I wouldn't call it a restore, but I did manage to get my steering wheel to look good again. I don't have the money to buy a new steering wheel or even get it rewrapped, so i just used a Paint/Primer on it. I think it turned out pretty good.

Here is what i started with


and this was the center bracket


Polished up the center bracket with a small wire wheel


sanded, washed, and painted the wheel


I will let it set for the rest of the night, and install it tomorrow. I am going to reuse the steering wheel cover in the first picture, so I don't have to worry about rubbing off the paint.

IMO not bad for $20. What do you think?

 

Great Job!

 

got the steering wheel installed.



It wont go down all the way. There is at least 1/16" gap between the wheel and the colum. I tried 3 or 4 times all with the same result. What am I doing wrong?

 

Looks good man!

 

That's a big improvement over what it looked like to start with.

 

looks great, but watch out, some of those on here are gonna freak out about it, but it does look awesome man, great great job!

 

Glad you like it. Im not worried about the "purists". If they have the money to blow on something like that, good for them. I don't. I just wanted something half way presentable. I think it turned out really good.

 

Why would someone on here freak out about him cleaning up his Original steering wheel

 

I used Leatherique Dye Kit/$27 online.

Used 600 grit wet sand paper w/their prep agent, dye, then sealer, wheel inplace, couldnt get it off.

Came out good.

 

Looks like it's brand new

 

Will be interested to see the longevity of this treatment...we've had to dye a few steering wheels on cars at work because they looked like someone polished them with a high-speed buffer, but I've never been able to see how they hold up to normal use after this.

 

I used a paint with a hardener in it. The cover should minimize wear by touching it, and the nice Arizona sun will certainly bake the paint. Only time will tell how long it will last.

BTW, Jersey, you are a braver man than I am. It looks good, but I would have been to scared to do it in the car.

 

Thats why I covered the dash and had a drop cloth over the seats.

Even tho I plan to redo seats and carpet in near future, didnt want to dye it black yet !! LOL

Just couldnt get the wheel to pop off.

Thanks for the good comments, your wheel looks good to. This dye reminded me of paint, I applied it with a brush, sealer also.

Kit has 8 oz bottles, I could do like 5 more wheels if I had to.