brianp454
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- Portland, OR
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removing the steering wheel
- Thread starter maddawg308
- Start date
I got a replacement NOS steering wheel, it looks nice but the horn cavity rim is deformed, I assume from being stacked in storage for many years.
The old steering wheel I got off, finally, with an air hammer. I destroyed it in the process, but it was really in bad shape and not really salvageable. Many weeks of penetrating oil and smacking around with various contraptions with no success until the air hammer.
Old steering wheel
Fixing the deformations isn't straightforward. The horn button assembly gets hung up and the horn assembly cover wont fit since the lip it stretches over is bent outward, making the lip to large. It also has some cracks in it.
Gentle heat gives it some flexibility. I used CAT5 (network) cable to gently pry the lip up after heating, then using the cable as a spacer. After it cooled, I removed the cable. Then I used the old horn button cover to get even pressure to get it back to round and lifted after heating it for awhile. This seems to be effective to get close.
I suspended the heat gun with a rope
After letting it warm for awhile, I flipped it upside down with some weight to straighten it.
For the cracks, I plan to reinforce this with epoxy on the interior of the horn button cavity. I should have enough room with it being back round. Will a layer of epoxy be sufficient to keep this together? The cracks are on the thin part where the horn button cover ring slips into.
The old steering wheel I got off, finally, with an air hammer. I destroyed it in the process, but it was really in bad shape and not really salvageable. Many weeks of penetrating oil and smacking around with various contraptions with no success until the air hammer.
Old steering wheel
Fixing the deformations isn't straightforward. The horn button assembly gets hung up and the horn assembly cover wont fit since the lip it stretches over is bent outward, making the lip to large. It also has some cracks in it.
Gentle heat gives it some flexibility. I used CAT5 (network) cable to gently pry the lip up after heating, then using the cable as a spacer. After it cooled, I removed the cable. Then I used the old horn button cover to get even pressure to get it back to round and lifted after heating it for awhile. This seems to be effective to get close.
I suspended the heat gun with a rope
After letting it warm for awhile, I flipped it upside down with some weight to straighten it.
For the cracks, I plan to reinforce this with epoxy on the interior of the horn button cavity. I should have enough room with it being back round. Will a layer of epoxy be sufficient to keep this together? The cracks are on the thin part where the horn button cover ring slips into.