I remembered Beaumontguru posting about this a while back. I searched with his name and found he posted this a couple of years ago. I've never tried it but it sounds like it has worked well for him.

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Fill all the hairline cracks with any good 2 part epoxy

Sand the living crap out of it.

Hit it with an "adhesion promoter" for plastic , avail at any good bodyshop.

Then prime with good primer

then paint with your dash paint,

Using automotive paint with a hardner helps.

The hardner will help to make the paint last longer, spraybombs stay too soft and the sweat from your hands will rub it of and soften it faster.

I used to belong to Classic Chevy International, which was for Fifty 567 Chevy's.  They documented the restoration of a 57 Chevy, including the steering wheel.   They used "marine-tex" epoxy putty www.marinetex.com/marinetexepoxyputty.html  to fill the cracks in the steering wheel.   First they used an exacto knife and grinding wheel to dig all the crap and flaky stuff out of the crack, mixed up some of this stuff, put it in the crack, waited for it to dry, and sanded off the excess.

I have some of it (though I've never used it) and the box says "Handles like putty, Hardens like steel, Sands like wood".  It was $10-15 at a local marine supply place.  I think any reputable boat place will have it at their parts counter.   I was going to do a steering wheel repair a couple years ago and picked up a box, but haven't used it.   If I recall, they had white in stock, and I ordered in the gray which only took a few days to come in.

-- Edited by seventy2plus2 on Friday 17th of January 2014 08:26:19 PM

hawkeye5766 wrote:

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Thanks.So I take it that if the steel hub isn't cracked its still good, that means I can fix it. Just one problem, where do you get the divider rings for the wheel or do you have to make them out of stainless yourself.

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I'd say the steel hub, the steel arms and steel ring are the structure, the plastic is purely cosmetic.  I can't speak to the divider rings.

they are called 

Steering Wheel Paint Dividers

http://www.lategreatchevy.com/1962+chevy+impala/full-size-chevy-steering-wheel-paint-divider-1962-1963.html

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1958-60-Chevy-Steering-Wheel-Paint-Divider-set-of-4-/221258635152

seems there are others...same??...