72 TA : New Project

[TC]

So, 8 tracks are not making a come back, And I should finely through these away?







BTW...the T/A in loking AWESOME
Tom

[budnate]

Dang Rick, where did you find the picture of Bruce??

[SSJunkie68-69]

HA HA....that's his OTHER job after taking pics at Pavillions. He sure does have a strong pimp hand.... just kidding Bruce~

[njsteve]

You're in for a treat cuz Disco Stu's diggin that 8-track beat.

[Xplantdad]

[ QUOTE ]
Dang Rick, where did you find the picture of Bruce??

[/ QUOTE ]

Too funny Bud.


I thought I told you not to tell...now I'll have to let everyone know about you and the Zebra...in that hotel room in Collinsville...LOL

[njsteve]

Now here's what I'll be listening to...Brings back memories of lounging around the pool when I was about 7 or 8 years old.

[njsteve]

The latest chapter was trying to restore the original artificial leather-like-substitute, foam padded, Formula "Fat" steering wheel.

I decided to do it myself since the repro wheels are close to correct, but the makers chose to use a very hard urethane instead of a soft one (don't get me started on why companies get that close with a repro part and then don't go all the way when it would be so easy to substitute a softer durometer padding...) and the fact that the so called "restoration" services for these wheels involve them dipping it in a hard plastic outer coating like a Carvel chocolate dipped, ice cream cone (Here comes Willy the Wheel...in my best Frank Carvel/Abe Simpson voice) that cracks the first time your turn the wheel hard left or right.

I decided to try my hand at redoing the original wheel because you can't nice originals for less than $750 on ebay and an NOS 1970 to 73 Fat Wheel will run you about $2000, and I had nothing to lose as my wheel was so badly damaged it was only useable as a core. (Don't confuse the "Fat" wheel with the later model thinner ones that came on 75 to 81 Trans Ams -humungous price difference)

These wheels originaly had a smooth outer coating that eventually wore away after years of use and exposure to the sun, leaving the underlying rough, cracked, crumbly foam material exposed. Here is a close up of what they end up turning into:

[njsteve]

One of the main problems with my wheel (and most older wheels) was that the foam had seperated from the internal steel core at the 10:00 position and could be rotated on the core like a motorcycle throttle. If left unaddressed, this defect would prove fatal to any attempt at a cosmetic restoration as the foam would turn and crack the outer surface.

What I ended up doing was performing surgury on the wheel. I used a razor and sliced through the foam on theback side, down to the metal core, and then filled the area with black weatherstrip adhesive. Once filled, I wrapped the repaired area tightly in masking tape and left it overnight to cure. The repair worked perfectly: no more turning foam.

(The in-progress photo didn't come out so here is a later photo with the incision marked in red)

[njsteve]

The biggest problem with these wheels is the lack of a similar material for repair. Some people use bondo (too rigid) or silicone (too soft), but until now there was no real alternative.

Scratching me head, I was digging around in the lab and found two 10 year old tubes of 3M rubber bumper repair epoxy. This is the stuff used for filling and repairing the elastomeric/endura bumpers on Camaros, GTOs, Trans Ams, Cudas and the like. Mixed in equal parts, it cures fast, is extremely flexible, sands easy and can be painted. Since I had nothing to lose, I used it: I ended up stumbling onto the perfect repair material.