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  • deutschman

    Oct. 23, 2011 4:26 p.m. deutschman New Reader

    So I got this old MOMO wheel from my landlord for free and thought I would spend some time fixing it up. Seeing as I have never done this before I hopped on Google and thought I would find some quick answers. No such luck. I did how ever find that MOMO does not sell replacement leather for their wheels. So do you, oh venerable GRM, have any insight as to how I should proceed with fixing this wheel up a bit? I am not looking for originality or show room craftsmanship, and I want to do it my self. Maybe some one here has done this sort of thing themselves before? Is there a good company that sells the required odds and ends to put new leather on a steering wheel? Could I buy leather at a shop local and cut my own wheel rap out of it? I also managed to rip small pieces of foam out of the steering wheel grip when I removed the old leather. There really was no way around it. Is there a spray foam or something I could fill the holes with and then sand/cut down to match the rest of the wheel?

    Here is the wheel.

    The wheel originally has these grip extension that go down the steering wheel arms or what ever they are called. I want to cut them off like this.

    Here are the worst of the ripped out chunks of foam.

    Any advice, or links to threads where some one may have covered this topic would be sooo helpful! Thanks all!

  • stuart in mn

    Oct. 23, 2011 4:47 p.m. stuart in mn SuperDork

    Alan Gunn sells restoration products for steering wheels. http://aglausa.com/p/home.html

  • deutschman

    Oct. 23, 2011 4:57 p.m. deutschman New Reader

    Sweet. Thanks

  • Oct. 23, 2011 5:02 p.m. fasted58 SuperDork

    Wheelskins wrap?

    http://www.wheelskins.com/

  • NOHOME

    Oct. 23, 2011 5:31 p.m. NOHOME HalfDork

    Use what you took off as a pattern. You need to learn how to hand sew.

  • ditchdigger

    Oct. 23, 2011 5:59 p.m. ditchdigger Dork

    I am currently recovering an old italian wheel myself. It is tedious work. Trying to gauge the amount the leather will stretch is hit and miss. I have had that hoop of leather on and off 15 times and have yet to start stitching.

    momo uses a very fancy and difficult to duplicate stitch.

    If you don't care about that I found this stitch I used on my bicycle grips is cool looking and a fair bit easier Photobucket

    You get a pretty good idea of what needs to be done just by looking at the leather you remove but it isnt as simple as using the old piece as a pattern since leather stretches at different rates throughout the hide. If you were to cut the replacement to exactly the same size it would end up loose and baggy on the wheel.

    I now know why it costs so much to have this done.

    And wheelskins? yuck. The idea is nice but when done it looks just slightly better than a walmart slip on wheel cover. The old perforated leather with lacing is superior to the wheelskins.

  • SyntheticBlinkerFluid

    Oct. 23, 2011 6:04 p.m. SyntheticBlinkerFluid Dork

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there companies that restore steering wheels?

    Or couldn't an automotive upholsterer refab a leather wrapped steering wheel?

  • mad_machine

    Oct. 23, 2011 6:09 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    that is one nasty looking wheel. Have you contacted any local ulpulsterers?

  • deutschman

    Oct. 23, 2011 9:22 p.m. deutschman New Reader

    Yes it is nasty and yes it was free. I dont really want to spend $200+ on it to get recovered by a pro. I think I will just try buying some leather and doing it my self. Maybe I will get some fake leather. That should stretch more evenly because it is man made and the same thickness and grain all over the materiel. I think I will do a baseball stitch. I am good at hand sewing. Thanks guys.

 
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