1963 Comet Steering Wheel Repair

This is the donor wheel obtained from an auto dismantler for 15 dollars. I chose to keep my original wheel on the car so I could continue to drive while doing the repair. This cost me an extra 15 dollars since I had to purchase another wheel. I found an inexpensive and badly damaged wheel from a 63 Falcon in Oregon (on eBay). Since I was going to fill in all the defects in the plastic, it did not matter that the wheel was very worn. Several chunks of plastic were missing in several areas see the front lower section in the photo on the right.

The wheel was cleaned and degreased. Then POR-15 putty was used to fill in any cracks and missing plastic sections. The wheel was sanded smooth - a 1/4 inch dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it worked well for the tight curves. The wheel was then primed and this allowed for the easy identification of more defects and incompletely repaired cracks. POR-15 putty was applied, sanded, and primed again until the finish was satisfactory.

The wheel was sprayed with several coats of paint and lightly sanded, then reattached to the car. I chose red instead of black to give the interior a little more contrast. The wheel is much better than the original cracked wheel! What a great way to show off that awesome silver Mercury Man in the center of the horn ring!.........To return to the previous page, click on your broswers back button.