PACEMAKER STEERING WHEEL REPRODUCTIONS ARE NOW FOR SALE, Pacemaker steering wheel cores wanted

[Deleted User]

Hi Folks,
I finally got the bubble issue solved and am now ready to start reproducing the Pacemaker steering wheels.
Here are some pictures of one I just finished in the Ivory color. It turned out very nice. The steering wheel does not include the horn button or the metal ring around the horn button. If any of you guys out there in Hudson land have any old pacemaker steering wheels you don't need I would like to buy them from you for the cores. Thanks. Rob

[Deleted User]

Wow, they look great !!

RL Chilton

Absolutely beautiful, Rob!

onerare39

WOW, that looks really nice Rob!

John Forkner

[Deleted User]

Thanks a lot for your positive comments guys. I really appreciate it

[Deleted User]

Well now ,thats worth waiting for !
Roger

J Spencer

They look great!! What will be the price??

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the great comments. The price will be $750. Free Shipping in the U.S. You supply the core. If I have extra cores at the time you order I will make the new wheel on one of my cores; then when I receive payment and your core I will send the wheel to you. This should save you some time in waiting for your new wheel. If I don't have cores available at the time I will have to make the wheel using your core which will take a little longer. Rob

ArkieJazz

The wheel does look good. And I realize that you chose that wheel because you were in need of one yourself. Have you considered doing any of the more sought after wheels such as 49-49 Commodore or '54 Hornet in that same ivory color?

[Deleted User]

Thanks ArkieJazz,
The main reason I did the Pacemaker wheel is because it's been my experience that it is very hard to find one in decent shape. I have 3 pacemakers and all of the wheels were in rough shape. I restored the best one of the 3 to make the mold from and it took me 150 hours to fill in all the cracks and make the wheel perfect . I also had a chance to go to Jim Harmons' in Oregon before he passsed away. He must have had 50 steering wheels hanging up on his walls and not a single decent Pacemaker 3 spoke out of any of them. Maybe I am wrong about them and there are more good ones out there than I think. If there are I would sure like to know so I can steer my efforts in a better direction.

I was planning on making the Hornet wheel next but I have been hearing the 48-49 deluxe wheel mentioned more than once since I started talking about making wheels on the forum. Maybe I should look into this one. I am not familiar with it at this point. I don't even know what it looks like. If I am not mistaken I think I was told that Larry Kennedy had some of the 48-49 deluxe wheels made and I think someone also said on here that the Eshelmans are in the process of making them. If anyone has comments on here about what wheels they think should be made I am all ears. Also, could one of you guys post a picture of of the 48-49 wheels on here so I can see what it looks like. Thanks a lot. Rob

IvarSweden

My dad makes the 1948-49 Commodore steering wheels, he has made seven so far mostly for swedish buyers.

This is what they look like.

lostmind

Rob , the color of your Pacemaker wheel appears to be correct for the 48/49 Commodore.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the picture IvarSweden, now I know what they look like. It looks like that center piece is a separate part from the main wheel, and that it is made from 2 colors of plastic with several silver inlays in it. Is that correct? Thanks lostmind for your comment on the color. Thats good to know that I am close on the color. Why is there a demand for these wheels? Are most of them cracked? What goes bad on them?

Hudson Grandpa

I'm a Hornet Ivory Customer. I could even tolerate Maroon.

53jetman

It seems that all Ivory colored Hudson wheels tended to crack around the rim, and particularly if the car had been neglected in it's later life it seems the wheels get especially bad. I have a '54 Hornet with the brown interior which came standard with the large ivory steering wheel, and most of them that you see now days are in bad shape. I'm lucky, the wheel on my car is still pretty good.

RL Chilton

You and me both, Hudson Grandpa!

[Deleted User]

Can one of you guys tell me if the 54 Hornet Wheel is the same shape as the 51 to 53 Hornet wheels. I sure hope it is. I hope it wouldnt take a special mold for just the 54.

I am also starting a small website to do with the plastic parts I'm making. It isn't near complete yet but I thought I would go ahead and put the link here anyway. Its: http://stepdownplastics.com/
Thanks. Rob

ESSX28-1

Wonder how many offers you'll get for the very nice shiny red Stepdown Convertible on the website front page!! Good luck with the website & new venture.

ArkieJazz

Rob, the '54 steering wheels would definitely take a different mold. The spokes are different. I think the color you came up with for your Pacemaker wheel is just about perfect. And it is the same color as the 48-49 Commodore ivory and the '54 Hornet/Super Wasp ivory wheels. If you do the '54...i'm a buyer for at least one ivory wheel. Not to make you feel bad, but 2 years ago, I sold a perfect NOS ivory Pacemaker wheel. I think I got a hundred bucks for it. You are right though, it's very difficult to find a nice one. Fact is that none of the ivory colored wheels stood up as well as some of the other colors. I'm not sure why, but the evidence speaks for itself.

[Deleted User]

Count me in for an Ivory 54' too!

[Deleted User]

Wow, I am sure learning a lot in a hurry! Well it looks like I am going to have to make at least 2 more molds. One for 51 to 53 hornets and one for 54 hornets. Now I need to find a good 54 wheel I can borrow or buy to make the mold from and also some 54 cores to use to make the wheels. Out of my 15 stepdown hudsons, (mostly parts cars), I have one 50 , and one 52, the rest are 51 to 53. I have no 54s and no 48 or 49s. So can any of you help me with a good 54 Hornet Wheel to make a pattern from? It wont have to be the Ivory color of course, any color will do. Thanks for any leads. Rob

TOM-WA-

ROB:

Just a thought, but before you go to a lot of work you might want to PRE BOOK orders for any wheels you intend to make and sell..Perhaps even require a small deposit?

Good intentions are great...cash in hand and orders filled are MUCH BETTER.

Good luck with the project

[Deleted User]

I took your advice Tom and updated my website to reflect requiring a deposit before actually starting a steering wheel for a customer. I did realize that that is what other steering wheel makers are doing, is to require a deposit . I guess there is a valid reason for it. Thanks for causing me to think about it. Rob

http://stepdownplastics.com/44-2/

Chris Smith

fyi 54 and 55 wheels are the same. I would be a 54 wheel buyer if you can chrome my core and cast it in clear. Eshelman molding has reproduced the 54/55 horn ring center emblem in red blue and green, no pearl yet.

RL Chilton

Rob-

Getting a deposit is a good thing. Please don't forget, I still need an antenna knob and base in the ivory. If you want me to send a deposit, let me know.

Russell

ArkieJazz

Rob,
I sent you a pm with my email address

[Deleted User]

ArkieJazz,
I don't see your pm for some reason. Rob

[Deleted User]

I would love to find a really good 1954 wheel that is the marbled blue they had that year. I have one that is ok but I would love to find one close to perfect or a repo I would pay for as long as it had the blue marbling done like original.

[Deleted User]

I think creating a marbling that was just like original would be quite a challenge, probably beyond what I'll ever be able to do. I think basically you stir one color of resin into another color of resin but how you control the mixture to get just the right look and then inject it into a mold and have it stay right would be very tricky. Could you maybe restore the one you have by covering it with a clear coating so you didn't obscure the existing marbleing?

ArkieJazz

The '54 wheels were never marbled. The last of the "marbled" wheels were '52

[Deleted User]

Tell that to my 1954 Hornet sedan that came with marbled blue 1954 steering wheel. Its factory and has not been painted. I will take a pic and post it. I saw another just like it on eBay but he wanted too much money.