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Article: Selling A Beetle
Last updated: 2/9/02
Symptom- You just put a new interior,
new headliner and carpet in your Beetle, painted the inside of your doors
and dashboard and all of a sudden that cracked steering wheel sticks out
like sore thumb.
Introduction
First and foremost let me say that I am not an expert on this (but that has never stopped me from trying something, learning from it and sharing what I've learned with anyone else willing to give it a try). But nor was I an expert on early Beetle restoration 13 years ago either. Like anything else, you learn something by just trying it and keeping at it until you get it right. I had read articles on steering wheel restoration many times in the past and it seemed easy enough. But years before I finished my '57 I got lucky and traded a single broken semaphore for a nicely restored oval wheel so steering wheel restoration wasn't an issue then. The steering wheel in the split I bought this past summer was OK, but the horn button was badly cracked. I found a very nice horn button on eBay, installed in a so-so wheel and I bought the whole setup just to get the horn button.
I decided to try my hand at restoring this wheel and sell it as a means to recoup some of the horn button money spent. Part way through the endeavor, I remembered that I still had my old, original oval wheel in the loft so I grabbed it. Compared to the split wheel from eBay, it looked like a cinch. Then, after driving my split late in the fall and expecting to park it for the winter, I decided to yank the wheel out of it and restore it too as my skills on the first two wheels were improving. I had spent so much time on the eBay batwing wheel, I had pretty much convinced myself that it would come out better than the other one and it would go in my split and I'd sell the one that was in there originally.
So for solid few weeks of nights, I was out
there in the garage with tiny little squares of sandpaper, ScotchBrite
pads, wearing the skin off my fingertips and getting a light beige dust
all over everything. I was trying to get ready to spray primer and
eventually ivory single stage urethane and as setting up and spraying auto
paint is a big effort, I wanted to get it all ready at the same time.....
About Wheels
A few things worth mentioning, some obvious some not. A steering wheel is made of a steel core around which a plastic is formed and molded. Like the other stuff in your (old) car, it has to withstand extreme environmental conditions, notably temperature extremes that repeatedly expand and contract the wheel. And as the plastic and steel expand at different rates relative to this invariably cracks the wheel plastic.
Regarding what kind of paint to use on the wheel, keep this in mind: the steering wheel is clearly the single most "handled" part of the car. Many vintage enthusiasts know that Krylon "Ivory" spray paint is a dead ringer for the VW Ivory (L567), but rattle can enamel is not going to hold up to the rigors of a steering wheel's life (at least if the car is driven). VW used lacquer but urethane is a better choice today in my opinion.
And just as trying to tear off a split fingernail with your other hand will all but guarantee that it will tear down into the nail bed and not across the top like you want it to (and hurt!), cracks in steering wheels never go across the smooth, flat face portions of the wheel. They find their way across the bumpy, detailed, ribbed sections of the wheel like a heat sinking missile.
Invariably doing steering wheel restos requires
some research on wheel styles and wheel colors. I spent some time
looking into the early wheels and decided to combine my findings in a table.
My primary sources were the Bob Wilson "'49-'59 Authenticity Series"; the
Garwood "Car of the Century" book and the Wolfsburg
West website. Clicking on the wheel types below will open a picture
of that wheel in a new browser window, but note that the horn rings, for
those wheels that had them, are not shown in the pictures, nor are the
horn buttons. Also, thanks to Wolfsburg
West for these steering wheel images from their website.
Year | Wheel | Color |
1949 | Some 3 spoke, some Batwing | Black, L41 (early 3 spoke), Ivory, L567 (late 3 spoke and all batwing) |
1950 | Batwing | Ivory, L567, also a light chocolate brown color was apparently used, color code unknown |
1951 | Batwing | Ivory, L567, also a light chocolate brown color was apparently used, color code unknown |
1952 | Batwing | Ivory L567 to October 1952, Gray Beige after that (very close to L75 Beige) |
1953 | Batwing | Gray Beige |
1954 | Batwing | Ivory, L567 |
1955 | Batwing | Ivory, L567 |
1956 | The "Oval" wheel | Gray Beige (from Aug '55, start of new model year) |
1957 | The "Oval" wheel | Gray Beige |
1958 | The "Oval" wheel | Stone Beige, L471 |
1959 | The "Oval" wheel | Stone Beige, L471 |
1960 | Dished wheel | Silver Beige, L466 or Ivory, L567 |
1961 | Dished wheel | Silver Beige, L466 or Ivory, L567 |
1962 | Dished wheel | Silver Beige, L466 or Ivory, L567 |
1963 | Dished wheel | Silver Beige, L466 or Ivory, L567 |
1964 | Dished wheel | Silver Beige, L466 or Ivory, L567 |
1965 | Dished wheel | Silver Beige, L466 or Ivory, L567 |
1966 | Dished wheel | Black, L41 |
1967 | Dished wheel | Black, L41 |
1968 | Dished wheel | Black, L41 |
1969 | Dished wheel | Black, L41 |
1970 | Dished wheel | Black, L41 |
1971 | Dished wheel | Black, L41 |
Sizing Up a Candidate
It is worth mentioning before we start what types of things will make a wheel restoration hard, if not impossible. Of course as I have said and continue to say, with enough time, resources and money, anything is restorable. But knowing what I know now, there are some wheels that I would look at and just say "no thanks".
Things that are pretty easy to fix are stress cracks that go across any smooth surface. By smooth I don't necessarily mean flat either. Cracks a spoke ends (most common) in the curved "nooks" where they swing out to meet the rim, really aren't all that hard to fix, Likewise, cracks on and around the hub curves are pretty easy too. Another thing that isn't too hard that might otherwise make you run away are large areas of surface cracking. One of my batwing wheels had this uniformly all around the outer rim where a wheel cover had apparently been laced on for many years. It was addressed by applying a couple heavy coats of high solids primer, with sanding in between.
What is hard are cracks that go over and intricately molded areas like the ribbing in the spokes on the early wheels, and notably the fine ribbing on the '56-'59 "oval" wheels. One or two cracks that go across or part way into this area on a wheel that is otherwise decent wouldn't make it trash in my book, but filing and re-contouring those areas (by hand with fine carving tools and files) is very difficult and time consuming, and the results (no matter how good or bad) are often visible on a finished wheel. Look for another wheel to start with if these areas are badly cracked. Another area of great lament are the "detents" across the back of the rim. Between the wheel's "knuckles", if you will. These seldom really get damaged, and the ones that I struggled with for weeks on end were ones I actually munged up myself trying to Dremel everything out.
In short, if you have a need for a nice '61
(for example) wheel to restore, don't try to start with one that looks
like it came from Fred Flintstone's car just because it is $3 at the swap
meet. You will only make you life difficult. Take the time
(especially if you are looking for a later model wheel) to find a very
nice wheel before you even start. Of course, like Beetles themselves,
the earlier the wheel, the less picky you might be able to be.
Tools and materials
First and foremost here, you have to embrace something here that may go against you very being (it did mine). Steering wheel restoration is done by hand, not power tools. Yes, I'd like to believe that every restoration challenge in the world is best solved by something with a power cord, 3/8" air line or at least a big NiCad battery, but steering wheels aren't. Take power tools to them, and you will invariably create more damage than is already there and perhaps make the wheel trash if it isn't already. Other than routing out cracks with a Dremel, and using a spray gun, the "power" tools you will use are at the end of both of your arms.
Here's what you will most likely need:
A Dremel or some other high speed rotary tool to grind out cracks. A conical high speed steel cutter works best.
POR-15 Epoxy Putty. Yes, there are other products, but this is what I used and it works great. You can get it from www.aircooled.net.
Sandpaper. 100, 220 and 600 grit is what I use. Black oxide is my fav.
ScotchBrite hand pads. These things are invaluable. I use the "red" (07747, medium) and gray (07745, fine) kind. Good news is that Home Depot's in my areas just started carrying these in small bundles. Used to be (and you might have to) you had to go to an autobody supply shop for these or had to get them on line at 3M's Abrasives page. A box will run you about $20, but you will find countless uses for them.
Primer and paint. Read my DIY Paint article for lots of insight on the mysteries behind auto paint. Do you have to use real auto paint? No, but keep this in mind, your wheel is one of the most handled items in the car. Urethane paints are the most durable available today. Also, a sandable, high solids, auto primer will insure proper adhesion of the paint to the wheel and, perhaps most importantly, it will allow you to easily fill small pinhole imperfections and larger areas of surface cracking. You can sand auto primer to a smooth finish that will give your wheel a better than new appearance when done.
Files. I do a lot of work with only 2 files; a 3/4" wide, rounded file, and a small rat tail "bastard" file (I have no idea why they call it a "bastard" file). Also a medium flat file and set of very small "fine" files.
Fine wood carving tools. Ok, you probably
don't need these, but struggling to get my backside detents right, I ended
up buying a set of these and they worked pretty well. I got them
at a store called "Woodworkers Warehouse" and they worked very well.
The finest one could carve out the thin grooves in the oval wheels
The Basic Techniques
The basic idea behind steering wheel resto
is to rout out any cracks that are found, fill them with an epoxy putty,
sand and paint. Sounds easy enough right? Well, like many restoration
jobs, one element is key. Patience. This really is a
take your time kind of job. And with repetitive applications of putty,
primers and paint, it is all but certain that you aren't going to finish
this job all in one day. The best way to approach it is is a "workbench
therapy" project. Start the restoration, do a little bit each day,
come back the next evening and do a little more. My wheels were on
my bench for weeks, and each night I would come out, flip on the lights,
turn on the radio or pop a CD in and get into it. Often I would focus
on one area at a time on the really bad wheels. Just the hub, or
just one spoke where it meets the rim. Tonight, file, sand, sand
some more, apply a bit more putty, then put it down until tomorrow night.
The putty of choice for many wheel restorers in the past has been PC-7 two part epoxy. It has the adhesion and shapeability that is needed for wheel restoration. But more recently a superior product has become available from POR Products that is ideal (and intended for) wheel restoration. POR-15 Epoxy Putty comes in two slabs of a beige clay-like compound that is kneaded together by hand to for the ready to use putty. The best part about it is that it is water based. It will even stick to damp surfaces and cure underwater. The advantage of this is that you can work the putty into the routed cracks and with a wet finger, smooth it out so that filing and sanding afterward are minimized greatly. Once dry, it is very similar in harness and workability to the wheel plastic itself. It is easily filed, shaped sanded.
But be aware that this putty is poor as a bonding epoxy. That is for using it to glue stuff together. I tried it on a horn button and an early split dome light and it failed miserably. JB Weld works mush better for this and is my choice for bonding.
Once the putty is set (24hrs to be safe), it can be sanded to shape. Depending on the area of the wheel, I found myself usually starting with the files to shape the dried putty. Especially true in the spoked end, "nook" areas. It files very easily and the trick seemed to be using a rounded file that matched the desired (concave) contour as much as possible, going slowly and gently and only pushing the file in one direction, not back and forth. About the only use for the medium flat file is the face of the hub, where the horn button goes.
Once the shape was close, I got out the 100 grit sandpaper and with very small (like 1" square) pieces folded once over, worked the filed area smooth. After that, same thing with 220 grit. For larger, irregular areas, I go over it with the medium (maroon/red) ScotchBrite pads. Go over your whole wheel with these before shooting any primer or paint.
As for primer, remember what it is supposed to do. Many people have unrealistic expectations of primer. Primer is best to fill in small, uniform, areas of imperfections, like shallow pitting or cracking. It is not used to fill in isolated cracks, depressions or pitting. Why? Because you have to level sand the whole area that you spray with primer (this is especially important for larger, flatter areas). If you spray a layer over the piece to fill imperfections in just one small area, when you sand you will sand off most all of the primer you just shot before you have the whole area level (that is, you will have left only tiny bit of primer in the depressed areas). Primer is a layer then sand off operation. You want to "surface" the part that you are painting with it. Make sense?
And last there is paint. I use urethane
paints for my wheels, including a high solids, etching primer. More
about auto paints and applying them at my DIY
Paint Job article.
Ok, show me how.....
Ok, you want to see all the pics, right?
Rather than try to insert them in the text, I opted to show them all below
with text describing each one. They are all thumbnailed so you can
click on them and see a full size pic in another browser window.
Just close that window to get back here.
So, does it look easy? It really isn't
that hard, and I suspect that the later wheels are easier still without
all the intricate detailing of the early wheels. But as I said, it
is 90% patience, take your time, work on it a bit each night. BY
HAND, this isn't an exercise in power tools.
Copyright© 2002; John S. Henry;