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If a Kainer Wheel is cracked through the supports, not the main wheel, can it be repaired enough to be safe and functional and if so what would one use?
Having never seen a Kainer steering wheel in person I have to ask if it is made of the same material as steering wheels in older automobiles. They had a metal frame with Plastic? molded around it. Over time they would crack much like the cracks in gelcoat. There is a Volkswagen website called Samba which has information on restoring steering wheels and also mentions a company named Koch's steering wheel restoration which I have heard of many times.However he grinds the material off to the metal and remolds the new wheel and it ain't cheap. Some people grind the cracks and fill them and then paint the wheel. Log on to the site and type in a search for steering wheel restoration. Good luck.
I've redone old wheels for antique cars and it's pretty easy to do. I use two part epoxy thickened to the consistency of peanut butter. Clean out the cracks and squish it right in there. I wear plastic gloves and also use a syringe if the cracks are small. After it sets up. just sand and refinish in the original color or whatever you want. Better than new usually. And my theory is that the original material has already shrunk all it's going to and I've never had cracks reappear.
