a Merc. I picked up a '60 Olds wheel several years agoit came with a 60 Olds bolted to it. When it came time to start redoing the interior, I decided to restore the old cracked wheel instead of going with an aftermarket unit. The 59-60 wheel is unique in that its about a foot deep from the mounting flange to the wheel rim; that means the column is shorter than typical, so to put an aftermarket wheel in my Olds, I was looking at either getting a longer column or cobbling a scary-looking adapter/extension. No, thanks. It seemed much easier to restore the wheel I had.
I ordered a steering wheel restoration kit from POR-15 and got down to brass tacks. Following the instructions provided in the kit, I had all of the cracks in my wheel filled, sanded, and the entire wheel in primer inside of two full daysincluding the time required to let the putty and primer kick. The polyester primer/sealer provided in the kit is catalyzed, and I used the entire pint on my wheel. Once it kicked off, I wet-sanded the wheel and headed over to Scott Guildners shop. I enlisted Guildner to shoot my wheel since I am the run king. He loaded up his detail gun and resprayed it with automotive-finish primer/sealer that was compatible with the paint system I had chosen. Once that was dry, Guildner applied the oh-so-nice light metallic blue that I had selected from his DuPont color book. The paint we used was the ChromaBase system, which is a two-stage system that requires a clearcoat to protect the vulnerable basecoat. Guildner applied the base and clear according to manufacturers specs. The POR-15 primer sealer is impervious to automotive-finish chemistry, so you can use whatever paint system you like.
The kit retails for $69.95 and, considering the cost of a new wheel or having someone do it for you, is worth every penny. Now to drag that steering column out and get to sanding.