Ray,
You had so much fun, I just had to respond and tell you about my wheel. I
have a Herald, which has a nice, but simple two spoke wheel. Looking for
something original but different, I started looking for the Spitfire wheel
with the exposed metal spokes- there are a few different variants of this
wheel- it is where the spokes to the sides come out that makes the
difference; Spitfires have spokes that come out mid-hub, and go straight to
the wheel. TR's come out near the top of the hub, and make a chevron like
downward line to the wheel, along with the spokes at the bottom of the hub,
which are common to both types. MGs and Jags use the same type wheel, but
with different spoke arrangements.
I found a nice Spitfire wheel on a car I n a local yard, and bought it for
about $20.00. I looked over the remains of the tight leather covering, and
noticed the area the spokes went into the hub had been neatly grooved out
for the leather to recess into. I have seen this on a few others, so I
figured it was the factory way of covering the wheel. I taped off and
sandblasted the hub, and part of the wheel, so as to smooth things. This
worked OK, but the hub is metal, and blasts nicely, but the wheel is not,
and it has to be carefully done. I then sprayed Rustoleum Outdoor Protective
Satin Black on the hub, and areas of the wheel which would be seen, and came
out with a decent looking piece.
Now to cover it! I went to Pep Boys, and bought an "off the rack"
leather(real leather) cover, and trimmed it down by 1/4" on each side, as it
was too wide for the wheel. After setting the two joint areas(the original
only had one, but I was unable to find a cover with only one) evenly on
either side of the bottom center, I carefully tried to duplicate the factory
stitching, which looked like little "X"s It came out very tight, and very
nice, for an amateur job.
Costs- Wheel, $20.00, Cover $14.00, Paint- on hand-free, Time, about 4 1/2
hours, after painting, to stitch.
Looks good enough for me, and I am happy with it. And, my original Triumph
Badge horn push fits, as it is factory!
Scott
64 Herald 1200 Convertible with custom wheel :)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Raymond Hatfield" <iron_horse819@yahoo.com>
To: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 11:42 AM
Subject: The Poor Man's Approach to Restoring an Original TR6 Steering Wheel
>
> With all the talk recently about this subject, I thought y'all might like
these
> notes ...
>
> When I bought my '65 TR4A, it came with a wooden steering wheel already
> installed. Unfortunately, the DPO had stored the car uncovered outside
for
> about 10 years, so all that was left of it was the chrome spokes and a
rusted
> iron ring for a rim. Since my restoration budget didn't include $300+
dollars
> for a new wooden wheel, I had to come up with an alternative. I didn't
care
> for the type of wheel that came with the TR4A, so I went to the local LBC
> junkyard and browsed around. I wound up buying a rusty TR6 type wheel
with the
> rubber grip for $20. The following is the steps I took to restore the
wheel
> prior to installing in my car, and notes of what I would do differently if
I
> were to do another one:
>
> 1. Removed the rim from the hub.
> 2. Sandblasted the hub to remove corrosion and old paint.
> 3. Prime, then paint with gloss black paint.
> (Note #1: Next time I might try powdercoating)
> 4. Bake hub in oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.
> 5. Spray layer of clearcoat on hub.
> 6. Starting on the rim, trim the rubber back on the spokes (since it had
> cracked so badly)
> 7. Sandblast the spokes, making sure you get all the rust and corrosion
off.
> This left the spokes clean, but pitted in places, so this next step
was
> very time-consuming
> 8. Prime and sand until spokes are smooth
> (Note #2: I guess you could try spot putty or JB Weld to speed this
up)
> 9. Spray several layers of metallic silver.
> (Note #3: this proved very sensitive to ANY contact, so I tried the
next
> step)
> 10. Spray layer of clearcoat on spokes.
> (Note #4: This turned the bright silver to a dull grey, so ...)
> 11. Scrape paint off of spokes.
> 12. Reprime, then brush on an oil-based silver enamel.
> (Note #5: and 2 days after I did this I found out that POR has just
> released Metal Mask - a bare steel colored product that would have been
> perfect!)
> 13. Install a leather wheel cover (from Victoria British) per directions.
> (Note #6: Took me a week and left me with blisters and cuts! If I
were to
> redo this, I think I would drill/chamfer 2/3 holes in each spoke so that
the
> cover can be pulled tight against each spoke. Also, get yourself a
latch-hook
> to pull the laces tight!
>
> That's it, for about $45 total, I have a good-looking, usable wheel. I'll
be
> happy to answer any questions anyone might have.
>
> __________________________________________________
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