Steering wheel refinishing

Keeping it sharp - paint, wax, detailing, etc.
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mamsterla
Posts: 69
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2017 10:10 pm
Your car is a: 1969 Fiat 124 Spider AS

Steering wheel refinishing

Post by mamsterla »

My wheel has some scratches/gouges on the plastic/wood surface. I think I can use some fine grit sandpaper to get them smoothed, but what type of varnish or clear coat do people use to get the shine back? I have some 600, 1000, 1500 papers.
1969 Fiat 124 Spider AS0012768
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spiderdan
Patron 2018
Patron 2018
Posts: 831
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 9:30 am
Your car is a: 1968 124 Sport Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Steering wheel refinishing

Post by spiderdan »

Hi mamsterla
I am looking forward to an expert reply on this also.

To this day my Fiat mechanic still laughs at me for what I did to my steering wheel when I got my Spider 15 years ago. My original steering wheel was dirty, grungy and scratched. I used some all purpose cleaner on it and then proceeded to lightly sand it down with 1000 sand paper. I then used "Minwax furniture refinisher" which slightly dissolves finishes but retains patina. It turned out nice and shiny to the point you could see gold speckles in the "wood". Being proud of myself, I mentioned what I did to my mechanic and asked him what type of Italian wood he thinks they used to make the steering wheel. Never seen wood with gold flakes in it before. He laughed his head off and added that I am lucky I didn't try using paint stripper on it. He figured if I did, all that would be left would be the internal metal ring! :shock:
I haven't touched it since (just clean it once in a while) and he still rags me about it on a regular basis.
Fiat mechanics can be nasty that way sometimes. :wink:
I have thought of covering it with leather but people like the look of the "wood".
Figure I'll always have a good story about it, or at least my mechanic does!
Good luck and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do to your 69 steering wheel.
Dan
1968 124 Sport Spider
"Angelina"
2015 Toyota Camry XSE (hers)
2016 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited (cottage toy)
http://s1342.photobucket.com/user/68spi ... t%20Spider
http://www.youtube.com/user/Coontache/videos
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