Steering wheel restoration

[cbudvet]

Has anyone used Too Intense Restoration to recondition their steering wheels? I just noticed they offer this service from $125 - $195 depending on the condition of the steering wheel. I am thinking about having this done.

carl

[Zedyone_kenobi]

I would wager you could do it yourself for quite a bit cheaper.

There are many threads on here that discuss how to do the resto...give it a look maybe?

[cygnusx1]

It's not too hard to do. By the second try you should be a pro. Do you have a spare wheel?

It took me 3 tries on this wheel...but I did it with experimental methods. Two of which did not work. ;-) I'm sure if I did another one it would be even nicer.

Edited April 27, 2010 by cygnusx1

[pwd]

cygnusx1,

Did you use a wood stain for an original look? If so, what was it? Also, did you use Marine Spar Varnish for a finish?

(As you can guess, I'm in the middle of doing mine right now!)

[cbudvet]

I do actually have a spare. I don't know if they restore the wood grain look or not. I tried once to work on it and have had to remove the paint and sand down some of the wheel. I have seen the threads about people doing their own but wasn't very confident of my abilities. I will probably give it another go and see how it goes before I shell out the big bucks. Thanks for your input.

carl

[Walter Moore]

I refinished my steering wheel. It wasn't a big deal. Just sand off the old finish, stain it with walnut or mahogany stain, and then finish with several coats of a good furniture type coating. I used tung oil, but I hear that polyurethane works well also.

With tung oil you have to let it dry for a day or two, then use steel wool between coats.

[cygnusx1]

In response to how I did mine...I wanted the "wet-look" like you see on the modern Nardi wheels. The first thing I did was to apply some boiled linseed oil. Then I wanted to encapsulate the entire rim in a thick coat of epoxy resin for a tough high gloss look. The resin would also thicken up the rim a little. I placed the wheel flat in a vise and mixed up epoxy resin. I drenched the rim with the resin and it coated very nicely as the excess resin dripped of the back. I looked great until the resin began reacting with the linseed oil! It hardened with hundreds of "fish eyes" and pock marks. I thought the wheel was ruined. I grabbed a lot of sand paper and began the work of sanding off the epoxy to smooth it down. Hours later, I had a smooth wheel again, with a thin later of epoxy. It was no longer glossy. I grabbed a can of high gloss clear spray. I taped off the center and sprayed about six coats of the clear. That worked out very well. I then masked the rim and painted the center with a GM Semi-gloss black from Dulpli-Color.

Lesson: Make sure, your stain coat is compatible with the top coat of your choice. Don't be afraid to experiment. It's all fun.

Edited April 28, 2010 by cygnusx1

[ZCurves]

Dave,

I have a couple of the ugly steering wheels for my '78, one of which has "Melted" from age and heat. I am going to make a laminated wood replacement using one of my ugly ones. The intention is to get a wheel that resembles the one on your picture. Could you please measure the diameter of the rim on your steering wheel and the distance between the grips (finger indentations). I would really appreciate it.

[cygnusx1]

Andrew, 15" on the outside of the rim and each ridge is 1" peak to peak along the centerline of the rim.

[ZCurves]

Andrew, 15" on the outside of the rim and each ridge is 1" peak to peak along the centerline of the rim.

This is great, thanks!

[five&dime]

+1 for poly. I would use a satin clear to recreate the factory look.

Be careful with sailboat varnishes. Note that most labels show they are extremely cancerous. Given a steering wheel or two would probably not be enough exposure to do harm but something to note regardless

Edited April 28, 2010 by five&dime

[GreenZZZ]

These steering wheels are wood looking plastic right? I over sanded one and it turned white pretty quick. If its plastic, why furniture oils instead of straight up urethane or epoxy clear coat?