Steering wheel mod. Black Suede w/Matching paint

**A8050266** · #1 (**permalink**) 03-16-2011, 04:21 PM

All,
In my quest to change my leather wheel (that I hated)
I am about to cross the finish line on the new wheel.
Took a factory leather wheel Hacked off the top of it.
Then I poured a Urethane insert. That will be painted to match the dash
Then covered the rest of it with Ultra Suede.
I posted some pics here...

Perhaps over kill but its what I wanted.
I figure If Im greasy handed. I can drive the truck on the painted part.
Then once cleaned up? Enjoy the suede.
FWiW: Once you drive a suede wheel? you wont want to ever go back!

The pics are not in order but you should get the idea.
And Im still yet to complete the Hand Stitching Ill have it installed tomorrow mid day. with updated pics too!

More Pics here....
MobileMe Gallery

**rlpzzz** · #2 (**permalink**) 03-16-2011, 05:45 PM

Amazing, can't wait to see the finished product. That thing is going to be killer.

BigKuntry · #3 (**permalink**) 03-16-2011, 11:58 PM

Why did you hate the leather???

Antonm · #4 (**permalink**) 03-17-2011, 01:00 PM

So , how much to do mine????

**A8050266** · #5 (**permalink**) 03-17-2011, 01:13 PM

All ,
Pic's are updated and on the site. Man I LOVE THIS WHEEL!!!!!!

The entire wheel installed (Below)

Close up of the stitching (Below) Suede is hard to take a good pic of...

**late_99_PSD** · #6 (**permalink**) 03-17-2011, 01:17 PM

Thats Awsome!!!!!

BigKuntry · #7 (**permalink**) 03-17-2011, 01:41 PM

looks great man..

how long did it take you?

**A8050266** · #8 (**permalink**) 03-18-2011, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigKuntry

looks great man..

how long did it take you?

Thanks for the compliment!
The entire project went for about 6 weeks. getting parts etc..
but if I could squeeze it all down to one go I would say about 16 Man hours.
building the mold, Going with the flow instead of some rigid plan.
It was fun and real rewarding just to finish another project.
I even covered the wheel twice. the first time I used some thread that matched the paint on the wheel thinking it would look better. It looked ok but a little to flashy for me So I scrapped the cover and started over again.
Now that i have the mold I could do it in significantly less time
But the real headache is the preparation/Painting and then the dreaded hand stitching. I have about 300.00(Bought a spare wheel to cut up) invested of course I had a lot of the materials on hand already and a great Body shop did the paint work for me for free.
As for my Time? well anyone who embarks on a DIY project already knows you never get that time back in the form of money.