Wood steering wheel restoration

[mostromilano]

I thought this would be helpful to other enthusiasts to provide some motivation or relief to those who believe their wheel is beyond repair. The wood wheels (more so the coating) tends to deteriorate and is commonly a problem.

I decided to take a chance with a local wood furniture repair specialist and the results are fantastic.

The original mahogany wood steering wheel in the Spider was looking tired and had many damaged areas. It was chalky, had numerous cracks and dents, and loose fitting areas. It would cut into your hands if you were not careful. The wheel now looks like new. It's hard to show in photos, but the wheel looked pretty bad before (especially the top) and I don't have photos showing all the damage.

I won't be able to exactly say what took place because I was not present, but the general repair was summarized as follows. First the wheel needed to be fully stripped of all the coating, damaged or not, in order to access the wood. This was done using a heat gun to soften the coating and then a very clean razor was used to remove the coating. Methylene chloride was also used I think. Hard to reach areas were manually sanded if necessary.
The cracked areas were then cleaned, filled and strengthened.
The wheel was clamped and then heat cycled to test repairs.
After fine hand finishing, the wheel was coated. I think the clear coating is similar to what is used on electric guitars. I was told that it will resist UV light and oils, will tolerate cleaning products, and remain flexible.

The cost was about $300.

[Dario]

Beautiful work, thanks for sharing!

Dario

[dinoverde]

Hi Can you post the contacts of this wood shop..beautiful work and very fair price..
Regards
Hervé

[mostromilano]

I will ask if the owner is OK with posting publicly his contact info.

I did ask previously if he would be interested in doing more if I brought him some, he said "yes."

[Peter Tabmow]

Would it be possible to PM us with the restorer's contact details?