[myckee]

Hey guys, I have an 1980 firebird with one of the 3 spoke steering wheels which looks like leather but is really just some sort of foam with a 'skin' which looks like leather.

Well, the foam is all cracked and really ugly looking now, and I was wondering if any of you knew a place where I could have the steering wheel covered with real leather. This way I can keep the original look, while having esentially a new steering wheel.

[myckee]

Hey guys, I have an 1980 firebird with one of the 3 spoke steering wheels which looks like leather but is really just some sort of foam with a 'skin' which looks like leather.

Well, the foam is all cracked and really ugly looking now, and I was wondering if any of you knew a place where I could have the steering wheel covered with real leather. This way I can keep the original look, while having esentially a new steering wheel.

[79TARon]

From what I found on this site, these guys are supposed to be able to repair/restore the formula wheel. http://www.american-stitches.com I do not know how good they are or their pricing. Maybe someone else has used them.?????

[myckee]

Awesome, thanks a lot! I found a pic on their site of a couple of the wheels wrapped in leather.

http://www.american-stitches.com/ams...er/Slide59.jpg

I have emailed them to find out how much they charge. Not one mention of price anywhere. I'll post the price they quote when they email back to me.

HAs anyone tried these guys? The pics on the site look great, but they are just pics. Anyone have the real deal in front of them?

[Mark in Memphis]

I think I saw another thread somewhere on the board where someone had a 70's GTO steering wheel done. I think it was about $200 or $250.

[myckee]

I just got a reply from them. They want $259.00 to wrap my wheel in leather. In his email he didn't mention anything about shipping, so probably that doesn't include shipping.

I was hoping for a $150 price. In Canadian dollars, the 259US is just shy of one million. I guess I'll keep looking for a cheaper alternative. Myabe I'll just buy an aftermarket wheel already wrapped in leather. Grant has some for about $150 and they look very nice.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Mike,

Thank you for contacting us. The cost to do a custom leather cover on your wheel is $259.00. We will need your wheel for about 6-8 business days. Please call me so I can do an order confirmation sheet to send to you for a signature and to place in with your wheel when you ship it to us. Please see our web site linked below.

Sincerely,

Terry Rowe
VP Sales & Marketing
American Stitches Steering Wheel Co.
3149 N. I-30 Suite H.
Mesquite, TX 75150
888-403-3403 Toll Free
972-613-2914 Office
972-613-8678 Fax
mailto:terryr@american-stitches.com
http://www.american-stitches.com/<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[T/A Tex]

Myckee, try going to ebay and under seller look for rockmann455. He restores trans am wheels. I asked him a while back to restore mine and he charges $100.00 plus shipping. I never sent him mine but you should see the ones he sells on ebay really look nice. If you need a hand looking for him drop me an email selpro2@rgv.rr.com and Id be glad to help.Good luck!

[olds]

I had one of my wheels redone by rockman last year. Looks pretty darn good considering I sent him a POS. It is not perfect, but heck my old one was junk. He spent a lot of time on it. About the only thing I that made it short of perfect was the overspray on the spoke ends where it met the wheel grip. If you look close at his auctions...you might be able to pick it out. I was very happy with mine. If you are looking for a 100 point restore then this will not do. Very good in my opinion.

Also, Performane Years...this site sells a repo. I have never seen them...so I do not know about them other than Chris sells them.

olds

[myckee]

Thanks guys, I'll look him up for sure!

[T/A Tex]

I tried the method below (from another forum) and it worked out great for my 76 trans am. It was redone in black. My steering wheel was in fair condition it start with but I think it any ok looking wheel will turnout nice with the simple instructions. If you need help drop me a line selpro2@rgv.rr.com

Good luck!

If you never drive your car or just pull it around on a trailer to take to the pickiest of judges, this might not work because if you look really closely at the wheel, the texture is a bit different than the original. But this could probably be improved upon by using finer sandpaper before the final coat. I have had no problems with cracking and the stuff I use is very pliable. As a friendly reminder be careful with any solvents, dye, or paint you choose to make sure they do not react with each other and possibly eat into the foam rubber the wheel is covered with. The wheels I have done have a aluminum ring covered by dense foam with a thin gloss black vinyl cover bonded to the foam. The following material is what I used to restore mine:
(1)liquid dish soap
(2)approximately 10 sheets of 400/300 sandpaper
(3)heat gun or hair dryer
(4)vinyl prep to clean the rubber before dying 1 can
(5) Black vinyl spray or your color 2 cans
(6) Vinyl repair kit
(7) primer and paint for the center spokes
(8) CA glue
(9) couple of small brushed 1/4 wide
(10) plenty of clean rags
(11) patience/ something else to do.

I got my vinyl prep through sears autoshop. Not many people know they exist but they have a lot of stuff to help restore a car. The new catalogue is different from the regular one. You can get one by calling 800-557-3277. You might be able to get some at the interior/paint supply store. I would go with the same make vinyl dye as vinyl prep for compatibility if at all possible. The vinyl dye I use is Dupli color vinyl and fabric vsi black vinyl. I bought it at a good car parts place then saw it at walmart for $3 less a can. It sprays easy and flows good and is very forgiving to runs and sags. The ca glue I used is expensive (used on RC airplanes) but super glue would probably work , just check for compatibility with the foam. I used the RC airplane kind because I had some and you can get applicator tips that puts just a small amount where you want it.

RESTORATION PROCESS
(1) wash wheel in warm soapy water to remove oil, dirt, etc...
(2) dry the wheel with a clean towel and hear dryer
(3) look for any deep cracks in the foam not shallow surface ones, but cracks that when you pull the foam apart with your fingers the foam separates. fix these with the ca glue, but test it in a no so obvious place such as the back of the steering wheel just in case there is a reaction with the type foam you have. Just a small amount is needed but make sure to press the crack together so the surface is level and wipe off any excess that squeezes out. CA glue is hard to sand and you will end up sanding the fam around the glue if you allow it to squeeze out and dry instead of wiping it off.
(4) if you have any deep gouges where the foam is missing, then in the vinyl repair kit there should be a tube of adhesive and filler. The kit I used is from permatex #81785. Use the filler for the gouges but do not fill totally even with the surface of the foam in order to leave room for the vinyl repair. The filler should come about a 16th of an inch from the surface of the foam. This is where patience and have something else to do comes into play [leave the wheel alone while it dries and remember to work clean so that it will adhere]
(5) after the filler from step 4 is dry if you plan the center spokes now is the time to sand them so you don't have to worry about tearing up the foam after fixing it. This was the reason for listing primer and paint on the material list.
(6) if you did step 5 clean the wheel again then wipe the wheel with vinyl prep, but test for compatibility. I sprayed a lint free rag with the vinyl prep then wiped the wheel. Follow the directions on whatever vinyl prep you get, but don't spray the wheel. It gets in cracks and is a pain to get off. Read the directions on the vinyl repair kit you got and mix some of the black as directed. I forced the vinyl repair into the cracks and cure it with the heat gun or hair dryer, using a heating iron like they supply will cause trouble. Don't burn the wheel!!! Move the dryer around so not to concentrate the heat. Do a small section at a time and don't go higher than the surface of the foam. The idea is to fill most of the deeper cracks or gouges right below the surface, not totally filled so that way when you sand you can do so without tearing out the repair. Work slow and clean until you have deeper cracks and gouges done.
(7) Shake the blacktop your color] spray good. Clean the wheel again with vinyl prep if needed. Spray some dye in a small amount into a small cup. Use the brush to start dabbing the dye to the surface cracks and other low spots. You will need to do this numerous times as the dye will soak in. I put as many as 5 coats in some spots, but don't be scared to blot it on thick as the extra will sand very easily.
(8) Sand the wheel starting with 320 paper. Cut about 1 inch strips and sand the wheel as if you are buffing a shoe holding the ends and wrapping the sand paper around the wheel using a cross pattern. Sand pulling in one direction then the other. This is to prevent making flat spots on the wheel. If the original this vinyl covering is still good in places use the 400 grit and don't try to sand it off, just take the gloss off to make the vinyl spray have something to bit into. I used my fingers with small pieces of 320 to sand around the inside diameter of the covering next to where the fake stitching is, also where the covering goes onto the three center spokes. Only sand down to make the high spots of vinyl dye match the curvature of the wheel. Remember to keep things clean, use plenty of good sandpaper and don't try to sand the outside without using the cris cross pattern with the paper wrapped around or you will get flat spots on the wheel. You will probably have to add more dye with the brush and resand but eventually you will build the low spots up to match the surface of the wheel. Don't sand the foam down to where the dye is, be patient and add more dye with the brush until it is built up to match the surface. You can tell low spots as when you sand the dye keeps its gloss which means the sandpaper is not touching it. Remember add more dye with the brush and don't try to sand the foam down to the low spots.
(9) When you think you have the foam close to good enough, tape off and cover the foam and clean and prime and paint the center spokes, if you wheel needs it. Freezer paper works better than newspaper to me.
(10) When the spokes are dry uncover the foam and cover the spokes. I used felt in order not to scratch the paint on the spokes. I put a thin line of tape where the spokes meet the foam covering and took a little of the stickiness off the tape by running it through my fingers so it would not pull off the paint from the spokes.
(11) When the spokes are covered up wipe the foam covering with vinyl prep remembering to spray a rage with the prep and not the wheel. I set the wheel where the horn button goes on a an old cool whip container. Start spraying with the vinyl dye, with a thin coat and let it dry for 5-10 minutes. Follow with a couple of heavier coats working your way around the wheel and turning it over in order to cover all the foam. A few coats with light sanding plus a few more fillings with the brush and dye, and soon you will have a smooth covering with no dry looking spots. I can't explain how forgiving the dye is, you can rally lay it on wet. The first coats might not cover the parts of the foam that the original covering was worn off, but be patient and it will pay off. I did not do any sanding on the fake stitching that runs around the inside of the wheel, you will have to decide what yours needs. Also, progressing to even finer sandpaper than #400 could help to obtain a smoother finish but on mine it wasn't necessary. Once again the dye is very forgiving and since you will be doing some light sanding between coats you should make a run or sag, you can clean it up. Don't try to fix a wet run or say, let it dry, sand and repair! If you wipe a run or sag when it's wet you will mess up the previous layer as the dye loosens up the lower layer of spray over. I also did my horn button that way, only a lot less Work. the round eagle emblem pops out with a little effort to get it out of the way and can be glued back in with any type contact cement or weather strip adhesive. Good Luck!!

[tikler]

I've had good results using a foam insulation material called Tuff-Stuff. It comes in a pressure can from Home Depot and is cheap. It expands when applied so you have to push it in the cracks to fill them. It sticks really well. The first time I used it I filled the cracks and sanded it when it dried. After a few more wheels I found I could make the texture almost imperceptible from original by applying the foam, working it in, wiping of excess and kinda tightly wrapping it in a piece of smooth vinyl. The really good part about this stuff is you can build up fairly large missing places and it's pliable and soft like the original when finished.

tommy simmons I WANTA DRIVE IT BABY> LIKE I STOLE IT>

[gpnut]

If your wheel is in otherwise good condition, with just the outer coating peeling away, I would suggest trying an all leather wrap.

I picked mine up at Pep-Boys auto parts, and I'm sure other outlets sell them as well.

I can't remember the brand name, but they are about $15.00 each, vs. the standard wraps which cost about $7.00. Make sure you get the "wide" version which will fit sport wheels.

Unlike the cheapos, they don't have a spiral wrap around the outside. They are a little time consuming to stitch, so have patience.

The end result is pretty good looking, and you don't have to spend hundreds.