Fiat Dino Forum (FDF)

Hi, I am currently working on a coupé 2400. Building it up again.
My question is on the steering wheel. The metal is not symmetric. It looks like someone crashed into it as one side is lower than the other. So the spokes are a bit bent. Almost invisible when you look at it, but if you put it on a flat table and measure, there is about 5 mm difference.
I tried bending it back but do not want to put too much force on it. I also put one spoke in a cloth and then in a vice and then try bend it. But no luck. Any ideas?
I did decide to restore and paint it. Here is a picture. And I have a spare. How would a steering wheel restoration company do this?

Leo Dino 2400x2 1971

http://www.ilvolanteinlegno.it/info/

I recently met this Italian craftsman specialized in the reconstruction of wooden steering wheels and I am about to let him do the work of restoration of the wooden steering wheel of my Fiat Dino Coupé

Some of the most common damage





complete reconstruction of the crown in mahogany wood



final result





It seems to me a very good result

Wow!!! They look great! I still need to source the correct steering wheel for my car. Are any of those for sale?

The restoration process of the is real nice.
What sort of price is being charged?
Mine is in pretty sad shape also... Looking for some one to restore my wooden wheel....

Hello,

For bending I don't have any ideas, only thing I can think of is making a 2 part mould to put more evenly pressure on the wood instead of using only cloth and having a small area of force.


What kind of clear vanish did you use? Just 1 component clear vanish spraying can? I am thinking of going to a car spray company if they can spray it in a 2k coat to get a really strong finish.

Furthermore; which grid paper did you use to sand it?

Regards
Tom
PS I came across this hread:
http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/gt-1963 ... moval.html
http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/car-res ... ation.html

Hi Tom, I cannot remember the type of sandpaper. I think it was the finest grit from one of those mixed types packages yoou get at the local hardware store. From 3M.
On the varnish: I tried normal cheap clearcoat but as nowadays it is all acrylic I had issues with bubbling. It was no good at all. I had to sand it again and then used the clearcoat for spraying wooden furniture, which I think is polyurethane or something. Available at your normal hardware store like Dutch Karwei etc.
Worked fine. No bubbling. I did about 6 coats with light sanding and wiping dust of with a cloth in between.
Patrizio's wheels seem nicer with the nee wood. But I guess it all depends on what you like: all shiny and new or a used look with a new coat that you know you did yourself.
For filling the broken small piece of wood at spoke, I used a small piece of hardwood that I shaped using bench grinder.('slijpmachine') and viles ('vijlen').
I also used mouldable 'wood' which is like polyester filling, which I painted like wood. And for the smaller crack I used normal wood glue.
It is just a fun thing to do and you cannot go wrong. If it does not look nice you can sand again and start over. Or go to a specialist.

Here's another one I did that way. With the piece of wood inserted, which I then painted like wood.
Second picture is just before I put the clear coat on. Looks really good after that.

Hi Leo,

Great work on the wheels…Can you help me out with one ? are you selling ?

Cheers

IMHO
is decisive, if present, eliminate the rust of the metal part of the steering which is located under the finger cot in wood.
Otherwise the rupture of the wood will continue to repeat