New member needs Belvedere steering wheel!

[hawkeye999]

Hello All,

I am sure looking forward to sharing info -- really learning all I can from you good folks since I am a newbie. I have wanted to jump into the '59 pool with both feet all my life and decided that I'm definitely not getting any younger so here we go. Right off the bat, my very first project car is a soon-to-be-beautiful 1959 Belvedere, which needs a lot of work, but the thing that has me running around in circles is the steering wheel which is in need of a major restoration or replacement. After checking as many resto places as I could find,it looks like I'm going to have to sacrifice one arm (preferably the left one), but I really don't want to give up a leg as well............ I have also tried online databases for salvage yards but came up empty. I don't suppose anybody out there has a parts car sitting around with a decent steering wheel.......... I'm not sure where to "turn" at this point so any advice or words of comfort would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for letting me in the forum. Wasn't it Graucho Marx who said he didn't want to join any club that would have him as a member?

Hoping for a miracle,

Hawkeye999

[big m]

Are you looking for the deluxe wheel, or standard wheel?

If you have your old one, you might consider getting it recast, as originals seldom have any plastic remaining after all these years. The standard type wheels held up better than the deluxe ones.

---John

[hawkeye999]

Thanks for the quick reply, John. I'm just looking to replace the original steering wheel, which I assume to be standard since this is not a highly-optioned model -- doesn't even have a radio, which for all I know might mean this is a rare one (remember I'm a newbie). This car couldn't be any more original (father to son to son ownership -- even has the original rubber floor mats). I actually have not laid my eyes on the car yet but plan on taking the significant drive to do so in the next couple of weeks. As for the recast, I got a quote from The Steering Wheel Guy (stwheelz.com, Doug Lepak) for $1,200. Ouch. The major problem has got to be a large piece broken off of the lower center (sorry I don't know the right term). That's why I figure a replacement is probably a better way to go. Even if it needs some work also I can't believe it would cost nearly that much. Here is a photo of what we are talking about. Thanks again for your help, John.

[Matthew Keij]

That is the optional deluxe steering wheel

John has a good address to have these recast. The center is some sort of vinyl.
Maybe you can have that part redone too by an interior specialist?

As far as options, on that pic I see the steering wheel, dash pad, heater,torqueflite and windshield washers

[hawkeye999]

Thanks much, Matthew. I thought that the steering wheel was really cool, and misled myself away from thinking it was a deluxe model just because there is no radio. Learning a lot right out of the gate..........I'll hopefully hear from John soon with the address for a potential recast. I also like your idea about an interior guy potentially taking care of the broken piece, although I live in Nowheresville, Iowa (and like it that way) so my local options are limited. I am already very appreciative of the forum

[rogerh]

Your car's steering wheel is known as the Deluxe steering wheel. It was an option available for the Belvedere.
The standard wheel isn't awful to look at, they are more commonly available and way more affordable.
Where your deluxe wheel shows bare chromed metal, it used to be covered with clear, sparkley resin grips. The re-casting of these grips is costly.
In your photo you circled the damaged center section of the wheel. This part has a foam base with molded vinyl covering.
Heat, sun, and time cause the foam to decompose, and the vinyl to shrink. It is not easy to find a decent replacement, and I do not know who might be remanufacturing them. Just Dashes in california is remanufacturing the dashpads ($800, maybe more?), and might have answers.
If you find a good center section, in the wrong color, take it to your auto upholstery shop...maybe they can dye it to your needs.
Living in nowheresville is fine...you always have the internet!

[Dick Koch]

Hawkeye - I was very lucky and found the complete horn ring assy on ebay. with a very nice Blue vinyl pad. My original one was black and was shot bigtime. Go to the forum SHOW YOUR RIDE, then DICK'S 59 RED & WHITE FURY RESTORATION. Click on page 12 and see how mine turned out. The vinyl was blue and in excellent shape. I used SEMS bright red vinyl paint and it turned out beautifully, I also used the same paint on my Dash Pad. I covered the chrome bar with a piece of heater hose (cut with a razor blace on the inside curve) and then covered that with one of those covers that is laced on. When I have a little extra money I will send the wheel out to have it recast with the clear plastic. I understand KOCH's in California will do it for arount $6 to 700 dollars. In the Search box at the top of this page type in "Steering Wheel" and you will see pages and pages of discussion about this subject.
Good Luck,
Dick.

[hawkeye999]

Wow Dick, are you kidding me? Using a piece of heater hose and getting that kind of result was nothing short of pure genius with a little wizardry mixed in. Two things immediately come to mind for this newbie:

(1) I'm feeling more than a little unworthy here and am wondering if I'll ever have the kind of skill set that you and a lot of the other forum folks have developed over the years. The heart is willing but the flesh is weak, as they say, and I have only a moderate amount of mechanical aptitude. The good news is I'm not really a prideful kind of guy so trial and error doesn't bother me a bit.............

(2) At the risk of immediate excommunication from this wonderful group, I must admit that I am frankly just a wee bit jealous -- not of your own car or anything like that, I absolutely admire what you have accomplished and love nothing better than to behold the wonders of a really well done restoration. The problem is what I think I'll call "parts envy" . I doubt that I'm the first guy on the planet to feel a little twinge kind of go through my stomach when hearing somebody talk about finding a part that has eluded me, like that steering wheel on ebay.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy (unless, of course, it had happened to me). I also realize that when you found this treasured piece I had not even entered the realm of ownership. Still, I guess this is kind of like that time in the grocery store when I really had my heart set on having some apple pie after dinner but just when I rolled up with my shopping cart somebody else was a little closer and I had to watch them pick up that delicious treat and place it in their own cart. OK, I made that up but still you get what I'm saying, right? Does that make me a bad person? Maybe so, and I'm sure that patience is a virtue and all that and it will pay off for me in the end when it comes to replacing or restoring my piece of junk steering wheel.

Thanks to you and all of my new Plymouth brethren for putting up with me............

[rogerh]

Now that you're on board, good things will happen to you too! Get your car out for the public to admire, and soon enough you will get folks coming up to you , offering you "advice", tips, leads...etc. You'll be motivated to improvise with repairs, you'll learn which vendors are worthy and which have what you need...and so forth and so on.

[hawkeye999]

Thanks for your words of encouragement, Roger. I'm ready to roll.........

[rogerh]

Groucho also said "I have a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it."

[rogerh]

Groucho also said "I have a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it." (Duck Soup)

[hawkeye999]

He was quite the quotable fellow -- unlike Harpo............

[Dick Koch]

Hawkeye - Thanks for the kind words. Like I did and the rest of us, you will learn by doing, first you gotta study and read the parts book and service manual. You can always find them on ebay. Then google for answers to your questions, then search the forum, then ask forum members, THEN GET UP OFF YOUR ASS AND GIVE IT A TRY, if you mess up chalk it up to a learning experience and do it over until you get it right. For me the fun is in the doing with a picture of what's at the end when I finish. Like the steering wheel horn ring and all my other parts I got them "Just in Case". Like roger said, thru association with car guys met at car shows I ended up with a complete Drive Train from radiator to rear axle, having no idea I would be restoring a Convertible that I got without a drive train, Problem Solved with what you might say is "Coincidence". So, get started.
Dick.

[hawkeye999]

Precisely what i needed to hear, Dick -- encouragement and a call to action. Thanks. I just heard back from Koch's and they aren't recasting that steering wheel anymore, and I also got one other "rejection letter". I'm keeping the faith but it looks like a stroke of ebay luck or junkyard shopping is likely going to be it for this one.....

Jim