[Terry Gartner]

Morning All,

My 64 deluxe wheel is need of a redo. It's in pretty poor shape. Who would you recommend and how much did they charge?

Thanks

[Andre]

I don't know of anyone doing these professionally (recasting). Maybe D+D Classics? I've done a few of these myself with favorable results. Although not at the standard of an NOS wheel, they turn out quite nice.

[pfilean]

Here is a few possibilities.
http://www.qualityrestorations.com/
http://www.garyssteeringwheel.com/
http://danddautomobilia.com/Welcome.html

I have not used any of these myself but I think I have seen Qualities work. And if it was theirs it was absolutely show quality. No, I didn't say it was cheap. But price depends on how good you want it.

[real61ss]

I don't have any knowledge of the small car steering wheels but I've had 3 big car wheels recast by Quality Restorations and the they always come back super. Expensive but nice. Runs about $1300 to recast the big car deluxe wheel.

[Dick Boneske]

I've asked Quality Restorations for an estimate on my wife's '64 GTO wheel. It's Aqua colored and has large cracks--but I do have very nice horn ring.

I'll post their answer.

[rohrt]

I was wanting to use Koch's Steering Wheel Restoration since they recast them.

[Pecosbill]

I used Gary's Steering Wheel Restoration of Carlisle, Pa. to restore a 1964 wood wheel. They did a nice job on it. He advertises on his website that they restore the plastic wheels, not by recasting, but by filling and sanding. Don't have any experience with that, but based on the wood wheel they did for me I'd trust them to do the plastic wheel. Might be a cheaper alternative to recasting.

[ron cozzo]

Koch's is $400 for a recast in any color. Perfect. Highly recommend for the 64-65 non sport wheel.

[Dick Boneske]

Recast by Quality Restorations is $1,200!! They offer a lifetime warranty.

[Jeff Hamlin]

You get what you pay for...

[BOB VIDAN]

The recast parts look nothing like originals. Clear was never part of any steering wheel with any color interior. The non colored part was always tinted a bit. I'd love to see ONE original that was clear. Someone has an NOS piece to prove my point.

[Andre]

I actually had an NOS one that was clear. I think that it was the replacement for all colors and you had to paint the wheel to match. This was before the digital age so I don't have any pics.

[Jeff Hamlin]

Just to be "CLEAR" the wheel posted is a B-Body to show the craftsmanship if one was to consider QR. The pics don't do justice to it, they even did a real nice job with the marbling in the turquoise portion.

We are aware A-body never used a clear sectioned wheel.

[Pecosbill]

Terry, check this one out:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-1965-GT...2edfed&vxp=mtr

[Terry Gartner]

Thanks, I made an offer, but their buy it now is $150 more than it would cost to do my own wheel.

[Pecosbill]

10-4 that. And, with your wheel you will know what has been done with it, as opposed to being disappointed possibly when you got the ebay wheel home.

[JAKE 64]

For 1964

Terry:

I have had dealings with a few of the above mentioned names.

After a couple of failed attempts on my part, I have gone the following routes.

Not sure if it is the same Gary, as this Gary was met at Carlisle, Pa, but his shop is in New York. He made a couple attempts to repair my wheel. The wheel was already showing hairline cracks by the time it reached my house. He stated that he had had excellent results repairing other GM wheels. Evidently, this had been his first exposure with the '64 A Body wheel. By the time I picked up my wheel after his final attempt, he stated that he had done some digging, and was told that the resins used in the Pontiac steering wheels were a first year effort in 1964, and different than the other divisions. I don't know how true this is.

D&D
This is a true recast, using similar trait-colored resins as the originals. I had three issues with the results. The first was in color match. The recast wheel had a pinkish rose color rather than the vivid red (close to a Grenadier red hue). The ribs on the front (car front - but backside of wheel) of the wheel that continue the ribs in the two beauty rings were smoothed out and lost. The three 7/64 in. dia. injection ports that appear on the front side of the original wheels were not provided. Although at the time I did mine, the cost was about half of what they charge now, which I believe is over $1200.

Koch
This also is a recasted wheel, using plastic resins resulting in a greenish hue. These wheels are painted to match. I thought they did an excellent job in color matching in the wheels I sent. Details were good. The only two issues I had with these wheels were that they were painted and subject to chipping when installing the beauty rings. These wheels also did not include the three injection ports. Cost is $400.