Steering wheel advice

[Paul G]

My laser is fitted with the usual leather - bound steering wheel, like all Lasers and 2.8i s were. The leather on it is really manky and the grey colourant has worn off although it's still all intact. As usual I don't want to spend any money on it so I wondered if under the leather it was just the standard all plastic covered wheel that was fitted to earlier models like the LS.

Failing that, has anyone re - dyed their leather on a steering wheel or would a squirt of Nick's favorite paint cover it. Otherwise I will put a glove over it like it had when i got the car.

[Peter-S]

Hi Paul,

I'm pretty certain its a vinyl finish underneath, probably with a little groove in the bottom spoke to accommodate the seam for the join in the leather.
I too had a slightly faded (in a couple of places) but sound leather wheel and sprayed it with an aerosol shoe dye, just a light coat but it improved it no end.

[Paul G]

Update on my steering wheel.

The wheel was really manky, worn through to the leather and it stuck to your hand when it was damp. Minging. Anyway, I got it in the kitchen sink and gave it a damn good scrub using bold washing machine liquid and thoroughly dried it out. I then went round the leather part of rim with some 380 grit wet and dry, used dry, to smooth down the worn leather and to sand off most of the original colourant. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of this stage but it at least got the rim smooth and gave a key for the new colourant.

This is the stuff I used, £6.95 for a small bottle.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALL-IN-ONE-Le ... SwsW9Y0EY8

I applied it to the rim using a dry cloth, just smearing a bit at a time aroung the whole rim. In the end I gave the rim 4 coats but there was enough left in the little bottle to do another 2 rims.

Here is the end result





Really chuffed with the result and would recommend this product for anyone else needing to do their wheel. I bet this stuff would do leather seats as well.

[D366Y]

Looks like its done a decent job!

I had the exact same issue with my steering wheel but was struggling to find a decent way to repair it so bought another from a different model with less shite leather but will definitely have to go back and try this!

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi Paul,
That looks like a great result, and the colour of the dye looks like a good match to the original. You've also saved a bundle by not having to buy a replacement steering wheel.

Andrew.

[Dave1968]

Good job!!

I’m currently restoring a ripped wheel I’ve bought. I’ll repair the hole and show progress in another thread etc.

Thanks for the dye link.

Have you applied a Matt lacquer?

I intend to, to prevent the premature wear on the repair / dye etc.

Cheers