STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

I tend to like these trucks, original.
And my hands fit just right on the stock steering wheels.
So I always leave them in my trucks.

Really nice ones are out there
But as we know they are all prone to cracking

My belief is that 67-68 held up better, but not sure.
Also it seems 69-72 black held up the best?
Every blue interior truck I ever had the wheel was pretty bad.

Post up your OEM not (re pops )
Let's see what is out there.


I will start. Obviously with my best

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Mine is blue one major split at 12 o'clock and a thin one a 6 o'clock.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Here's my 68 wheel. It's only taken 49 years to get this comfortable grip.

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Here's my original 69 GMC wheel. Unrestored, and still lookin' good.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

What you have there is the "Unicorn" of steering wheels... wow! I've never seen a sandalwood steering wheel in that good condition. Sandalwood seems to be the worst for cracking and falling apart.

SO.... you obviously need to get you a good Saddle steering wheel in there to match the rest of your Interior, and I'm first in line for that beautiful sandalwood wheel when you sell it. :lol:

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

I paid $25.00 for this one.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

I'll give ya $30.00 for it...LOL

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Here's mine...Original '72.

Biggest crack is at about 12:30, and one nearly equal at the lower left corner of the horn button, plus several other hairline fractures that I have noticed just showed up over the last couple years. Not bad considering this truck has been outside for all but about 6-7 years of its life. That's probably the biggest factor in the condition of these wheels...time sheltered, or not.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

67 CST. Minor cracks on all 3 spokes to wheel connections. Not too bad for a truck outside its entire 50 years. OP, I guessed you are in AZ before I looked at your Sig! Man the sun is harsh on these trucks.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

My Ramp Rat truck had this one when I bought it. I took it out and put a corvette wheel in it for now but have a 2 spoke Impala wheel I'm restoring to go in it.:metal:

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

The sandalwood and blue wheels held up the worst. I think Black did hold up best, but also vans used the black wheel 73-78, so a bit newer ones are out there, more chance for black n.o.s., and many vans were cargo vans (only front glass), or RVs with large overhangs. Here in Maryland they crack up as bad as ones I see from the SW

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1487988826

Just did a refurbish on my 67 steering wheel last year.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Here are pictures of the original from my '69. Just small cracks. I covered it about 1972 (20,000 miles?) with a lace-on leather cover because it felt greasy when it was hot. I removed the cover in 2010 (118,000 miles) and retired it in favor of a leather wheel from a 1994 S10 Blazer LT because I like the smaller size and fatter rim. The truck was outside its first 3 years southern California and usually outside in relatively cool Wisconsin until about 1990 when I stored it in a garage.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

I'll take it

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It's permanently stored in a hermetically sealed package in my safe!

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I got a black one from a van about 15 years ago for my 72, it was perfect, then it cracked in a couple of places, I just installed a wood wheel with the 3 chrome spokes with holes in them , it is a Grant wheel,like the old superior wheel I had in my 72 step side in high school..in the mid seventies..

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Oh come on, it at least deserves to be a wall hanger

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

I've had about 6-7 black 69-72 wheels all without cracks and mostly all had great grain. I have had one aqua 69-72 wheel that came out of a 25k mile truck that was very nice but other than that all I have seen are the black ones. Those seem to survive better for whatever reason?

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

What's the story on the top rim of the steering wheels? Some have grain, others are smooth.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

They all had grain originally. Those that are smooth have had the grain gradually worn off through use. It also appears there were two different grain patterns on the rim. I have always believed those with the finer grain, such as mine, were the truck wheels and those with the larger grain pattern were from the 70s vans. It's also possible the larger grain is just one stage of the wear process that mine never got to. I believe the reproduction wheels also have the smaller grain pattern, but the grain is much "sharper" than I recall the originals ever being. However, that may only be my imagination.

The wheels that are not painted can be buffed to a high gloss.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

I, too have noticed on black wheels, some are much more glossy than others.
Almost like the resin is a harder form.
It seems like those wheels hold up better!
Although the determining factor always seems to be weather.
Anywhere in the southwest the interior bakes away, and the exterior body is saved
Exact opposite
Anywhere in the northwest the body rots away and interior is saved
Garaged
Well, we know how kind that is

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Cold weather had to have been pretty rough on them too
When I restored this Blazed, originally from Idaho
It had its original wheel in it, there was more metal showing than resin
As special-k mentioned, sandalwood was another weaker color
I got lucky, a sandalwood showed up on eBay
I believe it was a take off, from early on
I almost chocked when I had to pay $205
Looking back, I think it was worth it

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Mine's got crack around the spokes, that's it.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

That's one of those really glossy ones I was talking about.
It shines everywhere, even on the grain.
If you look at some of the other black ones that is not always the case

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

I have a wheel that looks like the wheel on the left. What are folks using to bring the shine back safely?

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Hey FirstOwner69, same question. What can be safely used to polish up the in painted wheels?

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Mine was cracked in about every place imaginable. Every joint between the spokes and the hub or rim were separated.

https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D720/ry%3D480/

https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D550/ry%3D400/

It took a bit of work, but now it looks like new.

https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D550/ry%3D400/

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

^Wow djecst, that turned out nice^

Here is a perfect example of the grain wearing off
155,000 miles of comfort grip
Smooth everywhere except where the hands don't touch it
You can see how more is worn off on your left hand
Probably because it is so comfortable to drive these with your elbow out the window. Gripping the wheel right in that spot

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

I really just want to put a 67-68 wheel on my 72!

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I used the method below on my black seat belt buckles and some other miscellaneous pieces. I don't see any reason it wouldn't work on the steering wheels with the color cast into the plastic.

First, I used 400-1000 grit sandpaper to remove fine scratches. Following that, I buffed them with the white rouge compound and a soft flannel buff that I use as the final step in polishing stainless. I used VERY light pressure to avoid softening or melting the plastic. The buckles look new. You may want to practice first on something that's not as valuable as your steering wheel.

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Mine, currently have a 65 Chevelle installed in its place. Grain worn down, no cracks.

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Nice wheel. How are these different than a 69-72 truck wheel?

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You got me thinking now. I removed the one from my truck in 2015 ( bought the truck in 2014 ) and like yours has the lace wrap around it and was that way when I bought the truck. When I removed it I left the lace on and stuck it up on a shelf in my garage. You have me intrigued as to its condition under the lace so I think I'll bring it in the house remove the lace and see what I have.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

My Burban had a 80's/90's steering column and wheel in it when I bought it. (Yes the 2nd photo is of the column I removed, nice upgrade!) That was one first things to go. I found a wheel listed on C/L with a bunch of other odd stuff. It took three weeks to actually talk with the people who listed it. When I finally got to meet up with them I found out the wheel had been hanging on the wall of her art gallery since 1977 along with a bunch of 50's Ford chrome bits and other stuff. She had painted it a Hunter green and under that it looks to be the correct color for my 503 green truck. We tried to get the dark green off but it didn't want to come off. It ended up black when my buddy who was helping with the rest of the steering column replacement painted it when he painted the column, so now I have two layers of paint to remove.
Has anyone successfully stripped paint off a wheel without damaging it? If so how did you do it?

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

Let us know what you find.

As a side note the '94 leather Blazer wheel I mentioned in my post also had a cover on it when I found it in the junkyard. When I removed it, the wheel looked like it had never been used.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

No kidding, all the "truck" wheels were like yours, post 13?

The replacement I bought may may have been painted. I say this not just because it's duller than my others wheels, but by the looks of the part number. If my junk wheel survives it, I think I'll try some brake fluid on the area, see what happens. If it's painted I'll have it soda blasted.

What tools & materials do you recommend for buffing?

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

All the early 2 spoke wheels I've seen were like the one from my '69. It's possible that the later wheels were more like those I've seen in vans due to a change in supplier or a running design change. It's also possible that the reason more black wheels seem to have survived is that the black wheels were, as special-K noted in post 11, used in vans from 73-78 and may have been purchased to replace cracked wheels in trucks. Does anyone have additional info?

See post 31 for buffing info.

Re: STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels
 

From what I know the 69-72 wheels had part # 9749753 whereas the later style wheels (vans?) had part # 335212. The grain pattern differed between the two. I have the later style wheel on my k20 and it's just as shiny as the OEM examples I have for 69-72 but the rim diameter feels slightly larger - I like the grip feel best with this style.

There are also differences in the wheel hubs as shown in this thread here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=575539

Here's what was a NOS saddle 69-72 wheel that I bolted on to a painted tilt column in my green Blazer with a repro horn button (that's an old school sew up grip protector removed from an early 60s one ton suburban).

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Here is an OEM 69-72 wheel I removed from a low mileage motor home that came from WA. It had a sew up grip protector. Nice crisp grain and nice shine.

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Here's the later style wheel in my k20 - note how the grain pattern differs from the other. Same style as that shown in the top pic post #18.