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Daves55Sedan · 02-22-2016, 04:22 PM

I filled in all the cracks in my '55 wheel. Did everything right. beveled the cracks and drilled holes for the epoxy to seep into and used the proper type of epoxy, good coat of primer and enamel overcoat.
In the end it looked like brand new and I loved it for about a month. My car sits outside where the sunlight beams through the windshield and heats up the wheel. Apparently, the thermal properties of the epoxy differ enough from the original material that the two materials expand and contract at different rates causing cracks to open up again. And where old cracks are not affected, a new crack appears.
Moral of the story is, don't allow direct sunlight (or maybe even sudden temperature changes) to be exposed to your wheel after it is fixed. This might be just one of those things that can never be restored (at least for very long).

02-22-2016, 04:22 PM	#164
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	Re: 1955 Ford Club Sedan Refresh Blog I filled in all the cracks in my '55 wheel. Did everything right. beveled the cracks and drilled holes for the epoxy to seep into and used the proper type of epoxy, good coat of primer and enamel overcoat. In the end it looked like brand new and I loved it for about a month. My car sits outside where the sunlight beams through the windshield and heats up the wheel. Apparently, the thermal properties of the epoxy differ enough from the original material that the two materials expand and contract at different rates causing cracks to open up again. And where old cracks are not affected, a new crack appears. Moral of the story is, don't allow direct sunlight (or maybe even sudden temperature changes) to be exposed to your wheel after it is fixed. This might be just one of those things that can never be restored (at least for very long).