Steering wheel refinish

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darrylg
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Steering wheel refinish

Post by darrylg »

so my steering wheel was in pretty rough shape, and it was actually annoying me while driving.
I saw the leatherique steering wheel refinish kit for $25 and decided to take a shot at it.


Unfortunately I don't have many "before" photos.Image
This is before I did anything.




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These are after treating the wheel with leatherique RO, PC, and the surface prep.


Sanding with 400 and 600 grit to remove the old dye and protectant:

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There's still SOME good leather under there!

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Not so much here though.

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Now on to repairing the worn leather. I've applied a generous amount of crack filler to reform the finger knurls:
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It's hard to see, but there's some suedeing on the front of the wheel, so I applied a skimcoat of crack filler to keep it smooth.

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After sanding down the crack filler with 600 grit.

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Needs some more sanding.

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Sanded up to 1500 grit. It's silky smooth at this point.


After letting the wheel cure for 24 hours, it was time to spray it with dye. I've used an HVLP air sprayer 4:1 dilution ratio.

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Good as new.

Applied the clear coat
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I'm pretty happy with the results. I can post more photos when I have daylight
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sansouci
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Post by sansouci »

That was very nasty to start with, but looks nice when you've finished.
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Finally6
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Post by Finally6 »

Great work, looks nice!!
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Post by GazM3 »

Looks good.
Yes in the daylight it will look less glossy.
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Post by Hefeweizen »

Awesome work!
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Post by Pod »

Looks almost as good as new!
rhanley 635csi89
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amount of time

Post by rhanley 635csi89 »

Great effort, looks great, approx how many man hours, start to finish?
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Post by Da_Hose »

I am really curious as to how it will weather.

I would worry the clear coat will wear off or flake. Would it have also worked to not use clear coat, but use shoe wax instead?

Jose
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Post by GripGreg »

I agree with Jose`.
I also wonder; if the wheel were treated monthly with a leather cleaner/food, would it end up in the poor state it did?
All my wheels have been leather & treated that way & lasted for years & years & years of near daily use.

Plus, personally, I don't like suede in place of leather, unless it's for the door cards which don't get so much action.
Good luck,,,,Greg
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olympia57
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Post by olympia57 »

Superb work .
I always admire determination to restore something rather than replace .
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Post by GripGreg »

And, I agree with Don too! =D>
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darrylg
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Re: amount of time

Post by darrylg »

Thanks for the kind words, guys!
rhanley 635csi89 wrote:Great effort, looks great, approx how many man hours, start to finish?
Let me break it down:

Leather rejuvenation and cleaning - .5 hours labor (24 hours drying time)

Dye removal - 4 hours labor. This was mainly because of the poor condition of the wheel, and the care I needed to take not to fray the threaded stitching. Sanded with 400,600,1000, 1500 grit.

Crack filler - 1 hour labor (1 hour curing time). 3 skim coats applied, with 20 minutes cure time per coat. Sanded 600,1000, 1500 grit.

Dye spraying - 1 hour labor (2 hours cure time between coats). I applied about 6 coats of dye, with 20 min of cure between coats. I added more than recommended number of coats, due to the condition of the wheel.


I had to wait a full week before the dye was not tacky anymore. This could be due to the humidity, or the additional coats applied.

Clear coat - 5 minutes labor (48 hour cure time).


Even though it took a long time, I'd say it was a good learning experience, and the pride of restoring the interior myself.
darrylg
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Post by darrylg »

Da_Hose wrote:I am really curious as to how it will weather.

I would worry the clear coat will wear off or flake. Would it have also worked to not use clear coat, but use shoe wax instead?

Jose
They claim the purpose of the clear is to provide protection. I've noticed my other cars' steering wheels are actually cleared (Honda and Saab).

I'm not sure how shoe wax protects against skin oils being baked by UV, but the leatherique dye has a wax component which is buffed to a shine with a towel. They still recommend using the clear coat.
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Post by MSGGrunt »

Very nice work.

I bet this would also work well on our Emergency brake handles and gear shift knob given these would benefit from the clear coat to protect the leather from skin oils.

Is the only additional step with this over their seat kits the last clear coat step?

Again, nice work.
darrylg
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Post by darrylg »

MSGGrunt wrote:Very nice work.

I bet this would also work well on our Emergency brake handles and gear shift knob given these would benefit from the clear coat to protect the leather from skin oils.

Is the only additional step with this over their seat kits the last clear coat step?

Again, nice work.
Thanks. I was going to refinish the gear shift knob, but mine has a lot of leather worn away. I'll have to buy a new one.

Yes, but they also recommend using the clear coat on some parts of the seat.
From the website:

Some cars, like Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette are so low slung, that it is natural to abrade the finish as you slid in and out. Many customers like an application of Klear Kote, especially on these high wear areas to help protect them from abrasion. Jeans, cords, chinos can be like 600 grit sand paper against a fine leather finish, and the Klear Kote will offer additional protection to these wear panels.
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Re: amount of time

Post by Noct »

darrylg wrote:"]Great effort, looks great, approx how many man hours, start to finish?


Dye removal - 4 hours labor. This was mainly because of the poor condition of the wheel, and the care I needed to take not to fray the threaded stitching. Sanded with 400,600,1000, 1500 grit.

Dye spraying - 1 hour labor (2 hours cure time between coats). I applied about 6 coats of dye, with 20 min of cure between coats. I added more than recommended number of coats, due to the condition of the wheel.


I had to wait a full week before the dye was not tacky anymore. This could be due to the humidity, or the additional coats applied.

Clear coat - 5 minutes labor (48 hour cure time).

[/quote]

Awesome job. Can you clarify, do you need to let it cure and then apply the clear coat?
darrylg
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Re: amount of time

Post by darrylg »

Noct wrote:
Awesome job. Can you clarify, do you need to let it cure and then apply the clear coat?
Good question. The instructions state, to wait 48 hours after the dye is applied before putting the clear on. I had an issue, since the wheel was still tacky, 48 hours after the dye was applied.
I emailed leatherique to find out if I needed to wait until it fully cured before applying the clear. While they answered my email, they avoided answering the question. So, I gave it a week of drying time...it was still a little sticky but I applied it anyway.

It appears to have worked ok, but I'm not sure if it will hold up over time.
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Post by Noct »

I'm not sure what kind of thing to get for spraying the paint. I've been buying stuff mostly from Harbor Freight these days, but I will avoid something that is more likely to retain that damn smell from their shops.

They have stuff by Central Pneumatic I think it's called. Some kind of gravity feed gun and then I've seen another that has a stand for the gun and a cone thing on top of that. Interesting looking gizmo. But, I don't know. Don't know what to make of it... and they do say you can put the Leatherique stuff on by hand. I have a hard sponge specially designed for that sort of thing and I'm pretty good with this stuff I think so I might just wing it without the spray gun.
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Post by hornhospital »

Noct, Leatherique sells and entire kit, with sponge brushes, microfiber clothes and other application tools. If you haven't bought the products yet, you might ask them about that.

And the HF spray rigs work pretty well. They are cheap enough you can toss them after use rather than clean them out (I'm too cheap to do that)

I agree 100% about the smell in the HF stores. I've said it before, but a friend of mine said you lose 5 years of life every time you go in there, from breathing all the out-gassing of rubber and paints. If that's so, I should have been dead long ago.
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darrylg
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Post by darrylg »

Noct wrote:I'm not sure what kind of thing to get for spraying the paint. I've been buying stuff mostly from Harbor Freight these days, but I will avoid something that is more likely to retain that damn smell from their shops.

They have stuff by Central Pneumatic I think it's called. Some kind of gravity feed gun and then I've seen another that has a stand for the gun and a cone thing on top of that. Interesting looking gizmo. But, I don't know. Don't know what to make of it... and they do say you can put the Leatherique stuff on by hand. I have a hard sponge specially designed for that sort of thing and I'm pretty good with this stuff I think so I might just wing it without the spray gun.
you'll probably be fine applying it by hand, then sanding with 1000 grit.

btw I used a "cheap" HVLP husky sprayer from home depot. I bought it, since I figured I'll be using it for other projects.
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Post by Noct »

hornhospital wrote:Noct, Leatherique sells and entire kit, with sponge brushes, microfiber clothes and other application tools. If you haven't bought the products yet, you might ask them about that.


I agree 100% about the smell in the HF stores. I've said it before, but a friend of mine said you lose 5 years of life every time you go in there, from breathing all the out-gassing of rubber and paints. If that's so, I should have been dead long ago.
I already bought their steering wheel kit a long time ago for $30. I don't know if they offered it then with the other stuff, but I'm thinking now you make a good point about the HB sprayers. Next time I can get one for $10 I will just go ahead and toss it when I'm done. Maybe I can get it in the mail this time since it should be light. I keep saying I will never go in there again (or rarely) and just get stuff through the mail, but I keep going back! They are masterful with sales marketing. :evil:

The lady at Leatherique who mentioned this store Hobby Lobby said that I would need a small compressor. Are those HB guns supposed to connect to aspecific type of compressor? I guess I can rent one from our tool library.
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Post by hornhospital »

Yes, you'll need a compressor capable of 5 cfm at about 50 psi. For spraying the leather you won't need a whole lot of capacity, since a seat is a small fraction the size of a car exterior.

Have you thought about just doing the application with nitrile-gloved hands? That's what I did. Rub in a small amount until it's no longer on the gloves, add a bit more and repeat until the leather is covered. I really think the rubbing-in method is superior to spraying. It forces the liquid into the leather instead of just laying it on the surface. Another trick: put the seats in black plastic garbage bags and put them in the sun after applying the liquid. Let them "cook" for a couple hours, then check for lifted grime. Wipe them off, taking the grime and oil with the liquid. Repeat until you're satisfied with the texture of the leather.

By the way, I've NEVER seen Leatherique make the surface come apart as described elsewhere. All it's ever done when I used it is to soften and clean the leather.
Ken Kanne
'84 633CSi "Sylvia"; '85 635CSi "Katja";'85 325e "Hazel Ann"; '95 M3 "Ashlyn"
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