Steering Wheel Re-Wrap

[Mike McDonald]

Not exactly a detail, but something cool I wanted to show you all.

A long bit ago, I re-covered my steering wheel with some new leather. The old was faded, cracked, sagging, and looked terrible.

This has been the most painful 'repair' I've done on the car to date. I did this back in October.

Heres a close up of what I was trying to cover up.

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/BEFORE_001.jpg

I got the Superskin Wheel Cover placed onto the wheel, and lined up the 3 stitch lines so they were equal to each other and straight.

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/DURING_001.jpg

Here, I started the first stitch. 3 to the left from the bottom center.

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/DURING_002.jpg

Got a little bit done. Honestly, this probably took me like an hour - it aint' easy.

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/DURING_003.jpg

Came to a spoke, so I did a double stitch to make it nice and tight before skipping over the spoke.

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/DURING_004.jpg

To keep a uniform look, I did some fake stitching through the given holes to look as though I had stitched through the old leather.

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/DURING_005.jpg

Now past it, I skipped an even amount of holes on both sides, double stitched again, before continuing. Again, nice and tight around the spokes to keep it on.

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/DURING_006.jpg

Progress. This was about 2 hours in, my fingers hurt and I was ready to hurt something!!

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/DURING_007.jpg

And this is as close as I have to a final picture, as soon as my knee heals I'll walk downstairs to the garage and snap a few.

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/bmmz3kwe/Steering%20Wheel/DURING_008.jpg

The total time this project took was 4 or 5 hours. First two went by slow, as this was my first time sewing, seriously! Once I caught on, I got it done quickly and did it a second time to another car in only 3.5 hours.


Thoughts?

[Vegas Transplant]

:xyxthumbs: Persistence and dedication pays off again. Thank you for this contribution. Happy detailing hand...

[timaishu]

How come you didnt remove the old one first?

[Mike McDonald]

How come you didnt remove the old one first?

I actually did, but I found plain plastic under it which the new cover wouldnt have gripped to, or fit, so I glued the old one back on then put the new one over it.

I really need to get an 'after' photo because it actually isn't obvious except for a couple occasions that its not original to the car.

[timaishu]

So its sized to fit over the existing one? Interesting.

I may look into these in a few years. My steering wheel has been worn smooth. All the little dimples in the leather have worn off.

[Mike McDonald]

So its sized to fit over the existing one? Interesting.

I may look into these in a few years. My steering wheel has been worn smooth. All the little dimples in the leather have worn off.

There are other sizes, I ordered off Amazon, not knowing they were sized differently. For the most part though, if you look at how-to videos a lot of people place them over the old ones.

Different strokes for different folks

[tuscarora dave]

Nice. Thanks for sharing this. I could see doing this to my Buick before long.

[S2K]

I've done a few of these and they are time consuming and sometimes painful but well worth it. When done right they look very professional and will last a long time.

[shoeless89]

I don't have a leather steering wheel in my Corolla but the coating on the foam has worn off on the top of the steering wheel. I wonder how this would look on a non-leather steering wheel or do they make other products for my type of wheel? Great work! I've been wondering about this for a while

[Mike McDonald]

I don't have a leather steering wheel in my Corolla but the coating on the foam has worn off on the top of the steering wheel. I wonder how this would look on a non-leather steering wheel or do they make other products for my type of wheel? Great work! I've been wondering about this for a while

They aren't just for the wheels already with leather. The 2nd one I put on was in my mothers 09' Sonata. Had that slippery rubber so I put this on over. It's all about ordering the correct size so it goes on right.