Thoughts about 67 steering wheels

[BGlover67]

Please share your thoughts on this.  I'm been looking at pictures of 67's online and noticed that the color of stain seen on their wooden steering wheels seem to vary greatly.  Back when they were first new, were they a lighter or a darker wood stain?  What is considered more correct?  I know when I restored my last steering wheel, I preferred a darker stain, but I never gave much thought as to what was more correct.  What do you prefer?

[Alan]

There really is no correct.  They varied in different shades.  Had my car since '82
and it looked to be original and is a blond color.
Max

[2112]

Mine is yellowish.

I have seen some more reddish in hue. I love those myself.

Probably never came that way, but what the heck, I am Mr. Day 2 anyway   

[J_Speegle]

Remember/consider that the internet is the worst place to compare colors, finishes, tints and tones since it all depends on the cameras settings, the lighting & back ground (digital cameras adjusting) when the picture was taken, resolution, your monitor settings and so on.  I have plenty of pictures of items where I took multiple pictures at the same setting and within a minute of one another that appear to be completely different cars, parts or finishes.

Just something to think about

[Bob Gaines]

Please share your thoughts on this.  I'm been looking at pictures of 67's online and noticed that the color of stain seen on their wooden steering wheels seem to vary greatly.  Back when they were first new, were they a lighter or a darker wood stain?  What is considered more correct?  I know when I restored my last steering wheel, I preferred a darker stain, but I never gave much thought as to what was more correct.  What do you prefer?

My thoughts are that they varied. Over the years I have seen various shades that were unrestored . Using natural wood is the main reason for a variable shade finish IMO. The human factor which does the finishing is another.

[shelbydoug]

The things that vary the color are 1) the original color of the wood itself 2) the way the stain (if any) was applied 3) the kind of finish put over the wood.

A mineral based clear coat will have a yellowish tint to it. A latex clear coat will be much clearer, i.e., water clear.

The exposure to sunlight is going to effect the tone of the color. A Texas, Arizona car is going to have a sun bleached color or put another way, color depleted.

It is a little like the color of the casting of a refinished intake manifold, you can only get it to ABOUT what everyone EXPECTS it to look like.

There is just no kind of a guide on a consideration like this.

[Bob Gaines]

Please share your thoughts on this.  I'm been looking at pictures of 67's online and noticed that the color of stain seen on their wooden steering wheels seem to vary greatly.  Back when they were first new, were they a lighter or a darker wood stain?  What is considered more correct?  I know when I restored my last steering wheel, I preferred a darker stain, but I never gave much thought as to what was more correct.  What do you prefer?

My thoughts are that they varied. Over the years I have seen various shades that were unrestored . Using natural wood is the main reason for a variable shade finish IMO. The human factor which does the finishing is another.

I thought I would clarify that I think that the wheels had varying shades of wood (not all the same shade ) when new based on observations over many decades.

[557]

My wood wheel when I bought the car was more orangish...When I refinished it with clear gun stock oil it came out more blonde..Someone commented that the wood will bleach out with sun exposure...That is not necessarily true...depending on the finish they may actually get darker with UV exposure..As an example I ride balsa wood skinned surfboards with an epoxy finish...They get a ton of sun exposure obviously...One which I have barely ridden is very blonde..The other one which I have ridden for six years is a rich honey color..Same age only difference is sun exposure...Again depends on the finish as I suspect that it is actually the finish not the wood that changes color...Regardless the 67 wheel is beautiful however you finish it as long as it's not so dark you can't see the grain...mio due euro...Trent

[2112]

^^^^ I agree with 557.

My experience is wood (furniture, flooring, wood trim etc) darkens with light exposure.

[shelbydoug]

^^^^ I agree with 557.

My experience is wood (furniture, flooring, wood trim etc) darkens with light exposure.

It depends on the spicies. Pine is a good example. It is very light when milled and darkens to an orangy/red color. Maple basically stays the same. Oak can darken or lighten.

I don't know what is used for this wheel. It is probably European sourced. It isn't American walnut or maple.

The era in which the wheel was made puts the clear coat into the varnish class. It's not a urethane or a laquer.

Probably the best representation of the original is in the 67 aftermarket poster.


This is a picture of my Pantera's dash and console that I built for it. It is red oak with water based clear coat over it. It has not changed color since I built it.

Again. It's the species of wood and the base system used on the clearcoat.

I can't identify the wood used in the original wheel. It may be a variety of mahogany of which there are at least dozens of kinds depending on the location.

Mahogany is a tropical wood that would have a very wide grain pattern IF any at all. The way they layed out the wood, they wanted to minimize the grain pattern so it's difficult to read.

[427heaven]

 My steering wheel is 51 years old and in need of a refurbish so I took a close look see and noticed the wood within the cracks is much lighter than the outside color. So now the question remains who does the best 67 steering wheel redo's?

[Shelby_r_b]

My steering wheel is 51 years old and in need of a refurbish so I took a close look see and noticed the wood within the cracks is much lighter than the outside color. So now the question remains who does the best 67 steering wheel redo's?

Great question.  There is a gentleman (whose name I'll withhold publicly) that has done a ton of steering wheels for people on the old forum.  However, my experience with him was not so great.  Not only did it take WAY longer than he quoted, but it was WAY more expensive...AND it came back with flaws.  Not happy at all.

PM me, if you want the person's name.

[shelbydoug]

Anyone who wants to restore these things, if that is possible, is just opening themselves up to criticism.

They are all spit somewhere, you can't fill that, they used a gloss varnish which is very difficult to get, ridiculously difficult to reapply without getting some kind of dust specs, fish eyes in it and the owner expects to get back a new wheel.

By comparison, people are criticizing the finish on the new reproduction wheels as not authentic?

"Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread".

Get paid in advance and prepare to get flamed. Not me brother.  Best of luck in your endeavor.

[557]

Anyone who wants to restore these things, if that is possible, is just opening themselves up to criticism.

They are all spit somewhere, you can't fill that, they used a gloss varnish which is very difficult to get, ridiculously difficult to reapply without getting some kind of dust specs, fish eyes in it and the owner expects to get back a new wheel.

By comparison, people are criticizing the finish on the new reproduction wheels as not authentic?

"Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread".

Get paid in advance and prepare to get flamed. Not me brother.  Best of luck in your endeavor.

.             Actually they are not ALL split.......Mine was actually very structurally intact when I got the car in 82..The issues all involved the finish...Tons of hand sanding with progressively finer grades of paper,Something like 20 coats of birch wood Casey Tru oil go stock finish  applied with my fingers ,rubbed with oooo steel wool and tack ragged between coats,a little touch up on some scratches on the spokes with the steel wool and Voila it looks like new...If it's afinish issue with no wood damage it's not that difficult...It is however very time consuming as the oil must dry completely between coats...Think it took me 4 or 5 days...Good Luck!! Trent

[shelbydoug]

Anyone who wants to restore these things, if that is possible, is just opening themselves up to criticism.

They are all spit somewhere, you can't fill that, they used a gloss varnish which is very difficult to get, ridiculously difficult to reapply without getting some kind of dust specs, fish eyes in it and the owner expects to get back a new wheel.

By comparison, people are criticizing the finish on the new reproduction wheels as not authentic?

"Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread".

Get paid in advance and prepare to get flamed. Not me brother.  Best of luck in your endeavor.

.             Actually they are not ALL split.......Mine was actually very structurally intact when I got the car in 82..The issues all involved the finish...Tons of hand sanding with progressively finer grades of paper,Something like 20 coats of birch wood Casey Tru oil go stock finish  applied with my fingers ,rubbed with oooo steel wool and tack ragged between coats,a little touch up on some scratches on the spokes with the steel wool and Voila it looks like new...If it's afinish issue with no wood damage it's not that difficult...It is however very time consuming as the oil must dry completely between coats...Think it took me 4 or 5 days...Good Luck!! Trent

Doing your own is the solution. 4 or 5 days is about $1,400-$1,500 in labor. You get paid for that.
Then listen to why you won't get paid because it isn't exactly like new. That's all I'm saying.

From what I have seen, about 90% of them have some kind of spiting at some level.