STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels

[cericd]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

The wheels that are not painted can be buffed to a high gloss.

Hey FirstOwner69, same question. What can be safely used to polish up the in painted wheels?

[djeCST]

Mine was cracked in about every place imaginable. Every joint between the spokes and the hub or rim were separated.





It took a bit of work, but now it looks like new.

[Chevyland]

^Wow djecst, that turned out nice^

Here is a perfect example of the grain wearing off
155,000 miles of comfort grip
Smooth everywhere except where the hands don't touch it
You can see how more is worn off on your left hand
Probably because it is so comfortable to drive these with your elbow out the window. Gripping the wheel right in that spot

[flaa1a]

I really just want to put a 67-68 wheel on my 72!

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by cericd

I have a wheel that looks like the wheel on the left. What are folks using to bring the shine back safely?

Originally Posted by cericd

Hey FirstOwner69, same question. What can be safely used to polish up the in painted wheels?

I used the method below on my black seat belt buckles and some other miscellaneous pieces. I don't see any reason it wouldn't work on the steering wheels with the color cast into the plastic.

First, I used 400-1000 grit sandpaper to remove fine scratches. Following that, I buffed them with the white rouge compound and a soft flannel buff that I use as the final step in polishing stainless. I used VERY light pressure to avoid softening or melting the plastic. The buckles look new. You may want to practice first on something that's not as valuable as your steering wheel.

[leddzepp]

Mine, currently have a 65 Chevelle installed in its place. Grain worn down, no cracks.

[saxart]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Mine, currently have a 65 Chevelle installed in its place. Grain worn down, no cracks.

Nice wheel. How are these different than a 69-72 truck wheel?

[Already Gone]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

Here are pictures of the original from my '69. Just small cracks. I covered it about 1972 (20,000 miles?) with a lace-on leather cover because it felt greasy when it was hot. I removed the cover in 2010 (118,000 miles) and retired it in favor of a leather wheel from a 1994 S10 Blazer LT because I like the smaller size and fatter rim. The truck was outside its first 3 years southern California and usually outside in relatively cool Wisconsin until about 1990 when I stored it in a garage.

You got me thinking now. I removed the one from my truck in 2015 ( bought the truck in 2014 ) and like yours has the lace wrap around it and was that way when I bought the truck. When I removed it I left the lace on and stuck it up on a shelf in my garage. You have me intrigued as to its condition under the lace so I think I'll bring it in the house remove the lace and see what I have.

[HO455]

My Burban had a 80's/90's steering column and wheel in it when I bought it. (Yes the 2nd photo is of the column I removed, nice upgrade!) That was one first things to go. I found a wheel listed on C/L with a bunch of other odd stuff. It took three weeks to actually talk with the people who listed it. When I finally got to meet up with them I found out the wheel had been hanging on the wall of her art gallery since 1977 along with a bunch of 50's Ford chrome bits and other stuff. She had painted it a Hunter green and under that it looks to be the correct color for my 503 green truck. We tried to get the dark green off but it didn't want to come off. It ended up black when my buddy who was helping with the rest of the steering column replacement painted it when he painted the column, so now I have two layers of paint to remove.
Has anyone successfully stripped paint off a wheel without damaging it? If so how did you do it?

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by Already Gone

You got me thinking now. I removed the one from my truck in 2015 ( bought the truck in 2014 ) and like yours has the lace wrap around it and was that way when I bought the truck. When I removed it I left the lace on and stuck it up on a shelf in my garage. You have me intrigued as to its condition under the lace so I think I'll bring it in the house remove the lace and see what I have.

Let us know what you find.

As a side note the '94 leather Blazer wheel I mentioned in my post also had a cover on it when I found it in the junkyard. When I removed it, the wheel looked like it had never been used.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

They all had grain originally. Those that are smooth have had the grain gradually worn off through use. It also appears there were two different grain patterns on the rim. I have always believed those with the finer grain, such as mine, were the truck wheels and those with the larger grain pattern were from the 70s vans. It's also possible the larger grain is just one stage of the wear process that mine never got to. I believe the reproduction wheels also have the smaller grain pattern, but the grain is much "sharper" than I recall the originals ever being. However, that may only be my imagination.

The wheels that are not painted can be buffed to a high gloss.

No kidding, all the "truck" wheels were like yours, post 13?

The replacement I bought may may have been painted. I say this not just because it's duller than my others wheels, but by the looks of the part number. If my junk wheel survives it, I think I'll try some brake fluid on the area, see what happens. If it's painted I'll have it soda blasted.

What tools & materials do you recommend for buffing?

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402

No kidding, all the "truck" wheels were like yours, post 13?

The replacement I bought may may have been painted. I say this not just because it's duller than my others wheels, but by the looks of the part number. If my junk wheel survives it, I think I'll try some brake fluid on the area, see what happens. If it's painted I'll have it soda blasted.

What tools & materials do you recommend for buffing?

All the early 2 spoke wheels I've seen were like the one from my '69. It's possible that the later wheels were more like those I've seen in vans due to a change in supplier or a running design change. It's also possible that the reason more black wheels seem to have survived is that the black wheels were, as special-K noted in post 11, used in vans from 73-78 and may have been purchased to replace cracked wheels in trucks. Does anyone have additional info?

See post 31 for buffing info.

[DeadheadNM]

From what I know the 69-72 wheels had part # 9749753 whereas the later style wheels (vans?) had part # 335212. The grain pattern differed between the two. I have the later style wheel on my k20 and it's just as shiny as the OEM examples I have for 69-72 but the rim diameter feels slightly larger - I like the grip feel best with this style.

There are also differences in the wheel hubs as shown in this thread here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=575539

Here's what was a NOS saddle 69-72 wheel that I bolted on to a painted tilt column in my green Blazer with a repro horn button (that's an old school sew up grip protector removed from an early 60s one ton suburban).

[DeadheadNM]

Here is an OEM 69-72 wheel I removed from a low mileage motor home that came from WA. It had a sew up grip protector. Nice crisp grain and nice shine.

[DeadheadNM]

Here's the later style wheel in my k20 - note how the grain pattern differs from the other. Same style as that shown in the top pic post #18.

[FirstOwner69]

Thanks for the pictures, Pete. They show exactly the differences I was talking about.

Jim

[Old_Gold]

This is the sandalwood wheel I just replaced. Closest I could find was the repop in saddle, is ebay the only place to find anything in sandalwood?

[Chevyland]

Originally Posted by Old_Gold

This is the sandalwood wheel I just replaced. Closest I could find was the repop in saddle, is ebay the only place to find anything in sandalwood?

I don't think there is a repop of sandalwood. The wheel that came out of my blazer in post 23 was just as bad as yours. They just didn't hold up. Saddle is the next best choice.

[Chevyland]

Here's a green one
Anyone out there have one with no cracks?

[Old_Gold]

That is what I thought, and thanks for the quick verification!
Jim

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Here's the later style wheel in my k20 - note how the grain pattern differs from the other. Same style as that shown in the top pic post #18.

Now I see the difference. All three of mine are like this one, only with little grain along the rim.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

I used the method below on my black seat belt buckles and some other miscellaneous pieces. I don't see any reason it wouldn't work on the steering wheels with the color cast into the plastic.

First, I used 400-1000 grit sandpaper to remove fine scratches. Following that, I buffed them with the white rouge compound and a soft flannel buff that I use as the final step in polishing stainless. I used VERY light pressure to avoid softening or melting the plastic. The buckles look new. You may want to practice first on something that's not as valuable as your steering wheel.

Very cool. What do you recommend to the novice for a tool? Speak of which.......maybe... at some point I may have to invest in a good light weight angle grinder. Especially with the frame coming up.

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402

Very cool. What do you recommend to the novice for a tool? Speak of which.......maybe... at some point I may have to invest in a good light weight angle grinder. Especially with the frame coming up.

I use buffing materials from Eastwood for all my metal (and plastic) polishing. Here's a link to buffing videos from their website:
https://garage.eastwood.com/videos/?...sc&wpv_paged=1

Here's another Eastwood link that shows a small canton flannel buff on a die grinder that would probably do the trick on plastic in lieu of expensive equipment:
http://www.eastwood.com/canton-flannel-buff-wheel.html

[OregonNed]

Originally Posted by djeCST

Mine was cracked in about every place imaginable. Every joint between the spokes and the hub or rim were separated.





It took a bit of work, but now it looks like new.

That looks nice!

[dennislbrooks]

67 custom