Steering wheel rust

356 Porsche-related discussions and questions.
Message
Author
User avatar
Robert Reed
356 Fan
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:18 pm
Location: Lascassas, TN

Steering wheel rust

#1 Post by Robert Reed »

Hey guys; I took some parts down to the blasters to have cleaned up, and got a call from them that they couldn’t do much with the steering wheel, I haven’t seen it yet. They used soda blasting in their efforts, but felt like they failed. I was just wondering what thoughts y’all might have on the problem.
The few small rust spots are in spokes in the grainy parts of the T6 wheel.
Thank you for your help,
Bob

John Laettner
356 Fan
Posts: 137
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 1:48 pm
Location: Northern California
Contact:

Re: Steering wheel rust

#2 Post by John Laettner »

I do not know of a way to fix this to make it look original. I had Koch in L.A. Restore my wheel and because of the steel rusting, had to chrome the spokes. It was a T-6 wheel. It looked great, except that the spoke finish was chrome instead of satin.
 

User avatar
Robert Reed
356 Fan
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:18 pm
Location: Lascassas, TN

Re: Steering wheel rust

#3 Post by Robert Reed »

John, thank you for the reply. I got it back today and still can’t really identify the type of metal that it’s made of. I thought initially that it was brushed stainless steel, but really not sure what it is.
Typically most stainless doesn’t rust, but some do; it has a very strong attraction for a magnet. Some stainless will attract but usually not strongly.
I wish that it was the back that had the rust problem, as that is painted on the T6. I’ll do a little more playing with it and see what happens.
Again, thank you.
Bob

John Laettner
356 Fan
Posts: 137
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 1:48 pm
Location: Northern California
Contact:

Re: Steering wheel rust

#4 Post by John Laettner »

Bob, if you want to see what one looks like with the chrome spokes, go to the European Collectibles website, to their sold section, and look up a '63 blue sc cab. It has the chrome spokes. I didn't like the look for my car and sold the wheel, but to each his own. Best, John
 

User avatar
Sean M Rooks
356 Fan
Posts: 492
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 8:00 pm
Tag: '64 C Coupe
Location: Richmond, VA

Re: Steering wheel rust

#5 Post by Sean M Rooks »

I'm not sure what the original finish is (mine is original and thankfully in good condition) but perhaps a "crystallite chrome" job would approximate the factory look?

See the mirror and trim on the gray 911 from Workshop 5001:

https://petrolicious.com/articles/this- ... on-his-own

He also talks about the finish on Jay Leno's garage in his appearance.

User avatar
Martin Benade
356 Fan
Posts: 12193
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:52 am
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Re: Steering wheel rust

#6 Post by Martin Benade »

I always thought it was a brushed chrome finish, possibly brushed before plating. I have no knowledge if this is correct or possible however.
Cleveland Ohio
62 Cabriolet
56 VW
02 IS 300
04 Sienna

User avatar
Daniel Roman
356 Fan
Posts: 50
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 9:00 pm
Location: South Florida

Re: Steering wheel rust

#7 Post by Daniel Roman »

If you do not like the look of chrome, you may be able to have it anodized. Whichever finish you choose, will not resolve scarring created by the rust (pits).
TWEETS Restorations -- For all of your lock and key needs
DRROCKETDAN@gmail.com
Member: 914World 914Club PelicanParts TheSamba Early911sRegistry 912bbs Rennlist

User avatar
Vincent Vuong
356 Fan
Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:57 pm
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, California

Re: Steering wheel rust

#8 Post by Vincent Vuong »

Ted Capps has a method of duplicating the brush chrome finish after rechroming the wheel to make it look like original. Here is his contact info.

tedcapps@earthlink.net
Last edited by Vincent Vuong on Tue Feb 27, 2018 3:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Eric McKinley
356 Fan
Posts: 1348
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 12:09 pm
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Re: Steering wheel rust

#9 Post by Eric McKinley »

Robert I restored the car but left the wheel and the centre cap as it was when I got it.
I did have leather placed around the outside, there was a lot of little knicks.
I like looking down and seeing the history on the wheel and seeing the little cracks on the horn button, it shows its age and it has a history which shows.

User avatar
Sebastian Gaeta
356 Fan
Posts: 3047
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:50 pm
Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Re: Steering wheel rust

#10 Post by Sebastian Gaeta »

The original wheel on my C coupe had corrosion, but only inside the little dimples on the spokes. I ended up removing it with a dental pick. It was tedious, but I was able to scrape away the corrosion in each little dimple and it looked great. That was 25 years ago and it still looks great. I suppose this would not have worked on the surface of the spokes, luckily I didn’t have that issue.
Sebastian Gaeta
www.arbormotion.com

Registry #8339

'65 C coupe
'64 C cab

-------
2014 Boxster 981
2005 997 C2 Cab
1967 Karmann Ghia Convertible
1966 VW Single Cab
1966 Ducati Cafe Racer
1964 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1963 Beetle

User avatar
Robert Reed
356 Fan
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:18 pm
Location: Lascassas, TN

Re: Steering wheel rust

#11 Post by Robert Reed »

Eric, I had the same idea as you with regard to leaving it mostly as-is. I may try what Sebastian suggested for the grainy areas just to see how that works though.
My car is just a “driver” anyway, in fact it’s had an aftermarket wheel installed for the nearly 40 Year’s that I’ve owned it. I was digging through the attic and found this wheel from a ‘63 I had to get rid of per the City. Actually it’s in pretty good shape for what it’s been through. I decided that I would try to take it back to the original condition since it hasn’t been on the road for over 20 years.
Thanks to all of you that have tried so diligently in my behalf, I am very grateful to have such a fine group of people that care .
Attachments
7C0CE71B-44F8-4ADA-9E46-B945A4263725.jpeg

User avatar
Doug McDonnell
356 Fan
Posts: 6061
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:21 am
Location: Augusta,Michigan

Re: Steering wheel rust

#12 Post by Doug McDonnell »

Robert that is pretty minimal rust compared to most of the steering wheels I see for sale.
1965 356C 2000 BMW 740i Sport 1967 Honda CL77 There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over.

WilliamVaughan
356 Fan
Posts: 446
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:42 am

Re: Steering wheel rust

#13 Post by WilliamVaughan »

Take a scriber, and get your reading glasses, and manually lightly scratch the rusty spots with the scriber until the red is satisfactorily removed.

User avatar
Robert Reed
356 Fan
Posts: 309
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:18 pm
Location: Lascassas, TN

Re: Steering wheel rust

#14 Post by Robert Reed »

Robert; I had to laugh at your suggestion that I may only need reading glasses; I’m afraid that I will have to use my bifocals at this stage in my life.
I’m going to give it a shot though.
Thanks to all of you for your input and interest.
Bob

User avatar
Emil Wojcik
356 Fan
Posts: 1521
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:20 pm
Location: Metuchen, NJ

Re: Steering wheel rust

#15 Post by Emil Wojcik »

I had to go and look at my steering wheel again. I have a hard time believing it's chromed and not stainless. But the photos posted in this thread certainly make it look like chrome pealing around the rust spots.

So, what is the wheel actually made of? Someone must know for sure.
Emil Wojcik
'64 356C Euro coupe
'78 MGB
'86 Jaguar XJ6 Series 3
'94 MB E420

Post Reply