49 Steering Wheel?

[Jay Friedman]

I just bought a steering wheel for my '49.  It's a rarely seen "standard" wheel, plain brown in color and without the chrome horn ring and other chrome trim that the usual ivory or black "deluxe" wheel has.  (Horn is blown from the central horn button only.)  The seller described it as NOS though with some shelf wear, which I have no reason to doubt as it is free of cracks and other serious wear.  (Though it does have some scuff marks and other flaws in the finish resulting from sitting around for decades.)  It came in a Cadillac steering wheel box, identical to other Cad steering wheel boxes I've seen and the wheel itself looks like the standard wheel on my car. 

The problem is that the part number on the box is 145 4997 (Group No. 18.0100).  My 1935-55 Master Parts List shows part number 145 2854 as the 1946-49 standard steering wheel, while part number 145 4997 is not listed for any steering wheel.  Also, this number  is not listed in the Parts History Index (for obsolete numbers) in my MPL.  Can anyone who has either an earlier or later MPL than 35-55 help by looking up this number in Group No. 18.0100 or in the Parts History Index.  Thanks in advance.

[denniscaddy]

Hi Jay,
In the 1949 MPL, 1494997 is listed as  "1949,  Ivory, Special (used with horn button ring)"

The "Standard (not used w/ horn button ring) for 49-61; 49-6207,69; 49-86" is 1455720.

Hope this helps.

Did you wear out the one you bought from me years ago?

Dennis

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

Hi, I hope you can clean the new wheel enough to get the sticky residue off of it. One of my  1941 6127s  (The SO one with the leather front seat) had a standard wheel and I never could get the palm oil cleaned from it. So I put on a Deluxe one. Good luck. BW.

[Steve Passmore]

It would seem Jay someone ordered up the De luxe wheel and put the standard wheel in the box once the swap was done.

[Jay Friedman]

Dennis and S Passmore, you guys must be right: the seller put a standard wheel in a box meant for a deluxe. 

Dennis, the wheel you sold me many years ago is still on my car, still looks good and it steered me from GA to the GN in NY and back.  I bought this latest wheel because I saw it advertised, the price was right and "had to have it".  (You know the feeling, which must motivate a fair number of your customers.)

Barry, I'm going to try to re-finish the wheel I just bought, though I still have to read up on to do it.

To everyone, it seems Cadillac changed part numbers as the years went by, since my 35-55 MPL shows the 49-50 ivory wheel is 145 6349 (and the black wheel used for some body and trim colors on 49-50 Sixty Specials, Coupe de Villes and Series 75 limos is 145 4998).  Go figure.