As most of you will know finding a steering wheel in good condition isn't easy, and if you've already got a half decent one getting it "tidied up" can be an expensive process.

So...mine being a driver car and having a wheel that was already in reasonable condition, I decided to speak with a mate who has helped me previously with a few detail items (you may remember my front kick panels, or even the Bonneville front grille badge)?

The process...I filled all the small cracks with a heat resistant and flexible gel. He wrapped it (the colour is a vinyl wrap, as that is a little stronger than normal wrap and the colour areas had more cracking evident). Then, I finished it in a clear spray (2 coats).

The result, while not show quality, has (in my opinion) really lifted the appearance of the car interior (and hopefully helped preserve the wheel too).

See below for the before and after pics, and let me know watcha think 👍

ps: Yes I may be able to arrange some work for you lads too, for a price😆

Hello Paul,

  Excellent work and you have nothing to be ashamed with on that repair.  It looks great.  My steering wheel has that sticky-icky greasy 70's feeling that I have to figure out how to clean before my hands get permanently stuck to the rim. I will clean it with something and then eventually cover it with a black or green leather "Wheelskin".

Rick

https://wheelskins.com/

 

 

well done Paul !!! it looks mint as 

You need to join our Steering Wheel Support Group - we have many members, most who have suffered debilitating mental episodes dealing with the prohibitive cost and/or mind numbing endless filling, reshaping & sanding.

Yours turned out really well. It's a focal point of any interior and important that it's presentable. It's also a nice touch that back in the 60s, car makers weren't just content that in a smash the steering wheel would impale you. I see in your case they fitted a protruding centre emblem so that as they pulled your carcass off the wheel, there was an imprint in your torso of the car's model. Early product placement strategy?

1 hour ago, Fitzy said:

You need to join our Steering Wheel Support Group - we have many members, most who have suffered debilitating mental episodes dealing with the prohibitive cost and/or mind numbing endless filling, reshaping & sanding.

Yours turned out really well. It's a focal point of any interior and important that it's presentable. It's also a nice touch that back in the 60s, car makers weren't just content that in a smash the steering wheel would impale you. I see in your case they fitted a protruding centre emblem so that as they pulled your carcass off the wheel, there was an imprint in your torso of the car's model. Early product placement strategy?

Absolutely.

Additionally it helps separate which driver was which in the event both operators turned out to be dog food😁

Yep. Once upon a time car injuries were so horrific that your chances of survival were next to none. As time went on the world's motorists were dragged kicking & screaming into ever increasing safety regulations. I freely admit that your average modern car is a soul-less plastic econobox but the fact remains that cars have never been safer. Of course, mandating that anyone going for their licence can actually drive and react properly in an emergency would help. How does correctly executing a 3 point turn qualify you to pilot a metal box down the road at 100 or more?

I am only too aware that my own car is intrinsically unsafe and so I drive with an appropriate large margin of passive safety, as I'm sure we all do.