Was wondering if it would be very hard to change a color of a orginal steering wheel from red to black and what would need to be done to do so. Will the paints or dyes sold for the interior (seat, consoles and door panels) work. I know that the wheel sees a lot of use and all but will the paints hold up or is it something i would have to do yearly?? ( found a 68 RS red wheel on ebay and would like to put a RS wheel back on my 68)
Mahalo
jeff 67/68 & 69 RS's
65 442

I had a grungy looking black wheel, and wanted to try something to make it look better. It is in a race car, so I didn't care how it turned out. I put 3 or 4 coats of clear urethane on it, and it looks like a new wheel. The key is to remove every bit of dirt (what is that brown crud, anyway). I used fine steel wool and acetone with a lot of scrubing. I would think you could paint it black, and then clear over it. My wheel has not been put to any hard use yet, so I can't speak on the durability. BTW, isn't the only difference between the standard and RS wheels the center chrome trim?

What's an RS wheel?

Eastwood sells a resto kit to patch and paint steering wheels. I don't have a clue how well it sticks but feel it would depend on how much you have your hands on it!!

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...Dennis
"The '69 (http://chevelles.com/showroom/fine69_03.jpg), the '96 (http://chevelles.com/showroom/fine69_02.jpg) & the club (http://camaroslimited.com/)"

The difference is just the center chrome trim witht he RS center. Theres one on E-Bay for sale and Since the whell on my 68 is an aftermarket small one I was thinking of putting one on it that was as close to orginal as i can find. Remember here in Hawaii parts are few and far between. Thats way I was thinking af trying for the red one and then changing the color.
Thanks for the Info Guys.

Jeff 67/68 7 69 RS's
65 442

I repaired and refinished mine and looks great. If you have a decent red wheel, you might want to consider getting a black one, cause Im sure that there is somebody out there that would like to have a correct red wheel.

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Jim
67 Camaro SS Conv.
70 Challenger R/T Conv.

ragtopman, can you give us specifics on what you did to refinish? I am guessing you can fill cracks with epoxy, sand and then paint with ??? What type of paint you used would be real helpful. Mine could use freshening.
Thanks.

I agree with ragtopman. I would think red would be worth more than black. even if it needs repair/repaint, I'd start with the color I want to end with. i'd hate for the old color to start wearing through.

The Eastwood kit is notheing more thatn PC-7 epoxy, sandpaper, and instructions. I bought PC-7 at Ace Hardware, for about $5.
To repair, you just hog out the cracks so that the epoxy will key in, fill, and sand. For recoloring, get a good plastic paint and use the prep spray first. Several light coats of the paint are much better than one or two heavy coats.

I used Duramix 4040 to repair the cracks, DuPont uro prime. Sanded the primer and the rest of the wheel with 600, based and flattened some clear a bit.

Im using my car primarily for show competition, so the steering wheel wont get that much use. The clear should hold up well, cause the original coatings were called 'Bakelite'. And even if the clear coat needed some attention, its easily buffed.

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Jim
67 Camaro SS Conv.
70 Challenger R/T Conv.