Two Thumbs Up!

Sometimes things just go right. It happens rarely, but it’s happened to me twice in the last week.

First, I took the step well floor pieces in to be Rhino-coated. I didn’t want to have a painted surface because it would get thrashed in time. The result? Awesome. I never appreciated what a fantastic product it is. You can see in the images below.

Two, as many know, I don’t have an original steering wheel. I have something pretty darn close, which I ordered online from a tractor supply company in the US (and which cost like $50). The problem is that the hole for the button wasn’t quite right to accept the one for a J Van, plus I didn’t have one anyway. Thus I had to make one that looked correct, but that fit my steering wheel.

First thing I did was visit a local plastic supply company (Associated Plastics) I took plastics in school, but I was uncertain what to use. They recommended a product that I think is an expanded polystyrene. It’s a durable and non-sweaty type of plastic. It can be painted and sanded for example.

Then I needed to have it machine. I actually tried to buy a lathe but because I live in a townhouse, it just wasn’t going to work. So I called John at Blair Machine (mentioned in an earlier post). I’m going to upload a video, but John whipped it off in like 15 minutes today after I finished work, and it’s stunning. The photo above makes it look much larger than the factory button, but that’s an illusion. It’s the same size (just a little higher).

I thought it was going to be a big pain in the ass, but it wasn’t. It was as good as it could be!