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Rollin' Twankies
As some of you might remember after I bought my CE a few months back (like 6) I decided to restore the factory wood grain steering wheel instead of waiting for one to pop on ebay that was in the condition I liked.
Well I decided to redo the wood first, that way i wouldn't get any material on the fresh leather.
I asked around to some family members that are into building furniture and are alot more knowledgeable about wood than i am, and finally came up with some good advice.
basically what I did was hit it with some very light grit sandpaper to start off with, close to 800 to scuff it up. I then gave it a few coats of clear to build up the material. I didn't want to go sanding the imperfections out right off the bat because I wasn't sure how thick the factory clear was on the wood. after a few coats of clear I baked it in the paint booth to make sure it cured properly. I started to sand out the imperfections out, but the clear was sanding very easily and i knew i would have to put a few more coats on and keep sanding it until they were all gone. After like coating, baking, and sanding it like 4 times, I finally got it where I wanted it. I scuffed it again and shot a couple of light coats on it to get it real smooth. I baked it one last time, and polished that baby up. Turned out better than I could have ever hoped. Not bad for my first real wood project.
here is a pic of what it looked like after it came out of the booth the final time.
These pictures are after the wood was done, but before the leather was done. I tried taking pics of the damaged wood, but it was really hard to see any imperfections in the pictures.
So my next step was to find a shop to redo the leather, which that in itself was a huge chore. I called every upholsterer in the phone book and no one would touch it.
Some of you may remember I put a CE wheel in my 96 LSC and the shop that did it did an absolutely fantastic job, but they have since closed and moved to cali.
So anyway I was just about to give up all together and put the wheel back in the car when my boss, who owns like 7 car dealerships, and is an avid car collector gave me the name of a shop about 40 miles away. I called them and after I let him know who I worked for he decided to do it. Its nice to have connections.
So last friday at like 6 he calls me and lets me know its done. It would have been nice to have it done before the Xmas party but oh well.
I finally put it on today and it turned out great. It was expensive, but worth the money in my opinion.
Here are a few pics.
the color looks a little off in the pictures, but its really not that bad.
Well I decided to redo the wood first, that way i wouldn't get any material on the fresh leather.
I asked around to some family members that are into building furniture and are alot more knowledgeable about wood than i am, and finally came up with some good advice.
basically what I did was hit it with some very light grit sandpaper to start off with, close to 800 to scuff it up. I then gave it a few coats of clear to build up the material. I didn't want to go sanding the imperfections out right off the bat because I wasn't sure how thick the factory clear was on the wood. after a few coats of clear I baked it in the paint booth to make sure it cured properly. I started to sand out the imperfections out, but the clear was sanding very easily and i knew i would have to put a few more coats on and keep sanding it until they were all gone. After like coating, baking, and sanding it like 4 times, I finally got it where I wanted it. I scuffed it again and shot a couple of light coats on it to get it real smooth. I baked it one last time, and polished that baby up. Turned out better than I could have ever hoped. Not bad for my first real wood project.
here is a pic of what it looked like after it came out of the booth the final time.
These pictures are after the wood was done, but before the leather was done. I tried taking pics of the damaged wood, but it was really hard to see any imperfections in the pictures.
So my next step was to find a shop to redo the leather, which that in itself was a huge chore. I called every upholsterer in the phone book and no one would touch it.
Some of you may remember I put a CE wheel in my 96 LSC and the shop that did it did an absolutely fantastic job, but they have since closed and moved to cali.
So anyway I was just about to give up all together and put the wheel back in the car when my boss, who owns like 7 car dealerships, and is an avid car collector gave me the name of a shop about 40 miles away. I called them and after I let him know who I worked for he decided to do it. Its nice to have connections.
So last friday at like 6 he calls me and lets me know its done. It would have been nice to have it done before the Xmas party but oh well.
I finally put it on today and it turned out great. It was expensive, but worth the money in my opinion.
Here are a few pics.
the color looks a little off in the pictures, but its really not that bad.
