woodgrain steering wheel cleanup, center spoke color

[Lord Warlock]

On a woodgrain steering wheel,  the 3 spokes that are a silver color, are these supposed to be chrome, painted silver or what? The lower portion of one of my spokes has the finish rubbed off and it looks shinier than the rest of the piece, should they be painted silver? and what color paint is the correct color?  wouldn't be the same as the grill silver by chance would it?

Same question applies to the gear shift selector for an auto on column, mine has a black end knob, but the shaft itself is silverish colored, not sure if should be silver or chrome.  I taped over mine to keep overspray from getting on it when painting the dash pads with  bluebird brown SEM color.  but remembered it was kind of dirty silver looking, plan on eventually sanding both pieces and  respraying them, don't believe they are chromed, could use a chrome paint though which looks more like a bright silver.

[Ghoste]

They are chrome but they are a satin finish.  Brushed is the term they used.

[Ghoste]

Although the shift lever should be bright finish I think.

[Lord Warlock]

so can the finish be sanded/brillo padded down to the chrome finish?  the shift stalk doesn't look shiny anymore.  Can wet sand with 1500 grit to get it smooth without taking chrome off, but will involve lots of rubbing.

[Ghoste]

For all I know the shift lever is stainless.  It may be chrome plated though, would they use stainless for something like that?
If the spokes are already pitted then I suppose you have nothing to lose by trying to buff it up first?

[plumbeeper]

The spokes on the 68-70 B-body woodgrain wheels are chrome plated in a satin finish. They used a copper/nickel/chrome process as with everything back in the day but on these wheels, they used a dull nickel instead of a bright nickel so it left a satin finish when it was chromed. No chrome platers carry the dull nickel anymore so getting it replated in the correct satin finish is not an option. I've tried to copy this process with many chrome shops and none of them can get it right.

If the finish on your wheel now has scratches, pits, bubbles etc in the chrome, there's not really much you can do to save it other than scuffing it down and painting it. I've used PPG Liquid Metal for several years with great results. It's a base coat/clear coat that looks so good, you can't tell the difference when you're sitting in the driver's seat. It's not cheap though. It's a little over $200 per pint plus the reducer and the clear.

The shifter handle is a bright chrome, not stainless. It will do the same as far as bubbling, pitting etc.

Dave

[Lord Warlock]

Actually the surface has almost no pitting, only small scratches if any, and is mostly the same color, but one arm the surface looks rubbed off where my thumb would rest on the left side arm, and it was shiny underneath the satin finish on the top which surprised me.  Shifter arm on mine just looks like silver paint or stainless, guess i'll have to work at it and see if I can get it to clean up, bright chrome would definitely look different than what I'm looking at.

[stripedelete]

The shifter handle is a bright chrome, not stainless. It will do the same as far as bubbling, pitting etc.

Dave

Column shift?

[Lord Warlock]

column shift auto

[stripedelete]

column shift auto

Right.  I think that's a brushed finish.

[plumbeeper]

My mistake, I didn't pay attention to the column shift. I was thinking floor shift.

[johnnycharger]

If there is only small pitting on the spokes, can they be steelwooled or woiuld that ruin it?

[plumbeeper]

You can use #0000 very fine steel wool on the spokes and it won't hurt them. If you use anything harsher than that, you will scratch the chrome.