Cool New Stering Wheel For...

[Gastrick]

...My Dad's Mercury. 1960 Plymouth steering wheel.

Disclaimer: We know the steering wheel doesn't match the interior. Look for a makeover soon [ddev

My dad had bought a cool steering wheel for his car right before he had a heart attack the other week when we almost lost him and the first thing he talked about after coming back around was his steering wheel, so I wanted to get it squared away and on the car to lift his spirits a bit.

Here's what was in the car when he bought it. Effective in it's purpose, but not very attractive.


Here's the replacement. Attractive, but a different spline/size than fits the GM column. It's hard to see in the photo, but there are silver sparkles in the clear part of the wheel. Space age I tell ya.


Here it is in the car. Looks better we think. We'll be doing some work in this interior to bring it up to par and make it match the steering wheel. We have it pretty much planned out. We'll also be adding A/C since it's a big ole luxury liner.

 

[Gastrick]

No biggie, but here's how I did it for the interested.

I cannibalized an old GM steering wheel and cut the center out of it. Eventually turning the splined portion of the GM wheel center into a usable sleeve.


I drilled the center in the Plymouth wheel to the approximate diameter of my sleeve. Here's the wheel drilled, beveled, indexed, sleeve in place and ready to weld.



I forgot to take photos of the finished welded steering wheel, but now it bolts right into place as if it was a mid-70's GM wheel.

 

[earthman]

I was thinking that is the way it would have to be done.Very nice work as always and now probably the only Merc anywhere with that wheel.

 

[Bonehead]

I can hear the music from the Jetsons playing in the background.
Nice choice.

 

[bob w]

Very cool. Looking forward to the Gastrick dashboard redesign.

The Jetson's comment by BH is perfect.[cl

 

[Sam_Fear]

The Jetson's comment by BH is perfect.[cl

Yep. Way cool.

 

[earthman]

The rectangular shape of the wheel gave '60 Plymouth drivers a clear indication when it was time to get the front end aligned.

 

[Snake Farm]

Very cool steering wheel! [cl[cl I'm a hoarder when it comes to steering wheels, there are a handful of wheels that I'm always on the lookout for and the '60 Ply is one of them

 

[rex1927]

Glad to hear your Dad will be fine.
I lost mine last December.
He was planning another Model T build this spring.[
He left me all his parts so I am going to build the car he could not.Just about finished with the body.Collecting parts I will need for chassis and hunting a reasonably priced Small Block Chevy.Hard to find one around here.They want $500.00 for a rained in engine.
Love that steering wheel.[dr
I am sure your dad will be thrilled that it is installed.

Here is a picture of my late father that was taken last summer .He was 88 years old and still doing what he loved,working on Hotrods.
Dads are a big part of hotrodding.Mine was a Big Block Ford man until they got too hard to find.Then he went to sbc because they are easy to get parts for.
We still have his 1967 Ford pickup that we wrecked in early 1990`s.It has a 427 side oiler .We could never sell it.
Sorry to ramble.I just love talking about my Dad.

 

[CR55]

As usual you guys never cease to amaze me with your building and fabrication skills! That should perk up your dads spirit.[cl

 

[51chevpu]

Nice work...That really looks cool

 

[Gastrick]

I figured I would just add to this thread rather trhan start a new one for a small deal. I am working on a dash insert for this car. The textured stainless and black/silver gauges look better than the wood insert with gold gauges I believe. The whole interior will be redone after I finish the dash and build a new console.

Insert is 1/8" mild steel with studs welded to the back side of it so the hardware is hidden and covered with a diamond textured stainless cover. Note: Not fully bolted in in the photo.

Before...and in progress

 

[skull]

yep

square is in

or

that's so far out, its in[cl

Later

 

[Snake Farm]

[dr[dr Oh yeah, that's a much better looking dash! And that wheel is so cool [cl[cl

 

[Willowbilly3]

That is the coolest steering wheel ever!! I was thinking Jetsons too.lol.

 

[donsrods]

My God, Bill, I was so shocked to see what you posted about your Dad. That is some scarey stuff, and we are so happy he is doing better. Please pass along to him our best wishes and that we hope to see him at TR in November.

On a lighter note, the wheel looks great, nice of you to get that done for him. But that is just what I would expect from a tight family like you all are.

Please keep us posted on how he is doing, we really care.


Don

 

[Old Iron]

That looks super

Jim

 

[Tim...Ok]

that dash looks awesome..nice work

 

[BigIrish]

Looks like a zillion bucks!

Where did you get the dash panel? I saw Speedway is now selling something that looks similar.

 

[Gastrick]

Sorry for any confusion Don and others. I originally posted this back in August. I just updated the thread with the dash insert we are working on. My Dad is doing well right now.

BigIrish - I made the dash panel but I didn't take any photos along the way. We bought a large piece of textured stainless as we are going to use some of it in the console we will make shortly.