So this weekend I finalized the steering column and got it put back together. Started out with this:
Painted it and got it all put back together. Had some problems through the project, was a bit rough with some of the parts and ended up having to buy some new ones when I shouldn’t have. Tried to handle the paint too early (when it says “fully dry in 24 hours”, don’t touch it!) so I had to sand them down and start over again.
In the end I’m pretty happy with it:
A few left over parts….
I bought a new steering pad from Dearborn classics, but it was way too small. Probably a good 1″ too short across the top and it didn’t sit very well, so decided to clean up my old one and really surprised how well it turned out. Went from this:
To this:
I also had to buy some new black pad inserts. $60 for three little black pastic tabs… And they aren’t even correct:
Notice how small one of them is… I called Dearborn and was given shit about it and told it would be a 25% restocking fee for them to send me new ones. Called again this morning and talked to someone else and they said they would send a single one out for free. So that’s good.
After that I watched some videos on how to do polishing. It’s a very intense process. Start with 320 grit, then 400 grit, then 600 grit, then 800 grit. All sanding by hand. Then move to a DA sander at 1000 grit, 1200 grit and 1500 grit. Once you are done with that, move to the buffer and do 4 different passes with different wheels and compounds. Took a couple hours for me to do one piece.
Built myself a nice little stand for my grinder:
Before and after
I’m kinda happy with the way it came out. But thought it could be better. I was expecting a mirror like finish. Maybe I just rushed it too much.