Steering wheel paint dividers?

[Brent Lovern]

 I purchased a new reproduction 59 steering wheel. Its black and will need to painted. I removed the 4 chrome paint dividers so i could prep the wheel for paint. In doing so all 4 dividers broke. I ordered more dividers and while trying to install the new ones i have already broken 2 of them also. They are made out of very soft pot metal it seems. SO my questions are, Has only else attempted this and had any success? Is there a trick to putting these back on or is it a case of luck and hoping for the best?

[HiCarbs]

Brent, I think the way I would approach the problem is to forget about the pot metal rings and buy some stainless steel rod the right diameter and polish it to a chrome like finish.  Then cut to exact length and wrap it around a pipe that is a little bit smaller than the steering wheel.  It might be easier to wrap it before cutting to length.  Then carefully spread the stainless ring just enough to squeeze onto the wheel.  I might be really stupid about this idea, but I think it would be worth a try.