Plasticman

I need to paint the airbag cover on my 50th Anniv.

Cover was "sticky", and I removed the stickiness (and the paint)......now it is no longer sticky, but is a dull mostly black / grey.

I see both "Oak" and "Shale" colors listed on Ecklers, and think the Shale is lighter (seats, etc.) Is Oak the correct color for the airbag?

Don't want to have to do this "again".

Thanks,
Plasticman

killain

I think your problem is more intensive that just dyeing the wheel. On some Corvettes, the overall plastic cover begins to degrade over time, to the point it becomes very sticky and is glue like to touch which I believe the silicon is leaching out. The best bet for you is to replace the whole steering wheel with a stock or a custom from Apsis or one of our other vendors. I know it sounds drastic, but once the plastic compounds begins to break down, there's no help save for replacing the contaminated surfaces. I'm sorry but I've never seen anything within a reasonable price to stop this slow death in the material.

Plasticman

Thanks for info, but in my case it was the paint on the cover, not the base plastic. In fact it has me wondering if all of the sticky(or melting as some call it) air bag cover complaints are based on failed paint (applied by cover mfg., be it black or shale interior), and that it was the paint that was the issue all along. I have "dealt" with plastics for many years (see forum name), and I have not heard of removing a sticky surface from degrading plastic (like I just did on my 03 today). Thermoplastics just don't act that way. In the other thread on air bag cover melting, it was reported several times that guys were able to remove the sticky surface with a water based "cleaner". That sounds like a (failed) paint was being removed.

Thanks,
Plasticman

killain

I have a 2003 1SC coupe and my steering wheel doesn't have any paint or whatever. But I have seen certain cars that have parts made of plastic that start to break down on a molecule scale. But in the 2003 50th. Anniversary Edition, the "shale" well there isn't any real shale color other than the colored carpets and the seats. but the dash and steering wheel are a kind of gray/brown color, there's no real shale color, if there is such a thing. But anyway, good luck with it.

NjVette201

Did you ever find a fix for this? I just did this today and have a big grey / black mark on my wheel.

thanks!

helphos

Here's a thread on this very topic:https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...bag-cover.html

To summarize, The correct color is #153 GM M Dark Neutral for a 2003 50th Anniversary. One Source: ColorBond (153) GM Medium Dark Neutral LVP Leather, Vinyl & Hard Plastic Refinisher Spray Paint - 12 oz.
I have an Anniversary Edition convertible, and the previous owner put a black leather stitch on cover over the steering wheel. Soon, I'll be taking the cover off to see if the underlying steering wheel looks ok. I'm not enamored with the black cover. If it needs re-coloring, I'll use the Color Bond product noted above. You can supposedly use the same product on the airbag and the steering wheel. I'm ready to give it a go.

Good luck with your project!
Here's my black steering wheel cover:

voda1

Anyone have the Colorbond number for black to do the airbag cover?