Leather Steering Wheel Refurb., Refinishing a single spoke wheel

[steelcityuk]

Hi All,

I decided some time ago that something must be done about the state of the single spoke steering wheel in the SED. The leather finish was coming off in various places and the stitching had burst here and there so the initial thought was to buy a better one. However the only one I saw went for more than I could justify so that meant the other options was to swap it back to a 2 spoke wheel or refurbish the one already fitted. One of the things I really liked about the series 1 was that wonderful layout of the dash, switch gear and the single spoke wheel that gives such a great view of it all, so refurbish was the way to go.

Checking the web brought up conflicting advice as to what should and shouldn't be done to leather interiors. The advice that made the most sense to me was that water based 'flexible' dyes work best. So after further searching I settled on a kit from the Furniture Clinic which includes - leather prep, leather cleaner, water based dye, gloss sealer, satin sealer, abrasive pad, cotton wool balls, cloth, foam block, airbrush and propellant.

During the search for the leather repair kit I ordered some waxed linen thread to restitch the leather cover to the wheel. This was bought from an ebay seller and arrived very quickly. Restitching the leather took about 2 hours using the same stitch pattern as was originally used. The thread was 5 metres long so I started in the middle and stitched both ways.

Following the instructions in the kit I put some leather prep on a cotton wool ball and covered it with the abrasive pad (scotchbrite pad), after a good scrubbing, changing the cotton wool ball and using a clean bit of pad, all the leather finish was removed, a good wipe over with more leather prep removed any remaining residue. Next a thorough wipe with the leather cleaner removed the last of the greases/oils that could be contaminating the leather was needed. After this a gentle sanding with 1500 grit silicon carbide paper smoothed out the worn patches and provided a good key for the dye. Another wipe over with the leather prep and leather cleaner was needed followed with about an hours drying time to ensure the leather cleaners had evaporated completely.

Heres how it looks after those first steps -



After several sponge applied coats and a couple of sprayed coats this is how it looks -


TBC

Steve.

This post has been edited by steelcityuk on January 12, 2011 09:07 pm

[White Exec]

A really fantastic job, Steve! Thanks too for all the product and technique detail. Quite agree with you about the appeal of the single-spoke wheel, which we really liked on our old BX, and is hallmark Citroen. We have a RAV4 whose wheel and gear-lever could benefit from same treatment.

Chris

[steelcityuk]

Next on the list is the drivers seat back which has some wear on the panel. It's not worn through but has lost all it's finish on a palm sized area.

Steve.

[Jan-hendrik]

Amazing!

[steelcityuk]

Thanks chaps.

So on Saturday I had time to remove the drivers seat to see how that looked.
Considering that the car was built in December 1992 the seat is in good condition.


After cleaning, stripping, a light sanding with 1500 grade silicon carbide, the patch was dyed with a foam block and then blended with several coat from the airbrush.


However I think the bolster is now a darker black than the rest of the seat so that's next.

Steve.

[steelcityuk]

After many diversions I finally got around to finishing the seat off.

The leather was stripped back to remove all waxes and provide a key, several coats of dye applied followed by a several coats of satin finish then finally 3 coats of gloss finish. Here's how it looks before 'polishing' with leather care.



I think this wraps up the leather refurb.

Steve.

[lez]

you make it sound too easy steve, how many hours do you think the seat actually took....

[Dieselman]

That looks good but why did you opt for a gloss finish instead of matte or satin?

[steelcityuk]

Sorry chaps I didn't respond before, I've been a bit caught up at work and home.

The seat didn't take too long to do in actual time working on it but with other things to attend to it took weeks. You could have one done in a few hours if it wasn't for drying time between coats, this can be speeded up using a hair dryer.

I did try a mat finish on the steering wheel but it just looked wrong to me, somehow it looked half finished not like factory mat finish. In gloss it's proved east to grip but not 'sticky' so it doesn't slide when needed.

Steve.

[nightmare]

You do know that you've got a job for life now.


mine next.


Please

Pretty please

With cherries on top

This post has been edited by nightmare on February 12, 2012 01:17 am

[steelcityuk]

Nice try but the wife wouldn't be happy if I turned her hob into a spray booth again.

Steve.

[robertxmb]

Hi Steve,
Re the seat, which looks lovely; the acid test is whether you would risk your mother- in- law sitting in it in her best dress for a few hours on the way to a wedding.

Robert.

[djm666]

My mother in law moaned all the way to the seaside the other day and was still moaning when we got back even after i took her off the roof rack.
bloody nice job on the seat and the wheel, i will have to look into that for mine.