Banjo steering wheel with Saginaw steering gear

[Douglas Gilmore Brown]

This is a banjo steering wheel with Saginaw steering gear. Looks like late 1930's to early 1950's era.

All the hard rubber or plastic on the wheel is gone.

[Douglas Gilmore Brown]

I did some web searching, and it turns out that this was an optional steering wheel for 1938 Chevrolet cars.

[auburnseeker]

I once bought one of those horn buttons not that long ago at a garage sale for 3.00.  It was in really good shape with no cracks.  Sold it for over $200 on ebay once I identified it.  Even in the shape it's in the wheel has some value. 

[Douglas Gilmore Brown]

Hi, Auburn seeker,

 

Thanks for your input!  I bought this at a country  auction last Sunday. It had been in  a Maine barn for over 50 years, and there was a heavy coating of grit and dried grease all over the the steering box. I thought it was from Hudson Terraplane, Studebaker, or another small maker at that time.

 

I got home and spent 45 minutes removing all the crud, which revealed the Saginaw marking. A few days later, I got to thinking it probably was GM. Googling Cadillac, LaSalle, Olds, Pontiac, and finally Chevrolet, I discovered it is 1938 Chevrolet. A few day's of baptizing the center nut in a 50 -50 mixture of ATF and acetone made its removal easy, and likewise eased the removal of the steering wheel from the shaft. (My thanks to a fellow on this site who revealed this magic formula !).

 

Checking eBay, I see that someone has sold a horn button like yours, but in worse shape, for a pretty decent sum. 

 

If it was for a 1936 or 1937 Dodge, I'd hang on to it; but probably will let the Chevy lovers on ebay have a shot at it. 

[deliveryman]

Are you interested in selling it 909 997 7790 thanks

[Douglas Gilmore Brown]

Hi, Deliveryman,

 

Sorry, but it sold this almost immediately after I put it on ebay a few weeks ago. I used the proceeds toward a nice car hauling trailer that a fellow 8 miles down the road had for sale. Turns out that he has a nice (original paint)  1930 Chevy sedan in his garage.  It runs, but needs new wood in the driver's door. He wants to get it on the road. Nice to see a genuine barn find 90 year old car;  and he had some great stories about it.

 

If you can use a 1937 Chevy banjo wheel, there are a couple of them on ebay right now for under $400.00.

 

One of them looks really nice; better condition than mine was. Check it out.

 

There is a 1938 one also on ebay, but the ring is broken. I'm guessing the 1938 is scarcer than the 1938.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Douglas Gilmore Brown
spelling fix (see edit history)