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Click on photos for larger view.
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Steering system
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Here's my plan for controls: I'm going with an old-look steering
column that will connect to a teleflex helm behind a bulkhead
in front of my feet. The transmission shifter will be a big
lever coming up through the sole.
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I purchased this steering wheel and column off eBay for $25. This
is how the steering wheel arrived. It was severely cracked and chipped
in many places. Rather than purchase a new replica, I decided to
try and restore it. I used the approach described on
http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqstrg.htm .
(04-OCT-2007)
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This is what it looked like after one pass of epoxy filler and sanding.
(17-NOV-2007)
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Close-up after one round of fill and sand. At this stage, I used 100
grit paper. I did my filling using West System epoxy with West System
410 "Microlight" fairing filler.
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(26-NOV-2007)
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Close-up after two rounds. The scratches from the coarse paper are gone,
and I am working mostly with 220 grit.
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More filling and sanding.
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The filling and sanding process took about five or six iterations. As
recommended on "Bugfix", you do most of your inspection by feel.
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This picture was taken after one of many coats of primer. I used
an entire "rattle can" of sandable auto primer, through iterations
of "prime, sand, fill, sand". Each iteration was about 10 minutes
of work. This was spread out over a week or so. The primer
highlights visual issues that you could not see or feel at the
prior stage.
(09-DEC-2007)
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Close-up during the priming phase.
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Close-up of the handle after several rounds of priming and sanding.
In total, I probably sanded off 95% of the filler I used, and at least
75% of the primer.
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Here is the front of the wheel, after paint.
(14-DEC-2007)
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The finished wheel. Fitted with a chrome "button" from
Glen-L. One of these days, maybe I'll seek out the horn
ring that will fit this wheel. But for now, I am happy.
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This is the tapered shaft and hollow steering column. I still
have to prime and paint the steering column.
(26-NOV-2007)
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I like this angle... it shows the detail on the front and
back of the handle.
(15-DEC-2007)
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Overall, I am very happy with this result. I hope that
the paint holds up, and that the cracks don't reappear.
Preserving this wheel was not about saving the $250 that it
would have taken to buy a replica. I easily spent
that in labour. This was about having a 50+ year-old
piece of history as part of my boat.
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The steering column will hang beneath the dashboard with a stainless
steel u-bolt. I am still trying to decide what colour to paint the
column ... white? black? grey?
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In this shot, I am positioning the steering column in against the
bulkhead so that I can position the teleflex helm in front of
the bulkhead. (The wires hanging down under the column are my
wiring harness).
(16-DEC-2007)
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This is a side view of the steering column and the starboard
half of the front bulkhead. The Teleflex rotary helm will go through
thus bulkhead, just as it would usually go through a dashboard. The
bulkhead and my dashboard are parallel. Both are at a 20 degree angle.
That way, the Teleflex helm shaft will be perpendicular. I will
couple the shaft from the helm to the long steering shaft on the
inside of the column. To the left, you can see my forward
positive flotation tank. I used expanding foam cast in a large
plastic storage tub. It is held in place with ratchet straps,
so it could be removed.
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