Hi all. Recently bought a replacement steering wheel for my '71 C10. The original was too beat up to stand. Anyhow, I'm having a real difficult time removing the hard baked original paint on the wheel. My goal is to get all of the paint off the wheel and just polish the black resin the wheel is made of. I may end up having to paint it a flat black after all. Curious to know what everyone has tried?
So far, I've done the usual hand sanding to start things off. I then followed up with laying on a thick layer of some basic paint stripper and covered it with plastic and let it sit over night. Came back to it with some steel wool and had little success. Problem with sanding it to death is that you start digging into the steering wheel's hard plastic resin.
I think I'd plan on painting the entire wheel. The paint protects the plastic resin from the sun and skin oils.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
I think I'd plan on painting the entire wheel. The paint protects the plastic resin from the sun and skin oils.
Yeah, I think you're right. Maybe its time to switch gears. Just give the wheel a nice thorough sanding and flat black paint. A suggestion was made to me to use the SEM Color Coat paint for the wheel.
If that paint is that difficult to remove, then I'd figure that it would be an excellent base to paint over. The material under that paint may not be ideal to paint over.
1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission
I tried SEM plastic paint and it didn’t work very well for me. I used a plastic adhesion promoter then followed with the SEM. It reacted almost immediately. Apparently the two were not compatible. After letting it dry and having to sand all of the paint off, I bought and used 2k Epoxy in a spray can and it turned out great.
Phil Moderator, The Engine Shop, Interiors and Project Journals
1952 Chevrolet 3100, Three on the Tree, 4:11 torque tube Updated to: ‘59 235 w/hydraulic lifters, 12v w/alternator, HEI, PCV and Power front Disc Brakes Project Journals Stovebolt Gallery Forum
Just a thought on flat black paint, if you use it on the steering wheel it will become shiny from wear and oil from your hands. After some use it will look like satin black, probably not in a consistent pattern.
1957 Chevrolet 5700 LCF 283 SM420 2 speed rear, 1955 IH 300U T/A, 1978 Corvette 350 auto, 1978 Yamaha DT175, 1999 Harley Davidson Softail Fat Boy
I tried SEM plastic paint and it didn’t work very well for me. I used a plastic adhesion promoter then followed with the SEM. It reacted almost immediately. Apparently the two were not compatible. After letting it dry and having to sand all of the paint off, I bought and used 2k Epoxy in a spray can and it turned out great.
Thanks a lot for the tip. Looks like I'll be getting the 2K paint.
Originally Posted by 78buckshot
Just a thought on flat black paint, if you use it on the steering wheel it will become shiny from wear and oil from your hands. After some use it will look like satin black, probably not in a consistent pattern.
Great point. My idea was to make the steering wheel look used and worn to keep the theme of the patina truck. I think it'll be one of things that you just do and get used to over time. :-)
My truck has its original wheelthat has a satin sheen as PHAK suggests, but the rest of the truck looks like it just came out of a wrecking yard. The constant handling keeps it burnished.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
My truck has its original wheelthat has a satin sheen as PHAK suggests, but the rest of the truck looks like it just came out of a wrecking yard. The constant handling keeps it burnished.
