The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Paint steering wheel

I’m getting my steering wheel ready to paint. It has a few very small cracks. What is best to fill these with? It’s a stock steering wheel.

Thx Don

Others have used epoxy filler with good results.🛠

Get it sprayed with bedliner. Way tougher and more flexible than paint and the cracks shouldn't telegraph thru as they very likely will with paint over epoxy filler. The problem with the filler is it's essentially impossible to get good adhesion in the cracks that have been soaking up dirt and crud for 50+ years, so the cracks will still be there just smaller.

Kevin
I plan on opening the cracks before filling. I’m looking for something a little more refined than bed liner.
Martin
Epoxy is what I was thinking of but wasn’t sure if a product was preferred over another.

Thx Don

Bed liner can be put on smooth or with texture, and is available in a bunch of colors besides black. The stuff is tough.
I plan on using it on my running boards and possibly my steering wheel.
Opening the cracks is a good plan. Hope it works well for you.

Okay that’s good to know.

Thanks Don

I used PC-7 epoxy filler on two different wheels. Open up the cracks, clean really well and fill with the epoxy. Painted with top of the line acrylic enamel with hardener. That way you can color match to the interior or column. Glossy on the wheel, semi-gloss on the column and dash. Both painted about 10-15 years ago, still look great. I think Eastwood now sells a kit for doing this. Plan to spend 20 - 30 hours on the project but it is worth it.

2-part 3M panel adhesive works great for this. It has a similar amount of hardness as the steering wheel material which makes feathering it out to a perfect finish a dream. I then spray with epoxy primer, then pain it.

Carl I’ll bet that works great but these cracks are quite small and the 3m would cost about half the price of a new wheel.

Don

I used POR15 Epoxy putty, but they are probably all very similar. Do not use an etch primer (do not use anything with acid) if you use epoxy....the paint will end up bubbling and peeling/chipping off down the road.... the POR15 was fairly easy to sand once it had hardened...

I have also used 3M (bondo) bumper repair. It is a two part product for repairing bumper covers on new vehicles. What I like about it compared to other epoxy products is that it is flexible and black. Look for it on line in places like Walmart.com and Amazon.

I use short strand fiberglass filler on tractor steering wheels and on my 57 wheel. Lots of sanding and shaping but very strong and no recracking so far. Not cheapest but permanent. I agree on the 30 hour comment. I used epoxy primer and epoxy topcoat from "Endura" best coating on planet similar to por15 only better.