[Chrysler300] Another Steering Wheel Restorer

[Rich Barber <barber@xxxxxxxxx>]

Below is text of a couple of messages from the steering wheel guy in 
Alberta.  He appears to be a viable option for a premium steering wheel 
restoration.  His comments relate to my moderately deteriorated 1955 
C-300 wheel.

Rich Barber
Brentwood, CA
C-300

The process for restoring a two color wheel would include:
 
1.Clean the entire wheel  to remove any dirt, wax, silicone and other 
contaminants.
 
2. Open up the cracks to get down to good solid material .
 
3. Fill the cracks with resin and bridge the gaps with carbon fiber 
cloth. Then, coat the entire wheel with resin, building a shell around it.
 
4.Wet sand the resin smooth .
 
5.Apply 15 coats of acrylic urethane in the proper colors.
 
6.Wet sand the paint so the surface of the wheel is smooth .
 
7.Apply another 15 coats of  acrylic urethane to leave a glass smooth 
surface.
 
8.Check for any dust nibs or runs.
 
If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to e-mail or call me at : 
1-780-450-1397
 
       Regards , Doug Lepak
    "The Steering Wheel Guy"
web site : http://drive.to/stwheels


Thanks for the detailed description of the wheel. I'm pretty sure that 
the chrome piece that separates the hand grip from the bottom, Black 
section of the rim, can be shifted/slid upwards to butt up against the 
Tan hand grip. That would enable me to fill in, repair and paint the 
Black part of the rim without touching or having to work on the hand 
grip section.
 
I'm also thinking that if the hand grips are not cracked, I can 
carefully clean and polish the original plastic without having to 
repaint them! Even though I can paint the hand grips and make them look 
awesome, a layer of paint will cause you to loose the translucency of 
the original plastic.
 
Even after cleaning and polishing the original Tan plastic, there may be 
some discoloration/staining that would still be visible. The colored 
plastics of that era were never all the same color all the way through 
anyway. They seem to have a bit of variation in color through the 
plastic, swirling if you will.
 
The cost to repair/refinish a 2 color wheel in the condition you 
described would be $500.00 US. I would use the process I described in a 
previous e-mail to repair the wheel along with polishing the chrome 
portions of the wheel. Because I build a shell around the broken 
portions of the wheel with carbon fiber cloth and resin,  I have had no 
problems with the wheels recracking.
 
The turn around time would be 5 to 7 weeks from when the wheel arrives 
at my shop. I would require a deposit of $200.00 US made out to "Doug 
Lepak" to accompany the wheel, with the balance due upon completion. I 
accept payment by INTERNATIONAL MONEY ORDER (Pink in color and available 
at the Post Office).
 
The wheel should be shipped in a box at least 3" larger than the wheel 
on all sides. This will give me plenty of room to pad the refinished 
wheel for a safe return.
 
For Customs, the contents of the package should be described as an 
"UNRESTORED STEERING WHEEL"

You would be responsible for the cost of shipping the wheel to me and I 
pay the cost of the return shipping and Insurance. On return, the wheel 
would be insured for the cost of the restoration plus another $100.00.
 
Yes, Please feel free to spread the word. Most of my work comes from 
references and people coming across my web site.
 
Let me know if that sounds acceptable and if you have any other 
questions please drop me a line.
 
Regards, Doug Lepak
The Steering Wheel Guy
web site: http://drive.to/stwheels





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