The leather on my Alfasud steering wheel is really showing its age. I have manage to find a replacement one from the UK which is in much better condition however the leather still needs to attention.
Does anyone have any experience in rejuvenating the leather on a steering wheel? Damian
I tried the usual Leather cleaners and preservers, but it was too far gone, ended up putting on a leather steering wheel cover that is sewn on, not clipped on, the clip on covers are a bit thick and look like clip on steering wheel cover, the sewn on covers look a bit more real, but they take about 3 hours to put on as they are very tight and you have to sew them on which takes forever, maybe try a motor trimmer that does leather, i think i had a quote done about 20 years ago and it was about $200, Colin.
Damo
The leather on the Alfa wheels was good quality compared to the cheap hide on modern cars so the UK purchase should be pretty straight forward to bring back to life (purchased from Peter??). The steering wheels need plenty of natural moisturizer to bring back to life due to hand grease getting into the leather. May need a few weeks of application but you will feel when the leather starts to soften (and will reduce shrinkage/ reduce pressure on stitching).
When leather is good, get a black leather die (start with matt but think is satin) to recolour - try Spotlight. If can't be bothered, there are two good leather restorers in Melb that I would trust so PM if you want to outsource the task!
I actually use an S3 Ti steering wheel for driving as far prefer the 'thicker wheel' for spirited driving but fit the original leather wheel for Spetacollo etc.
Cheers
Paul
Google Peter scott steerkng wheel re-trim in adelaide or classic motor trimmers in lolydale. Both werein the 200-250 range, blackmans leather are $335.
Repco have really nice real leather steering wheel covers in black, with a great grip feel & looks for $20
see foto below :)
Sporty, it's a $20 slip on retail cover worthy of any Camry, Suzuki Honda etc. I don't mean to burst your bubble, but in my view they look cheap and more so in an Alfa. For the same money or less you can get the sow on type as mentioned by col which do look OEM. I've used them a few times and highly recommend them to be nearly as good as reupholstering the wheel. They can be found in smooth or holed some in genuine leather, some not and if your good with your searches, I've even seen then with both variants to give it a sports look. Even change the colour of the thread to red for a bit of added style. Actually the leather also comes in a few different colours.