Fatman Steering Wheel

[Mustang1964s]

Just acquired a fatman steering wheel with out the wood.

I bought the 17 inch steering. It kind of fit but seems a little big. But it will replace the black wheel on the '27 touring.
The 16 inch steering wheel arrived today and it was way too small. But will work on the '14.

What size of steering wheel fits the spider of a Fatman?
Is there a trick or will it just not snug up the cradle like it seems like it should?

[RajoRacer]

Most aftermarket wheels are 17". Your '14 should have a 15".

[Henry K. Lee]

Fatman steering wheels are in a breed of their own. Kevin Allen is the guy to get a hold of if you require wood for it. Wood by Kevin Allen.

Hank

[Wayne Sheldon]

After-market steering wheels, whether "fatman", locking, combination, or just simple nicer wheels than that plain old black thing Henry provided? They were made by many many different companies, and there are NO standards they followed. I have been fortunate over the years that several damaged wheels I have gotten did have spiders and rims that would interchange just fine. The 17 inch Henry K L mentions was a fairly common size.I recently acquired some remnants of wooden steering wheel rims, added to the remnants I had left over from one I salvaged about ten years ago, I restored two wooden rims. One fit an odd original spider I had on the shelf, so it now is a ready to use early after-market wheel, The other? Looks nice, but none of the spiders I have and can find fit it. I have a fatman spider somewhere that has been hiding from me for quite awhile now. I am hoping it will fit.
I have not bought a rim from Kevin Allen myself. But if that is who I think it is? I hear good things about the rims he makes. Just be sure you give the proper measurement to him so the custom work will fit.

[Model T Tom]

Send the whole thing to Kevin Allen his work is beautiful. He's made several for me.

[Mustang1964s]

Can this steering wheel be glued with epoxy or gorilla glue or something equivalent?
I just need it to last a few days and about 200 miles.

Then off to Kevin Allen.

One more point. Does any one know how to remove this fatman?

Spider

[Wayne Sheldon]

Those old type composite rims are getting a little tough to get in good shape. In my silly opinion, it should be repaired and preserved as best as is reasonable. They do tend to have a shrinkage problem with age, and often results in fitting issues and sometimes caused them to break. I repaired one once by carefully figuring the angle and center, drilling a quarter inch hole about an inch and a half deep in both sides of the break, and epoxy gluing a furniture dowel inside. It was tricky, but worked well.

[Mustang1964s]

Wayne,
You mentioned a "furniture dowel". Is that just a dowel or is it something special.
I can find a dowel at ACE, but is it the same thing?
What kind of epoxy did you use?

[Wayne Sheldon]

A "furniture" dowel isn't a specific "proper" term, but generally means one of the smallish dowels about two inches long, with spiral grooves for glue to fill and adhere to, and made of some very strong type of wood. A just "dowel" can be very large or small, in either diameter, or length, or both. Furniture dowels if properly glued make a fairly strong connection, and can tolerate a good amount of stress from weight or pressure (I don't know what kind of wood they are, but I have tried to break them a few times!). Epoxy glue is not usually used for normal wood furniture repairs. However bonding into the composite materials of the steering wheel I feel it is a better choice. I use a variety of epoxy based adhesives myself, depending on the application, filling requirements, and materials being used. For something like this (a slip fit, must be able to move the dowel in place, but not be too loose), I would use the "two ton" (higher strength and slower setting time) nearly clear. I actually find that I prefer the Epoxy brand, however, I have not been able to find it locally for a couple years now. I have not tried to find it online and do not know if it is still available or not. Devcon makes a good comparable product and is available at most local hardware stores.
Finding the "two ton" version can be a bit difficult these days. Many retailers cater to the "everything instant" mentality. Several stores I used to buy epoxy from only carry the "five minute", "two minute" and even "one minute" varieties. These in the first place do not allow enough working time to get everything properly positioned. And in the second place, the final setting is not as strong as the slower setting is. A point of fact is that the fast setting glues tend to be thinner (unless you get into the "gels") and can flow deeper faster into gaps and spaces, however, any motion between pieces once setting begins results in crystallization and fracturing of the bonding. Therefore a weak set.
A couple of the steering wheel rims I have repaired (both wood and composite) have had a single break in the rim. That creates very tricky conditions for repair. One of the drilled holes needs to be deep enough to push the dowel in far enough to nearly swallow the whole dowel. With all the glues in the holes, on the dowels, the dowel has to be pushed most of the way into the deep hole. Then the rim VERY CAREFULLY sprung over to align the other hole, and the point of a small knife blade or ice pick used to slide the dowel into the opposing hole. These composite rims, especially due to age, cannot tolerate much bending, flexing or twisting of any kind. These composites reach a stress limit and with little or no warning just snap! One may fear they are not strong enough for a steering component, however once mounted onto a spider, are generally much stronger than they need to be. And always remember, anything to do with antique automobiles requires keeping one's wits about them. Things do sometime break. In the case of a steering wheel rim, IF (in this case an unlikely IF) the rim were to break? One needs to grab the spider arms and maintain control of the car. A very simple thing if one thinks about it before it happens.

For your rim, broken fairly evenly in halves. It is a simpler matter to carefully measure and drill the holes. Leave the holes just a bit longer than necessary (1/8 inch or less), and test-fit. You want it to push together easily, and align straight (how can a circle be straight???? ). The holes can and really should be a bit loose (too tight and the glue will act like piston rings, seal the edges and not allow the air to escape as you push the pieces together). Use a toothpick or other small stick to apply glue all around the inside of the holes, and apply glue onto the outside of the dowels. Get both breaks ready to push together at one time. If all goes well, you may be able to just set the rim down flat on some cardboard or paper to harmlessly catch the drips. Watch for hydraulic pressure in the holes pushing the break open again! It may be necessary to put weights or clamps around the rim for an hour or so. It usually does not require much.
A small knife or sandpaper can be used to clean up and smooth the epoxy once it has dried for about ten to twelve hours. Epoxy can be added to fill surface chips or holes.
One of the tricks with most epoxy type products, is to get pretty close to a 50/50 mixture, and mix thoroughly. (Another reason I tend to dislike the fast setting types.)

That rim looks to have some nice detail. Just decoration mostly, but it would be nice to preserve it. Minor damage can often be cleaned up with knives or picks, holes and cracks filled with epoxy. Sometimes stains or shoe polishes can improve the color and blend in repairs. In some cases, a thorough cleaning followed by a flat or semigloss spray paint can make a nasty looking rim look really nice. I have been surprised in the past by how well such paint has held up with heavy use (unfortunately paint chemistry has changed so much that I have no way of knowing if current paints will do as well?)

[Bill Crosby]

Steve, I purchased a fat man steering wheel like yours at Hershey a year or two and It Is apart to restore so I could measure or take pictures if you need.