OldIHC

I have been repairing my steering wheel now on and off for a few days. It had the usual cracks in the plastic. I have ground them out and used a 2 part epoxy plastic filler. Rubbed down and sanded. More or less there apart from some paint. Daft question, but would the steering wheel be painted gloss, satin or matt originally? I suppose technically it would have been painted.....but were they gloss, satin or matt? Just wondering what would look best. Whats your thoughts, i will post some photos soon. Luke

If this was my truck, I would be painting the steering wheel in a semi-gloss black. If my truck had a lighter interior, I might try a semi-gloss charcoal.
I have had many of these trucks and it is difficult for me to say if the OEM was gloss or flat. I might suggest the OEM was gloss black, because that is often showing in the less worn areas.
I like your idea of a three part epoxy filler. That would have been my first choice.
I bought a reproduction steering wheel for my Ford. In a few years in the shop, the wheel cracked at 12:00h. LeCarra sent a replacement no charge and no questions asked. Their plastics supplier had made up an incorrect mix. I was told they have had several hundred wheels returned.
I am going to fill the 3mm cracked space with some red filler. I hope there is that sort of stuff.

Thanks for the input Nikki. It was always going to be a toss up between gloss and semi gloss. The epoxy filler i used was a JB weld product. I was hoping that it was going to be quite thick, but it wasn't. More like yogurt, which made it quite difficult. I vaguely remember your post about your steering wheel sometime ago. I will order the paint tonight.

https://neverseezproducts.com/manufactu ... 7mEALw_wcB
This might help the next person looking for a really good filler material. I have both the regular and the high temperature. This stuff is not inexpensive, but it works..
I used Lab Metal high temperature to repair a few imperfections in the grill pieces and headlight bezels for my '40 Ford. These parts are originally chrome. I do not like the look of chrome, in these three areas. I had the parts powder premiered before the final painting. Zinc castings tended to off-gas a little when the alloy mix is not the best. This used to be called pot metal. The off-gassing caused the chrome to bubble and lift.
I had the powder coater heat cycle the parts over a day then powder prime mine at the end of the day. When I picked them up at closing time, the parts were too hot to touch. This has been a success, so far. It has been four years.

JB weld is an epoxy product with metal filler. Epoxy stick or putty is available, and may work better for this application. You cut off an appropriately sized piece, then knead it to mix the A and B parts together. Once you press it into the space or groove, it should hold its shape without dripping.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments ... rs/4295622

Definitely looks a better option, than what i used. Not a bad price either. Ordered the primer last night, out of stock for the main paint though.

Another option and one I would not use a a final fix is a steering wheel cover. I bought one of the steering wheel covers at my local Harley Davidson dealer. I use it to protect the steering wheel, only.

Steering wheel is now in primer, however the paint i ordered has turned up the wrong colour.

Well finally the right paint turned up. This took a lot longer than i thought it would. A lot more paint and epoxy filler and rubbing down than i thought, but it was the best i could do with my skills and equipment. Luke

The steering wheel looks really good. Very professional. Good job.