Steering Wheel Questions

I thought I'd ask the question here in this section. After searching the forum and not really find many solutions. I'm finishing the restoration on my 61 Epup and I really need to do something about my steering wheel. My steering wheel is beyond repair---it's cracked and broken everywhere. I'm also looking at changing up the color from the standard black to maybe something white or maybe even sparkly like a MoonEyes wheel. Question is, will a Falcon wheel work? If memory serves me, the Falcon has a smaller center hub---can someone verify? It has also been eluded to that the MoonEyes wheel require a special adapter. Will a Grant type adapter not work with the MoonEyes? I also don't see many Econoline wheels show up on ebay. Anyone have a decent white wheel they would part with? The steering wheel posts are pretty old and out dated. Maybe some new ideas might help others with trashed out wheels.
THX Mike

ALL of the Econoline steering wheels were the same from 1961 to 1974, same mold but assortments of colors for the 68 to 74's. The 67 to 74's ADDING a different horn button on the bottom of the steering wheel to accomodate the 67 to 74 type e flasher turn signals.  
  I have also repaired and painted a few of them and they come out like brand new, however a LOT of work to paint correctly.  I HIGH END poly paint that will take the expansion and contraction from being in the direct sunlight is critical as well as top end two part Epoxy primer. To INSURE that every little nook and cranny is prepped (IE: CLEANED AND SCUFFED) so that the epoxy will bond without any dirt in the way, I use the old worn out sand in the blaster to fully hit every little part of the wheel before priming. This insures a "scuff" as well as there are not dirty spots left. 
vic

Thanks Vic---I can up my search to include up to 1974---that will help. I thought about restoring mine, but it's in really bad shape and the ridges are worn down pretty bad. Mine looks to be too much work for a restore IMO. I did do some more research on the Mooneyes wheels, and they say the Grant adapters can be used.
Mike

Are the Econolines unique with its own splined shaft or is it the same as other FoMoCo cars? Like will a Mustang wheel fit?

jimthefred wrote:Are the Econolines unique with its own splined shaft or is it the same as other FoMoCo cars? Like will a Mustang wheel fit?

Common sense would say yes to keep costs down and ease of parts, but anything's possible. I deal with Mopar's, you should see the crazies that go on there.

Im interested in this topic too.. I have an aftermarket "chain link" steering wheel that is huge and I want to downsize but I don't know if anything on mine was ever changed such as the spline..

Mine was totally cracked up with 1/8"+ gaps ect. I kerfed the big gaps with a die grinder w/ cut off wheel to clean them, the smaller and hairline type one's at the out ring connections w/ a very thin, small, fine, tiny dove tale saw. Scuffed the whole thing with a bit of 3m fine purple pad and wiped it over and over with acetone and clean rags after blowing it off. Then I wet the gaps with epoxy and filled with epoxy + micro balloons w/ a touch of silica. Sanded it fair, recoated the repairs with just epoxy and micro balloons, faired again and at this point I thought, I should prime this with epoxy primer we have at work, but I didn't and just wiped it with alcohol, let it dry and primed it with auto primer and then black enamel in the chemical window. Looks tits, not sure how long it will hold up... but it's a big improvement over the old sticky cracked mess it was. Looks new. Wasn't a fun project, that black material they are made of is messy to work with....

I'm going to have to repair my cracked wheel as well. I have a bookmark on one of my computers somewhere where this guy documented a play by play of the process he used. I'll look for it in the next couple days and post if here if it's as good as I remember.

Personally,, I have been opening up the cracks using razor blades or which ever will get in and remove material so the epoxy can fully reach the bottom of the crack. Same idea as doing a crack repair on a cylinder head or drilling a  hole at the base of a crack. Then I clean it with Acetone as it 100% dissapates leaving no residuals and then use a liquid two part epoxy using clay and tape to make any dams that may be needed. My thinking is that I want the epoxy to flow completly into the end of the crack and be able to bond 100% of the weak area and then I use a putty type epoxy after that. 
 Then I sand blast using the worn out material in order to guarantee that there are no spots that have ANY contamination and all the difficult areas have been scuffed. Recently, I had to change my epoxy for the steering columns from a cheaper type at $100 a gallon to a new PPG two part black that is incredible. It has a high fill and an extremely aggresive bond. The bad part of it being it is now costing my $386 a gallon,,,, REALLY good stuff though,,, ouch,,,
  I used to be able to get a very high abrasion and flexible two part Urethane for the steering wheels but it seems that is no longer available and tried the less expensive top  coats from the swap meets,, DON'T DO IT,, it chips VERY EASILY and doesn't have any of the better traits.  Earlier I had a few conversations with the people who run a spot at the Swap meets for their buisness of restoring steering wheels and they seemed disappointed of when I had talked about mine??  I am thinking they just didn't want anyone on the same track as themselves???? The steering wheel is directly in the sunlight and also the cold and has to take a lot of abuse...

Vic

My FYI, I have a blue sparkle Mooneyes in my early Chevy, uses a Grant three big a one little hole for the horn wire adaptor. They look great for the price but the biggest size is 15". It also has a 3" deep dish so it sits higher than a flat stock wheel of a GM, not sure about Fomoco. I also restored several old rubber ford wheels by, as others showed, using industrial gray epoxy like JBWeld, lots of sanding and priming, followed by several coats of Krylon almond and clear for a nice ivory look but any color would do. They held up fine with no new cracking for years. It's a little messy but can be done. There are companies you send a wheel to and get re-molded but it ain't cheap.

I have always thought the steering wheel is too thin/narrow and hard to hold, so I covered mine with pipe insulation. The foam type that has self adhesive edges. Then I covered it with some old leather that I had laying around, stiched the seam around the inside with waxed string. Now I have a leather covered wheel that is comfortable to hold and doesent get hot in the sun.