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Tin-top - sorting aleather steering wheel ?
mcerd1 - 30/7/13 at 12:11 PM

the steering wheel on my tin-top has never been good since I bought the car, but now its getting worse



new ones are over £200, and scrap ones are £50+ (and some of them don't look much better)

is there anything that can be done to save it ?

loggyboy - 30/7/13 at 12:20 PM

Theres a chap on the cliosport site who retrims the clio wheels BEAutifully for £120. custom stitching, very neat. (He's either an ex or current Bentley trimmer IIRC)

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?708204-Obligatory-Snappy-Refurb-Photos&highlight=snappy

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/member.php?84701-snappy

britishtrident - 30/7/13 at 12:30 PM

I had to change my the steering wheels on two tintops because the colour rubbed through I tried leather paint but just rubbed through. The current car has some signs of rubbing but new wheels are no longer available.
On your wheel would suggest you buy a leather cover off ebay, they are a pain in the neck to fit but once fitted look fine and don't cost that much. You can always look for a better secondhand wheel, the airbag is no problem to deal safely provided you take care to ensure it isn't powered up and allow enough time for the reserve supply to discharge.

[Edited on 30/7/13 by britishtrident]

theduck - 30/7/13 at 02:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Theres a chap on the cliosport site who retrims the clio wheels BEAutifully for £120. custom stitching, very neat. (He's either an ex or current Bentley trimmer IIRC)

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?708204-Obligatory-Snappy-Refurb-Photos&highlight=snappy

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/member.php?84701-snappy


Can't recommend snappy highly enough. I have a wheel here trimmed in my 172 and its perfect still after approx 50k miles.

mcerd1 - 30/7/13 at 02:58 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Theres a chap on the cliosport site who retrims the clio wheels BEAutifully for £120. custom stitching, very neat. (He's either an ex or current Bentley trimmer IIRC)

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?708204-Obligatory-Snappy-Refurb-Photos&highlight=snappy

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/member.php?84701-snappy

looks good - I'll need to remember him...


but for this tin-top its not an option, the car just isn't worth enough...
even the s/h steering wheels are too much money


its not the looks I'm worried about, it just the horrible stickiness that make it unplesant to drive on hot and/or wet days

nick205 - 30/7/13 at 03:31 PM

Simples....





[Edited on 30/7/13 by nick205]

loggyboy - 30/7/13 at 03:46 PM

This would suit you i bet
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_376747_langId_-1_categoryId_165574

tul214 - 30/7/13 at 05:48 PM

You could try this?

britishtrident - 30/7/13 at 07:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by tul214
You could try this?



Been there done it, a waste of effort and found Painting/Recolouring wears through in less than a year.

morcus - 30/7/13 at 07:56 PM

What Loggyboy said, though it doesn't have to be pink.

Ford and vauxhall seem to do ones that look very much like the original wheel did if thats your bag.

mcerd1 - 30/7/13 at 10:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
quote:
Originally posted by tul214
You could try this?



Been there done it, a waste of effort and found Painting/Recolouring wears through in less than a year.


I might give that a go - but not bother with the re-colouring bit

I couldn't give a monkeys what it looks like (but I draw the line at pink!) - i'd say the car is now worth about £400 max, its got rust on the bottom of every door, the rear arches and its starting to drink a bit more oil than it really should - so its just not worth it
(i'm only holding on to it for a year or two until I've got a budget to replace it with something worth having, so repair costs need to reflect this )

but the lumpy bits are just horrible to hold onto on a hot day so anything just to clean it up (scrubbing them off doesn't seem to work, they just come back )

mookaloid - 31/7/13 at 07:14 AM

Is there a plastic steering wheel for the low end model of the car? This might be a lot cheaper on eBay than a leather one

mcerd1 - 31/7/13 at 07:20 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
Is there a plastic steering wheel for the low end model of the car? This might be a lot cheaper on eBay than a leather one

there is, but it seems to be quite rare (probably more like no one bothers selling them)

and as yet I've not found any decent wheels in the scrapyards round here either

[Edited on 31/7/2013 by mcerd1]