I have used shoe dye before with good success. Use sparingly and polish well after is has dried. Again, only try this on leather.Good morning...
I’m thinking about refurbishing my gear stick and steering wheel. In my curiosity I found a YouTube clip using shoe polish!
Has anyone tried this? Do you recommend??
- I am on a budget so a pound shop shoe polish special sounds ideal to me!
Thanks for the advice! As it happens the steering wheel isn’t even leather!!
Perhaps I should get fluffy dice and a matching fluffy steering wheel cover?...
You could pick up a wheel for an Avantgarde on ebay for very little. Same grey colour just in leather.
There doesn’t appear to be any available at the moment... but I’ll keep my eye out.You could pick up a wheel for an Avantgarde on ebay for very little. Same grey colour just in leather.
There doesn’t appear to be any available at the moment... but I’ll keep my eye out.
Failing that I’ve seen some diy leather covers which you sew on yourself at home. I’m a good seamstress so I might just give that a go for £7. If it looks crap, i can always take it off
I’m actually really excited about this little project now after watching that!This tutorial may be of interest...
This tutorial may be of interest...
Also, there are some things I didn’t agree on with his method...
For example, I wouldn’t be using glue to stick down the leather where the arms of the wheel are. Glue (especially fabric glue) doesn’t last very well in the heat and over time, so I can imagine in a year the excess material would begin to look tatty. I would fold the excess under and using a needle for the top and the other for below to just continue a standard stitch until the fabric meets again and the baseball stitch can continue. Before I join the edges again, I’d use a little bit of glue to hold the material tight, but not so that it’s reliant.
This also means that you’re using continuous thread and not have to finish off and re-start each section of stitching...
Just an idea
You should start a business re-covering wheels!
maybe my job job is in the wrong field!! ... Alternatively Ellie you could save yourself the time and get this one, just needs a bit of leather cleanser. 2 8mm (if I remember) captive bolts holding the airbag in place then a large, can't remember the size of nut holding the thing in place on the steering column.... Done!
... GENUINE MERCEDES A CLASS A160 W168 97-04 STEERING WHEEL + AIRBAG ~ | eBay
If it goes Pete Tong then I may have to result to ordering one ) which I think would look great with a slightly lighter grey/silver stich...I don’t have the tools to remove the steering wheel anyway, so I’m going to get my mechanic friend to remove it.It might be a better option to get a replacement wheel, re-trim or cover it, and then get someone to swap - you're dealing with airbag removal, and potential misalignment / position sensor error (if I remember correctly). FWIW, I have done it, airbag - a few times, and am not a mechanic
You can then re-trim the old wheel too, and eBay it
