ClassicCar

Uncle Josh

So I had this banjo steering wheel from a 39 CC I wanted to use on my 40 Coupe but the plastic was mostly gone and what wasn't I removed. After wire brushing it the problem was how to increase the 1/2 inch skeleton to more like the 3/4 diameter to be usable. After considering having it cast, bondo, fiberglass mat wrap etc, I hit on this idea, and it's gonna work! It's tight and non-slip.

I bought 5 ft (yes, it's some 58 inches around an 18 inch wheel) of 1/2 inch heater hose for five bucks or so, cut the inside of the natural curve with scissors, and fit it around the wheel. It left about a 3/32 gap inside where the cut is which I'll fill with tub calk. A nice leather wheel cover from Amazon or somebody and I'm done.

hoggyrubber

good idea! i like a good cheap fix. i wish i had read this 25 years ago. i had to drive my grandmothers old ford tractor for years with just the metal rod to hold on to.

ra4jumb

With some good work with a needle That should look good, some deerskin which is very flexible pulled very tight and it will really be sharp, cowhide not so good on that. (don't ask how I know that one)

DavidC

Wow it looks like thathose was made for this! Nice job. Will remember this.

Kdancy

great idea! Simple and effective!

ArkieJazz

Is this thread a joke? I hope so, otherwise it's about the dumbest thing I ever heard of

Jon B

Doesn't seem dumb to me! Some of us are faced with a steering wheel whose plastic has gone south, and nothing but the thin iron ring remains. We're and faced with the problem of how to build up that ring, even before we can cover it with a leather wheel cover. This isn't being proposed as a trophy-winning restoration tip, but a serviceable stopgap method of getting your car on the road with an acceptable looking steering wheel.

StillOutThere

Come on, it has to be a joke. Don't Hudson people have any idea why people laugh and snicker at their cars on the rare occasions when they are out in public with other brands of collector cars? You know, where people have paid $500+ for a NOS wheel or $1000+ to have a wheel recast? And a Hudson shows up with a piece of heater hose and a Wal-Mart lace-up on the steering wheel and claims it is serviceable. That's laughable. Its probably not safe either because those things will come undone sooner or later.
Okay, had my humor fix for the day.

Jon B

I dunno....I've had a leather lace-up cover on my '37 banjo wheel for maybe 3 decades and have yet to hear snicker number one. But maybe I'm in denial.

But -- hey! -- it's only been 30 years...that thing could still rip off in my hands... any second now...

Kdancy

Nothing wrong about the idea, if laced properly, it will look and feel great and last a long time. Last time I checked a banjo steering wheel is around 1200+ to have re-done. They look great if you can afford it. If not, I'd rather see the car on the road with the above fix.

DavidC

Not only that but he was going for a thicker look and feel as well. As far as the cover goes, I just recently leather wrappede a Jeep steering wheel and it looks OEM- there are very good quality kits out there, with real thread ,etc.

DavidC

Uncle Josh, I bet that 1/32 gap will close right up as you tighten the leather wrap- that was some serious tension I put on the steering wheel thread when installing mine. Consider getting a real leather kit intended for your size wheel

Tallent R

I didnt realise everybody laughed snickered at Hudson people when they are out in public. Thats concidered rude in some circles ...................
Roger [-X

superwasp912

I laugh and snicker when at the car show there is more of a crowd around the only Hudson there (rust and all) ,than all the shiny mobile money pits,

Richie

Hey Uncle Josh, post a pic when you are all finished, I'd like to see it. You have a great imagination and I'll bet it will look great. Richie

Tallent R

I suppose some folks find it funny Hudson folks like to have cars to drive rather than carry around behind thier SUV like a trophy. I have a trailer but my Hudson would just as soon not ride on it,
Roger

pierre from france

my work in my steering wheel

[url=http://www.photorapide.com/index.php?photoName=f3mv84.jpg&photoId=150528][img]http://sm1.photorapide.com/membres/834/photos/f3mv84.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://www.photorapide.com/index.php?photoName=onm8bq.jpg&photoId=150529][img]http://sm1.photorapide.com/membres/834/photos/onm8bq.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://www.photorapide.com/index.php?photoName=yly65a.jpg&photoId=150530][img]http://sm1.photorapide.com/membres/834/photos/yly65a.jpg[/img][/url]

SuperDave

Looks Great!

1951hornethardtop

Yankee ingenuity. Looks good. Younger people seem to fix things by just replacing the item. Nothing wrong with that but those of us with a little age on us had to learn how to fix things by imagination just to have something to drive in the old days. A lot of energy and no money. lol Post a picture when you are done.

RL Chilton

Uncle Josh-
Sent you a PM.

syddthekidd

pierre from france.....that is a great job. I'm in the middle of repairing a steering wheel off of a '49 super six. Doing what looks to be what you did. I'm using good ole jb weld filling 1 or 2 cracks / night. Last thing I do in the garage before I go in the house is fill 1 or 2 cracks and the first thing I do the next night is sand what I did the night before. Time consuming but it's coming out pretty nice.

Uncle Josh

Yeah, Syd, I considered epoxy but I didn't have any cracks to start with, or one huge crack, depending how you look at it. Maybe Arkie can post a pic of the way he did his banjo wheel. I'd like to see it.

BTW, is ya want jokes I have lots of them. Google 'Uncle Josh' and you can listen to humorous stories from the original Uncle Josh, (Cal Stewart 1858 - 1919)

hoggyrubber

i did the epoxy thing on my wheel a few weeks back, but mine only had a couple of cracks. tried to match the paint as close as i could. i didn't want to paint over original wheel that was good so i just painted small epoxy locations . you can see the color is slightly off, but i have noone to please but myself and i want to see as much of original as i can.
i hope you are happy with what you started uncle josh. it's sounds just like politics, the haves vs the have nots. :))

ra4jumb

Wow I did not realize that the crowds that seem to gather around my dads original 34 Hudson when I take it to a cruise night were snickering, they seem to ask a lot of question and there are more of them then when I bring my restored and very nice GTO, who knew?

Browniepetersen

I have a car that I have completed a paint up-fix up on it and use it as a summer daily driver. It is a british car. I need to replace the dash cover and buy a new steering wheel. I did almost the same thing to mine, just to get me by until I can justify the cost. That was three years ago...

I put just over 16,000 miles on this car last summer and I am into it just under 5K. It is a lot of fun for the money and it gets 35 mpg...

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