Painted steering wheels

[ground hugger]

Hi
Ive noticed a few people painting there steering wheels white/black.
How do they stand up to wear and tear over time ?
As anyone powder coated there steering wheel ?
I've ordered some milliput today so I can do a repair on mine,and don't know whats best to paint/coat it in.
Cheers...Dave

 

[Doris]

If you check out the finish on the how2 thread I done,I used Halfords Satin Black car spray. It seems to hold up well enough,however with wear it will tend to go shinier. If I were going white, I'd use extra coats!

not sure whether powder coating would work,as its my understanding that the object needs to have a electrical contact so as to be electrified.maybe can vbe done through the metal on the boss???

 

[Bookwus]

Hiya Dave,

Yes, as Doris has already mentioned the plastic portion of the wheel is the problem insofar as powder coating goes. Not only will it not conduct the needed electricity, it would not stand up to the subsequent high temperatures needed to afix the powder coating.

I redid my steering wheel about two years ago. The prepped wheel was primered and given three coats of color followed by three coats of clear. All enamel. It has not held up well. During the summer with my hot little hands on the wheel the clear started "melting" with use. Left my hands a bit sticky. If I were going to redo the wheel I'd be looking for a paint (perhaps a lacquer) with better wear characteristics.

 

[ground hugger]

Cheers Doris
Its your how2 that I've been looking at 8) ,my wheel is the same .With little pieces missing around the horn push.
As you and Bookwus stated the paint needs to be more harder wearing :idea: Wonder if
Plastikote would be suitable. http://www.plastikote.com/products/Specialty/Lacquer-Paint.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Its a flexable laquer paint .I'll give it a go when i've repaired the wheel
and report back.Cheers...Dave

 

[Danbury Doug]

A friend of mine used black hammerite (obviously the 'smooth' and not 'hammered' finnish).
After a fair amount of 'usage' his wheel still looks great.

 

[clyde]

This was covered in Volksworld i think. They used a special paint from "Frosts" if i remember correctly. You could always paint it the required colour and then put either a leather steering wheel cover/wrap on the outer rim to stop wear. Saw a bus with a tan/brown leather wrap and it looked quite nice.

 

[Araon]

Lots and lots of fine coats flatted back after each coat and it comes up really well with reasonable longevity, no paint will last forever with the constant use so expect to touch up eventually....you could laquer on top again plenty of fine layers will give you the best finnish

 

[ground hugger]

Will do if it fails I'll pop a cover on it like clyde suggested.

I just hope this Milliput is easy to sand :lol:
After closer inspection,there was cracks on all 4 sides of the spokes.
So i've drilled these out and a few more around the centre boss,filled them with milliput
and it looks :shock: Well like more Milliput than wheel :lol: :lol:

 

[Araon]

A pic of mine pre milliput

:lol:

I couldnt afford the down payment for all the milliput required to fix it