steering wheel

KeithE

Bronze forum user
CAT Member
Messages
40
I am looking for an original steering wheel center hub,..... you know the plastic part that is always cracked.

I am working on the wood now and keep thinking that these cracks in my hub may never get filled right.
 
not the horn button

Thanks Norm, my horn button is ok, its the hub that is cracked where the internals for the horn mounting plate and telescoping lock nut go. There is also separation between the front part of the hub and back part. I was thinking of finding an alpine wheel and restoring it with wood.
 
Keith you can strip the rim off a stock alpine wheel and then glue the wood to it.. the other option is to make your own hub.

Ken Corbin casts his IIRC ... but if you are a member of TEAE there was a great article about2 years back on how to make a new hub that looks exactly the same from metal so that it wont ever crack again.

I can probably send you the article if you give me your email address.
 
thanks michael

thanks Michael, my email is keith.easler@gmail.com I would like that article if you can find it. I will also contact Ken.

Also, I was at smitty's and someone there told me he had his wheel done 10 years ago by someone who had tooled a new mold and he had him reform his wheel.

He showed me his steering wheel and it looks great but he couldn't recall the guys name but I will go back in a few days and see if some beer might help jog his memory.
 
Keith,

email sent. I would guess the guy casting the hubs is Ken Corbin, I have heard good things about his work. Apparently is time of year dependent so that he can get the hubs to set.
 
steering wheel hubs

I spoke with Dennis at quality restorations. His mould for re-casting the plastic hubs for alpines/tiger steering wheels is no longer in service and he needs to re-make a new mould. I have seen one of his Tiger steering wheels and the plastic recasting is excellent and his process uses new plastics which are better matched to temperature expansions than the original bakelite materials used so he guarantees his work for life (whose life is unknown).

I would be interested in seeing if anyone else would like to have their wheel redone so we can divide up the cost of a new mould. Maybe the CAT club could help release some funding for this if others also participate. I will get an estimate from him but it seems like it would cost under $2000 for a new mould and then Dennis would charge about $1000 per wheel. This is just for the plastic part so the wood still needs restoring from whomever you choose.

If anyone is interested in this my email address is above, feel free to contact me and I will get more details on the final costs.
 
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