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#1 refinishing wood on steering wheel
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:19 pm
by adam
Hi, can anyone tell me the best way to refinish the wood on my steering wheel? Mine has just started to wear thin in a couple of places.
Also, what is the right colour? I have seen various colours from the natural wood, oak to almost mahogany.
Any info would be helpful thanks!
Adam
#2
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:40 pm
by Heuer
Adam
There were two types of steering wheel. The early cars had a Coventry Timber Bending Co Ltd steering wheel with a round beech wood (blond in colour as seen on the iconic brochure cover) and the alloy rim exposed on the inside. Later cars had a mahogany coloured wood wheel with a thumb groove along the upper surface. You can strip off the old varnish, stain the wood if necessary and re-finish with polyurethane or other lacquer. Be aware though the alloy is also lacquered so you will most likely remove that as well.
#3
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:01 pm
by adam
Thanks for the info, sadly mines not the early one.I have had better results with staining wood then varnishing, rather than using coloured varnish.Adam
#4
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:38 pm
by Heuer
Personally I would strip the wood and varnish it 'au naturel' or search eBay for a kit or good original wheel. There is an early one here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0420088410 - depends on how you value your time and chemicals!
#5
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:43 pm
by christopher storey
I tried polyurethane varnish on one of my steering wheels and found, as is too often the case, that in hot weather it went sticky feeling. A friend who was trained as a cabinet maker then suggested that far better results were to be achieved by stripping the varnish and using finishing wax applied with 000 grade steel wool. The results were astounding : it produces a lovely satin finish which stays smooth under any conditions and never seems to get dirty