STEERING WHEEL PREP

Here's the close-to-finished product. I spent an entire weekend prepping two steering wheels, one for the 29, the other for either my 26 T coupe or the tiki truck. It was a lot of work but I think it's well worth it.

It all started with me grooving "vees" into both wheel everywhere that a crack had devoloped, and yes there were plenty. The Dremel was handy for this part. Next step consisted of building up the grooves using epoxy. The first pass I used an epoxy with a twenty-minute set time. Too quick. By the time I'd filled half the grooves, my batch of epoxy was already setting up, which caused me to rush, which resulted in a lot more build up than needed and consequently, a lot of unnecessary sanding. For the second round, I used an epoxy with a sixty minute dry time, which worked much better. I took my time and used a small flat tooth pick to build up what was left of the grooved areas after I'd done the first round of building, them snading down. My second-round method was much more productive and I ended up with a lot less excess epoxy to sand. That said, I did a ton of sanding, using a 100 grit paper, followed by a 220 grit wet/dry. The sanding, while tedious, was actually quite relaxing and resulted in a much nicer wheel as the basis for my roadster's tiller. This is the kind of work you could never pay someone to do or you'd end up with a thousand dollars of labor for a stinking steering wheel. Ah, the price we pay for doing something unique and custom. Enough talk, here are some more pics.

HERE ARE THE PREP SHOTS:

Here's a shot of me playing with another Horn button option, 

but I think the bullet seen above will work out great. 

Addendum: I've embarked on a third round, as there were still a few cracks and imperfections to address and I figure I've gone too far to turn back or be satisfied with a merely decent job. 

CUSTOM WHEEL

I broke out some different options for the horn button of my custom steering wheel that I sourced from a fellow HAMBer. After trying a stock Buick wheel center that I happened to have in the garage, I progressed to using some of the custom embedment shift knobs that we make through our hotrodshiftknob.com businesss. I think I may be onto something.

ANOHER PIECE OF THE PUZZLE PURCHASED.

We went to the Lone Star Round Up this year as spectators, rather than vending our shift knobs as we have for the past four years. The weather and turnout were incredible. We had a great time and behold the folks from Brookville were there. I took the opportunity to purchase a '32 style dash board the roadster. It's the first part I've bought for the roadster since the custom steering wheel. I didn't snap a pic, but you can see the part on Brookville's site. I probably won't be purchasing more parts until my model T build progresses further.

MORE COLOR REFERENCE--HELMET

I have a bike helmet I bought in a thrift store a year ago. The only reason it appealed to me was the color, which is a light turquoise metallic. I had meant to take the helmet with me pick colors the other day but forgot to bring it along. Today, I happened back by Painter's Supply with helmet in hand and was able to reference PPG colors again. This time around, I nailed it even closer.

PPG Light Turquoise Mic 4905 is the exact color I want for the exterior.

I also brought a sample of the pearl white interior material I want to use as referenced it against pearl white paints.

PPG White Mic was a great match to my interior color.

Lastly, I asked an employee for referrals of local painters and he had great things to say about three local guys:

Brian Cope at Cope Street Customs:

Wayde @ The Time Machine.

BJ @ Colorado Chrysler Jeep

Here's another color reference for the roadster. Love it.

BUILD CONCEPT AND REFERENCE

Picture this roadster with a turquoise silver paint scheme and a silver interior. A Small Block Chevy with a 6X2 intake and lake pipes in place of the Hemi. Front and rear chrome reverese wheels,

and a Seller's Equipped Hallock-style windshield, ever-so-slightly chopped. I won't run 32 highboy rails, though. My frame will be more of a "mid-boy".

But that said, this little roadster, more than any other I've seen, is my inspiration.

Below is my exterior color reference, courtesy of photographer, Trent Sherrill. 

A STEERING WHEEL OPTION

I found these wheels on the HAMB and although they aren't exactly traditional, I'm thinking of running one in my roadster.  They aren't cheap but I really like the way they look and I think it would really help with the comfort, given my height. 

I would ultimately paint it to match the exterior paint. 

PIERCE ARROW DASH INSERT

Even though the roadster is technically on hold, I splurged and bought a Pierce Arrow Style dash insert
for it. Now all I need is a 32 dash and a set of SW gauges for it. This insert was fabbed by a fellow HAMBer.