I cleaned mine off with sandpaper, not to remove the entire old finish, just to get alot of it off and get it ready for stain. I think you would need to stain it then lacquer to get consistent results. I stained mine.

I cleaned the wood/plastic rim of the steering wheel with Murphy's Oil Soap and an SOS soap pad. The rim is now very dry and dull looking, but some of the original finish is still there in spots. For those people who have refinished their steering wheel, did you make sure to completely remove the old finish before staining it? I noticed that some people just cleaned the wheel and applied lacquer without staining it. If I were to do that, wouldn't the color of the wheel remain the same after lacquer is applied?

The short answer is "Yes".

If you are going to use a stain, you have to get the original top finish off.

FWIW,

Carl B.

I sanded the crap out of it, but the wheel still has the original color in it. Does that matter? I'm hoping the stain will blend with the old color and not stand apart from it.

I am not sure who the lady in your avatar is but I will tell you what she is.....damn hot!!

I agree! That is my wife, and mother of my four children... She thinks she is overweight at 115# when her normal is 108#. She is amazing. I took her to a concert this weekend in Reno for her birthday. I had met the promoter through her cousin and only told her we had pretty good seats. We sat next to the the artists husband in the first row. Got to meet her and have dinner with her after the show. I think I got a few "spouse" points banked...

You are probably right about the steel wool vs. 3M pads... I took another look at the Wick Humble book and he only mentions lacquer thinner followed by clear lacquer. On the metal he says sanding followed by satin black.

Okay, here's my 240z's steering wheel with the spokes freshly painted and the rim sanded. I sanded the rim for hours and this is as light as the wheel will come. I washed and scrubbed it 2 times with murphy's oil soap. I'm planning on applying one or two coats of minwax antique maple stain(same color as cherrywood just a little more reddish). What do you guys think? Will the lighter color stain accentuate the color of the steering wheel? or will it not blend in correctly?

Edited May 29, 200915 yr by lm71z

I haven't used that product - Minwax Antique Maple Stain..... however looking at the overall color on the wheel at this point, I believe you will be happy with the result. I think it will accentuate the color...

Stain only the bad side - if you want to see it before you do the entire wheel...

Carl B.

I've read some threads about restoring a 240z steering wheel, but I'm not sure what method I should use to restore mine. Someone mentioned using an SOS soap pad, which sounds like a good idea. What do you guys think is the best way to restore the wood on a 240z steering wheel to its original look?

I have tried few differnt ways too. And this is the one I spryed 7-8 times to make it look "high gloss". It took several months to completely dry up. Now if you use too much thinner, it will mess up the original wood-color, also. I used the same spray can that was taked about on the thred.

Esprist

I need advice on how to spray the wheel with the semi-gloss urethane. How did you guys do it? Did you hang it up somewhere when you sprayed it? When you talk about applying multiple layers of lacquer, do you just wait a few minutes in between each coat or do you have to wait 24 hours before you can apply another coat?

Brush on with Spar urethane. Thin it no more than 15-20%. It will level itself out. No, there will be no brush strokes when it is dried. Paint it on in very light coats. Wait 24 hours and brush on another coat. If there are any imperfections, you can wet sand with 400-600 grit in b/w coats. I ended up applying 6-7 coats. Mine came out beautifully. Sorry I don't have any pics. FWIW

Edited May 30, 200915 yr by adamr

Brush on with Spar urethane. Thin it no more than 15-20%. It will level itself out. No, there will be no brush strokes when it is dried. Paint it on in very light coats. Wait 24 hours and brush on another coat. If there are any imperfections, you can wet sand with 400-600 grit in b/w coats. Mine came out beautifully. FWIW

The reason I thin it is so it lays down smoothly. My experience with the spray can was that it just wouldn't lay down evenly. I took the advice from my friend who has a wooden boat and is a cabinet maker. Just my experience... There are clearly a few good ways to do this project. Best of luck to you. Looking forward to seeing some pics and how you did yours.

Adamr

how would some clear krylon gloss acrylic paint work? was wondering if maybe someone has used that with good results, im unsure

old topic.. nice steering wheel!  My problem was it is to thin.. so i took of the "wood" and put on some mahogany with the use of a hand milling machine made me a new wheel... after lots of sanding and 8 coats of lacquer it was beautiful..