What did I do this weekend ?

[ColinB]

I used the spray on a heavily corroded surround for my Junior before I found one capable of taking nickel plating. It turned out OK although it didn't like heat too much, but it should be OK on a steering wheel. .

surround before.jpg (126.18 KiB) Viewed 7880 times

surround after.jpg (103.26 KiB) Viewed 7880 times

[Dentman]

Thank you

[Dentman]

I'd echo Colin's suggestion also. A chrome spray over a first coat of flat black should do a good job.

That's a nice original 'wobbly spoke' Ashby Brooklands steering wheel. The spokes are unfortunately steel, unlike the Blumels version which has stainless steel spokes. Blumels licensed the Ashby design, and, ironically, the Blumels have survived in much larger numbers than the original Ashby because of their better quality construction. A lot of the Ashbys had a rubber rim which decomposed as well.

I had wondered about the wheel as it was different to the others I had seen.
Thank you for your help

[jeans_old_man]

Are you sure that the corrosion will not polish off? It looks a little like my Ashby before I cleaned it up. I was lucky to have the solid tie-bars to hide the joints of the repaired spokes although with careful silver soldering it could be repairable.

[Peter McKercher]

If it is not too pitted, you could polish it and spray it with clear lacquer. Usually, though, it is difficult to get a uniform looking finish with the degraded surface.

[ColinB]

Brian has a good point and its definitely worth trying to clean it up before resorting to paint. Chrome is very hard and can stand quite a lot of abuse. I cleaned up the headlights for my Six with stainless steel pan scourers and they came up pretty well despite looking quite tatty when I bought them.

[jeans_old_man]

I am not sure what metal is used for the spokes. There was corrosion and pitting - but no rust as such. It is either poor quality stainless or silver steel. I first cleaned them up in 1974 with emery cloth. The pictures above were taken last year before and after the latest restoration. I made new tie-bars out of some 3/8" stainless rod and replaced the broken spokes with stainless wire. I cut the broken spokes so that the joints fell within the tie-bars. The new bits of spoke were left loose in the tie-bars but when clamped (and splayed) by the central hub everything tightened up.

I painted the rubber rim with cellulose paint, although now I wish I had spent a bit more time filling some of the cracks. I believe Paul Beck supplies repair kits with appropriate filler but I have no experience of this.

[Phillip]

My '36 'LM SS has an Ashby "wobbly spoke" wheel and it has a celulose rim - early plastic basically. It tends to crack and shrink, but can be repaired. The worst are the swirled colour Bluemels wheels that have multi-coloured rims. These degrade and splinter and end up looking like shunken dried fruit!

I've done a few Roadster wheels with PC7 epoxy, which is a gray/black colour. After repairing and sanding cracks and missing chunks with PC7, then spraying with a gloss black paint suitable for plastics, they turn out very well. I believe PC7 forms the basis of a number of steering wheel repair kits out there. PC make a wide range of epoxy products; PC Woody, PC Marine, PC 9(white), etc. My local DIY carries the range so it is easy to get here.

The earlier Ashby wheels used on Singers - '33 to '35 -ish- had a thicker rubber rim and even back when they were new road testers complained about getting black soot on their hands and the solution offered was, indeed, to paint it. One tester suggested wearing disposable gloves(!)
This rubber, if it survives, tends to petrify and crumble. You'll often find old Ashby wheels with the thin area at the end of the spokes near the rim missing. These are harder to repair and companies I have talked to at Beaulieu say due to rust getting into everything and the fact that the steel spokes break, they prefer to build new ones. Wheelwrights, in Morecambe, England, made a very nice Ashby reproduction and I know that a few pre-warriors got them. Gene Abbondelo has one on his '35 longtail and the quality is very nice. Not sure if Wheelwrights is still around, though.

I've got a variety of Ashby and Bluemels wheels in various states of repair and can post photos if anyone is interested...

[telco.2]

Hi Folks,
Sorry to report about Wheelwrights: sadly, Mel died a few years ago & Gerry more recently so Wheelwrights is no more. A real shame as they were good friends who did excellent work at reasonable prices.
Bill

[Phillip]

Oh Bill, that is very sad news!

I met them at Beaulieu a few times and Gene ordered his wheel from the stand as I recall. They were a good team and Wheelwrights will be missed for sure! Thanks for letting us know.

Seems Gibsons Engineering has gone also from what I hear and let's hope Steve and Sally are able to continue Dave Hardwick Spares!

[Dentman]

I cleaned the spokes with Autosol and wirewool. Polishing and laquering is a good idea. I have just received a new bench polisher so I will give that a go. The rubber rim seems fine.

[ColinB]

I'm pretty sure Gibsons have stopped trading but the good news is that Hardwicks are still going as Steve and Sally are apparently fit enough to start taking small orders again. Some SOC members went up to their premises to help them sort through their stock, much of it being unidentified, and arranging it in some sort of order to help them start up again.

[Phillip]

That's great news about the Hardwicks , Colin. Good to hear that Steve and Sally are recovering and that the SOC are providing support. I visited Dave a number of times over the years and the collection of parts was incredible and all basically catalogued in Dave's brain.

The Gibsons story is certainly a sad one. The quality of the parts they made was excellent and their engine developments really something. It was a sad end and I have a friend who lost his $5,000.00 deposit on an upgraded engine without a word said.

[ColinB]

Yes Phillip, as you know I spoke to John Gibson when I bought ELA but he has not taken up my attempts at contact since then. I think it was Arthur Michell who told me that the injury he sustained when his brother ran him over has left him severely disabled. So a sad story all round.

[ringtrev]

Wow a very productive weekend,love your work