One of the few pieces in the car that let down it down was centre of the steering wheel, or more specifically the horn-push assembly.
Use the slider to view the before and after.
Firstly, the Bakelite outer part has become pitted and speckled, presumably from being in the sun for so many years, and the Morris ‘M’ motif had cracked and faded over time. I used some metal polish and a rotary tool to shine it up. I had been recommended Greygate Paste Polishing No. 5, an abrasive paste designed for GPO, used for maintaining rotary telephones. I’ve ordered some and will try it out at a later date.
The correct type of ‘M’ for my car was used up till some point in 1964, and it has proved fairly difficult to get a replacement, but I was able to find one of a limited batch of just twenty reproductions, on on eBay.
Whilst I waited for it to arrive, I tried the fabled olive oil technique, where you place the button face-down in olive oil and it is supposed to rejuvenate it – others have seemingly had luck, although i think mine was beyond such help, as the already damaged paint flaked off pretty quickly.
Rather fortunately the new part arrived fairly quickly, so I installed it right away, and it makes the world of difference, as can be seen in the first image.
In essence this piece is just a piece of clear plastic that is painted on the inside, so with a steady hand and a small brush it should be fairly straight-forward to restore a damaged one if you remove all the paint inside. At some point I will get some silver and red paint and restore the original one, and keep it as a spare.
morrisminor.uk 