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 60 phoenix steering wheel recastJump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
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ttotired |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 8443      Location: Perth Australia | Over the time that I have had my dodge, I have needed a new steering wheel as mine was well and truely sun baked I have looked into getting one recast and its a bit price prohibative, but I was going to do it anyway, then, i got all those spares and in amoungst all the parts, I got another 2 wheels that were (are) in the same relative condition, so, the thought of doing it myself has come to be. I have spend a conciderable amount of time messing about with one of the wheels (best condition one) trying to fill in the cracks and crazing and missing chunks to make a wheel that I can cast off. This has been a lesson in frustration as I have been useing normal body work spot putty in thin layers trying to build it all up and it continually re cracks. I now have an epoxy filler that I will try and I am hopeing that that will work better. I am at present making the mold to do the recasting. I started with (a quite heavy) plaster shell with lots of clay bulking up the entire thickness of the wheel (about 1/2 an inch to an inch thick all over it) but I dont think its going to work well and it is going to use massive amounts of silicone (what the mold is actually made of) to fill the void, so, I have used the plaster to help me make a fibreglass shell. I have reduced the thickness of the build up to around 5/16 to 3/8 of an inch and also made the voids in between the spokes solid, so they dont take up any silicone I have just finished making the top 1/2 of the mold with a steering wheel incased in clay and molded into the botom 1/2 of the shell. I have applied a liberal amount of mold release wax to the whole bottom section and clay and glassed over the top I now am waiting for it all to dry and harden, then I will see if I have succesfully glued the entire thing together to the point that only an angle grinder will get the wheel back out  I havnt taken any pictures yet, but will Once it all (hopefully) all comes apart, I will move onto the next stage of working out how to make the silicone molds to make the wheel in sections (clear and opaque parts) I may make a one off inner (silcone) mold of the bottom clear part to try and re construct the top part onto the wheel that will be the master for the main mold, not sure about that bit yet as the bottom part is slightly shorter and not quite the same shape as the top. This is pretty interesting though, just trying to work out how it was done back in the day | ||
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| ttotired |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 8443 Location: Perth Australia | Took a bit of doing, but it came in half  Where the grey (clay) is will be taken up by silicone That has to be done in 2 halves to create a parting line On the wheel, if you look really closely (on your wheel) you should be able to see where the factory line is What I havnt really seen yet is where they poured the plastics in (dodge wheel mold 001.jpg) (dodge wheel mold 002.jpg) (dodge wheel mold 003.jpg) (dodge wheel mold 004.jpg) (dodge wheel mold 005.jpg) (dodge wheel mold 006.jpg) Attachments ----------------  dodge wheel mold 001.jpg (135KB - 138 downloads) dodge wheel mold 002.jpg (118KB - 134 downloads) dodge wheel mold 003.jpg (88KB - 151 downloads) dodge wheel mold 004.jpg (122KB - 141 downloads) dodge wheel mold 005.jpg (133KB - 136 downloads) dodge wheel mold 006.jpg (142KB - 131 downloads) | ||
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| VAN HELSING |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 982  Location: Upper Hunter NSW Australia | |||
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| VAN HELSING |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 982 Location: Upper Hunter NSW Australia | |||
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| ttotired |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 8443 Location: Perth Australia | My thoughts are to use vacuum to suck the resin in I will need to make a reciever tank (glass jar maybe) so I can see when its comming out Resin wont do my vacuum pump much good Still a bit of thought has to go in this, but a major stumbling block has been how to make the mold shell in a way that wasnt going to cost me a thousand in silicone I dont expect to really make much (if anything) out of doing this Not that many of these cars here and shipping to the states seems to be much more than shipping US to here George Laurie might be able to tell me a more econimical way than I have so far found? If this all works out, then I will have a go at a 60 plymouth aero wheel That one might be easier because I already have a perfect wheel to work off instead of the wrecks (dodge wheels) I am useing now I am going to look at a sewing machine tonight as well Terry, so, I am going to be up to my ears in projects that I know absolutely nothing about Must be a glutton for punishment (I do have a wife and kids, so that settles that one) | ||
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