Right gentlemen

Anyone who owns a HSE/Vogue with the Wood/leather steering wheel, i can almost guarantee it has some form of degredation, especially being that the youngest P38 is 18 years young.

All that time being exposed to the sunlight will damage even the best leather out there..

In my case the wheel had started to go mank, the leather was starting to break down, and it looked very unpleasant...

Steps to restore this goes as follows..

1 Cleaning - now i do realise some have an adversity to cleaning things, but in this case it is a necessity if not done correctly the dye won't stick and you'll end up with a dirty sticky mess.

This is the kind of shit you can expect to come off, just imagine that the next time you touch the wheel on your P38, yuck..
In this instance I used baby wipes, it is gentle enough to not harm the hide, but strong enough to clean off the crap..
Don't use a Leather cleaner, as it likely will have conditioners in it or some kind of humectant to hold moisture and this again will harm progress....

2 Dry off the wheel and look at what you have to play with..

Looks crap doesn't it!!

3 The product required to restore this wheel can vary depending on what damage is done, in my case it was just surface, if there were dents or leather missing you'd need a specialist filler.

My application only requires a dye..

This is the product I used, it comes with a sponge and some liquid, as you'd expect..
The sponge itself has a split personality, as it is both an applicator and a remover!!!!

4 Application of the dye oddly requires you to sand the wheel, chances are the wheel is clean but quite slippy, the sponge has a rough edge to it, placing a towel on your lap to catch the scale, rub it up and down the wheel until the surface goes a Matt colour and the old sealant is level with the exposed leather, or in some cases the exposed leather is both level and slightly rough.

Goes without saying but you should mask the wheel off, so you'd don't get dye on the wood or plastic..

This is achieved after 2 light coats, don't be tempted to slap it on, patience is key and also don't use a drying aid, it has to flash off naturally..

Another 2 light coast sees it looking even better..

This coat No4 was left for 12hrs to cure and then you do something odd.....

Get the rough sponge or very fine sandpaper out again and remove any rises or scale that might of landed on the wet dye during the application and drying process, this also forms a basis for the last coat,
Do this only when it is 100% dry..

Once done give it the final coat, this one will be a light coat to fill in the scratches from the sandpaper and will serve as the final finish, so don't rush...

Done right it'll look like this.....

There will be a PT2 to this when i re varnish the wood, as mine is damaged, which is the reason for the masking tape remaining on for the moment..

Leave the final coat for 24hrs before touching..

HTH

Excellent how to!

I can't wait to see the finished pictures as both of our steering wheels need this treatment. There's a lad on the Facebook Group who does them but I'm reluctant to spend a couple of hundred quid having 2 steering wheels refurbished.

David.

Thanks David..

I've seen the chap on facebook, but the cost put me off, I also like a challenge!

Relatively simple process, if i were closer i'd do em for ya, free of charge!!

Quite therapeutic in an odd way..

I recall Orangebean ( Mark ) RIP,, ( most probably before you joined ) ,, restained his seats, they looked Great, he used a mini spray gun to get the finish perfect, if I recall correctly the cleaning bit took the longest to do, and was the most important, let’s hope his SE is still sailing round the country lanes of Devon, he put a lot of effort into it..

I'm curious.to.see how.long the.finish.lasts. I think the idea of a lightstone s/w is flawed ( I have one too, also re-done). But it just builds up grime again after 6months.
I was wondering about changing the colour to navy, but not sure if that wd look really c### ie if the blue dye does not obliterate the lightstone

The masking tape is now removed.

The finish is quite good, i have to varnish the wood next!!

That's a cracking looking steering wheel.

Cheers!!

The finale!

In any case the varnish on the wood might be ok, but in my particular case the varnish had gone milky and was missing in areas..

The colour i found closest to factory is Rustins Mahogany.

1) - Sanding the old varnish to a key is essential, it also levels the surface, this is again a necessity, as with sanding the leather!!
I used a 240 grit

2) I'm assuming the PO was a Gimp and wore skin tight leather suits with spiky rings, as there was a wear mark in the varnish which matched perfectly to a spiky ring, fetishes aside. you have to level the varnish to any damage otherwise the finish will look shit...
No other way of putting it..

3) Paint on the coats thinly, again don't go lobbing loads on as it'll run and look crap, if done properly you won't need to sand/polish it..

The finished result is after 5 coats, use a quality brush otherwise you'll be picking off stray hairs, which isn't good..

Patience is key..

A quick before and after...

After.

If a numpty like me can do it, anyone can!!

i'd call that a result!!

"small edit"

The leather on the wheel which is freshly dyed has to be sealed, if not done the leather will go mank very quickly!

Wait 24hrs after dying before sealing.

That's really, really nice! Well done mate!

Have you got a link to the leather dye and varnish that you used?

David.

dhallworth wrote:

That's really, really nice! Well done mate!

Have you got a link to the leather dye and varnish that you used?

David.

Thanks David.

Finish is quite good!!

Here is the dye..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/slredirect/picassoRedirect.html/ref=pa_sp_atf_aps_sr_pg1_1?ie=UTF8&adId=A01713673BC2EIEPREOSW&url=%2FTRG-Easy-Dye-128-Orange%2Fdp%2FB00HF5Z9K4%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1_sspa%3Fcrid%3DXGF0A243DSCR%26dchild%3D1%26keywords%3Dtrg%2Beasy%2Bdye%26qid%3D1590443143%26sprefix%3DTRG%2B%252Caps%252C196%26sr%3D8-1-spons%26psc%3D1&qualifier=1590443143&id=4850827858825533&widgetName=sp_atf

I used "cream"

I SHOULD ALSO NOTE THE DYE HAS TO BE SEALED!!

for that i used this......

https://www.amazon.co.uk/resistant-waterproof-Suitable-interiors-furniture/dp/B07JL68XW5/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1IIQKSOJFTE45&dchild=1&keywords=leather+sealant&qid=1590443201&sprefix=leather+seal%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-7

The varnish was a Rustins Mahogany..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rustins-POGM250-250ml-Poly-Varnish/dp/B001GU8A96/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=rustins+mahogany+wood+varnish&qid=1590443269&sr=8-4

Cheers.

Do you reckon there's enough in the tub of dye to do 2 steering wheels?

Oh yes definitely..

A small amount goes a long way..

You'll note the first coat looks like it hasn't done much, but it is the basis for the others and after a few coats it looks great, i used around 1/4 of a pot on my wheel, and it was one of the bad'uns!!

you'll could do 4 at a stretch!

I was wondering how long it would last before rubbing off (or turning your hands beige) but with a sealer on it, it should be fine. Neither of my cars have got the posh wood and leather steering wheels but definitely of help to those that have, well done.

Thanks Richard..

The sealant seems to have done the Job

Don't fancy doing both of mine do you? Though I like the varnish clear on the wheel as it is - yours looks like it has a bit more of a red tinge.

Happy to throw a few ££ your way for doing it obviously. I just don't have time, inclination, motivation... and a stack of things I need to work on before even thinking about trying to do that. Drop me a PM/email if you're interested and we can work something out...

I'd do them Marty..

Might not be for a few months though, as i working my arse off myself at the moment!

PM incoming

If you have a go at it ... I am also a potential customer!
Mine is on the shelf and looking quite tatty ... can even strip to make it easier arf arf
And you have all the time on the world ... I will not be ready before end of the summer with the rest!!! :-)

Just done it for you. Right click the picture in Imgur and select Copy Link Location, in your post click on the Image icon and paste the link into the little box that pops up, Click OK and that's it.

How are both your steering wheels looking after 6 weeks of use so far? I’m about to order the stuff to do mine I think.

David.

It's doing great David!