ray1970

Time for someone to get a new one started.. Different ideas. wood and look.

I can see why venders get big money for restoring steering wheels... Its not hard to do but it all takes a bit of time.. Its been fun and I have learned a lot. If I was to do a second one it would take half the time and cost. Waiting for epoxy to harden..BORING..Than more sanding. The trick with epoxy is waiting for it to dry as hard as playdough than moving it to were you want...Less sanding!!!!

Laying out the finger groves. Using the same spacing and depth as the stock wheel.

update

Update. Things are moving forwards slowly as I learn the way of the wood and trying to do things differently. 1. You can bake the wood if the box temp.get to high and you heat it to long..At this point its more like glass than wood. 2. Removed insolation from the box this got it back down to just under 200 Deg. Was going up to 230. I think that my have been to hot? 3. Water content of the wood is a big deal..I was informed that wood I had was Kiln dried and most likely had only 12-14% and my have to wet it for up to a week to bend the thicker parts. 4. Imperfections in the wood...Even the smallest bad spot can stop you in your tracks.. 5. Added a spacer to the jig to make clamping easer. 6. Trying to grove the first inner and outer bands to mold around the wheel..THIS has been challenging. Bending thin strips has been easy.. The thicker ones with a grove not so much... 7. CLAMPS... Have not found any that I have been happy with when your in a hurry.. 8. Steaming the wood as your bending it helps a lot.

There is a definite learning curve to this wood thing... 1. 212 deg. is what's call for when steaming wood.. Had to insulate the box to get the temp that high. 2. Don't rush it. You will just waste wood and time. 3. Pre wetting the wood over night helps a lot. 4. Let the wood dry...Your perfect fit will not be so perfect after the wood has dried. 5. Get good clamps and lots of them. 6. Hide what your doing...It takes longer to explain to people what your doing than it does to do it....

If all goes bad............... Victim 2 out of 3...............

The wood is in house. black walnut. Why black walnut? Not looking to make a statement with a wheel that looks out of place. The aftermarket wheels I looked at in the past were just a little to overbearing......It just me........ Let the cutting begin.

Got my steam box mostly done today...Needs a little fine tuning...steams wood what more am looking for?

As I seat here working on my steam box thinking about what I didn't like about the stock wheel. 1. Rim blow was just a bad idea with manual steering....... Never cared for it no matter what steering I had. 2. Pencil thin rim. 3. To big... It was like driving a tractor. And always in the way. I like the look of the stock wheel but don't care for the look of what I have now..... But I do like the feel....

No wood till Monday....Not many places nearby that have more than pine..60mi.round trip to get what i want. Felling a little jiggy...

Hard to believe how round a steering is NOT. Getting out later to make a wood chose and get epoxy.. My make a small steamer for the strips. Than its off to get the table saw up and going. Have not used it much after I almost lost 3 fingers about a year ago....They don't work as well as they did but there still there.. Lesson learned.....................The hard way....

Should I use maple or walnut?

Good to see someone that still has there first car.. Not easy to do as life moves on..I have sold better cars but always held on to my first. If you need money sometimes things have to go (1968 500KR that was painfull!!!) Got my mach in 1976... More of a trash can than a car but it had a 4-speed...$400.00 Daily driver for many years for me and my now wife....she always hated it.. For 35 years the car was never in the budget (you need to stop spending money on that thing) As things have settled down in life in the last 5 years I have found myself the time and some money to get things done right. NO cheaping out... Still a daily driver that needs paint badly....but the running part is very pleasing... Not a big fan of the over restored paint thing... Its all about patina and how it got that way... Don't give up...

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Ray here. last post!!!! I have reinstalled my carburetor Fitech did not work out for me but im thinking most will do better (they cant do worse) Ray..Good luck.....

In all fairness I found myself promoting a product that would not stand behind a part of there product. Im not going into detail....Give me some time....

Hell ya its worth it. Do we need FI Do we need 5speeds and lower gears Do we need sup. upgrades Do we need 4 wheel disk breaks Do we need 550hp Do we need to piss the wife off by working on are cars when she thinks a bathroom redo would be a better use of time.(money) The answer is.__NO_______ But it make the driving experience far better and sometimes safer with each one I do. The car I got off the side of the road 39 years ago is not the same car I have today. Its safer-faster and far more dependable ..... WAY MORE FUN TO DRIVE..

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Ray here. Did the Tinman make your own thing and I must say it was one of the best chassis mods to date. and I have done most all of them.. They look like they belong because every thing under the car is the same shape. At a 185000 miles I think I could have used two sets. Would like to have tried a mustang when it was new just to see how firm they where. ......photos later...... Ray.

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