Topic: 69 Mach 1 428 CJ steering wheel

[7Lscjracer]

...I am assuming it is applied on the back of the wheel and grips as well. Is this information correct?....

No, the wheels were molded in the various colors available.
This is why I'm not a fan of restored wheels because they get painted like specialed said.

...The body of the wheel might be universal to other Ford products of the era.  A Mustang shop in Florida said that the faux wood grain on the rim blow wheel was a pressed on affair....

Yes, lots of Ford and Merc cars had rim blow wheel availability, and there certainly is a slight texture to the woodgrain on the wheel.
Has the look and feel of silk screen, but I'm not saying that was the application process.

[69cobrajetrugae2]

Hi SCJ:

You are correct, they are molded in the various colors.  Since my car has the black interior, the wheel is charcoal black.

My wheel had been previously painted.  I removed all the paint with prep sol and 4-O steel wool. It looked great in the virgin state other than the small cracks at the spokes where they meet the rim. I had to choose the lesser of two evils, I'll post pics once I'm done.

The wood grain is tricky.  I can't understand how it's done by researching on the internet so I am going to devise my own process.  There is no simple step by step process that I can find.  It might be that restorers don't want to share, for oblivious reasons.

[69cobrajetrugae2]

Here are some pics of my wheel. The switch is not installed yet and the chrome strip need to be clear coated.  It turned out Ok for my first one.  I should have filled in the recess where the chrome strip is located and installed it on top.  In addition, there is a Mylar chrome strip available but I was unable to find it locally, so I used a standard chrome strip.

The wood grain turned out good, although not concourse. I have sinned. I would need an original example to devise a formula to make it concourse correct.  I would guess that there are no mint examples in existence.  Even if the original car was never driven so the wheel had no hand wear, the color would have changed and the original finish would have dusted off to some extent.

I was pleased with the charcoal black paint, it looks original.  I did clear coat it along with the wood for serviceability and to match the texture of the column.

[69cobrajetrugae2]

It's finished.  I could buff it once it cures but I am going to leave well enough alone. The chrome strip joint is on the bottom.

 Now comes the hard part, installing the switch.

[69cobrajetrugae2]

It's done.  The charcoal black is a little different than the original paint on the column. Paint will revert to it's base color in time.  I guess 44 years is enough time. There is a tendency to apply to apply too much finish material on parts.

The wood on the steering wheel took more of a distressed look than I wanted.

If I ever do another steering wheel, there is no doubt that I can make it perfect.  I would use wood stain to replicate the exact finish and use a hammer on the saw blade to make the correct wood grain marks.

[69cobrajetrugae2]

By the way, the switch was an adventure.

As the switch installation was progressing, periodically I would check continuity and test the switch. Once the switch was installed, it was stuck on.

There was a small section that was not cooperating.  I massaged it into compliance. Whew.  I thought I trashed the switch.

 The best lubricant is dialectic grease.  The instruction manual advised to use soapy water.  That does not make sense as the water might migrate into the switch through the rubber and corrode it.  In addition, there is no way for the water to evaporate.

[J_Speegle]

By the way, the switch was an adventure.

As the switch installation was progressing, periodically I would check continuity and test the switch. Once the switch was installed, it was stuck on.

Not good - had a friend that had the switch stick on - burnt his GT500 convertible to the ground

[69cobrajetrugae2]

Electrical fires are like airplane crashes, there is almost always more than one fatal flaw.

1. There is a rumor that the hot side of the ignition switch can overheat on 69 mustangs, the re-pop harness supposedly addressed this issue.

2. There is also the rumor of aftermarket alternators, if they short out, will burn the electrical harness.

Here is discussion on the horn switch subject. http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=6796

The horn switch alone cannot cause a short circuit.  It can fail either open so that the horn will not work, or closed so that the horn will stay on.

If the horn stayed on, as in the case of your friend, then the continuous current draw could exploit a weak connector which could heat up and ignite something in the vicinity.

Since horn supply voltage flows through the turn signal switch, a fire could be caused by an off shore turn signal switch and/or offshore horns.

The turn signal assembly is primarily made of plastic.  Theoretically, if the horns are stuck on due to a faulty horn switch, and a higher than designed current load existed to the horns, a metal component in the plastic turn signal assembly could get hot enough to ignite the plastic.  Perhaps the original Ford plastic turn signal switch was of a robust construction and design which could handle a extended period of current draw, whereas the offshore plastic turn signal switch cannot.  This scenario seems more likely.

The poster on the above link "69 Stang" mentioned horn trouble and a smoke from his steering wheel. Where's there's smoke, there's fire.

Just a guess.

Thanks for the info Jeff.

 

[specialed]

Your first attempt at restoreing your steering wheel is better than the companies that do it full time from what I seen & you are on the right path & with a few more attempts you will get better. If you want a side business here your chance as years ago I called all the steering wheel restoration companies & tried to explain how how to get them concours correct but they wanted to keep restoring the wheels the same way they were doing it for years Shiny glossey black with 3 coats clear.  I don't understand how a company that specializes in one 1 thing cant get it rite.  I ended up sending some wheels to a mopar steering wheel guy who understood what I wanted years ago but never got them back & after reading this thread & called him & he said he will be working on my ford wheels shortly as he has been busy with the mopar steering wheels so we shall see!!

[69cobrajetrugae2]

Thanks for the compliment.  Did I understand correctly that the steering wheel guy has had your wheels for years?

[specialed]

Yes a mopar steering wheel restorer & I told him when I sent them I was in no hurry (big mistake) but after talking to ford s teering wheel restorers who didn't want to change & restore them correctly this mopar guy said he would try if I send him an original to go by & one to restore.