Steering wheel refinish?

[Jazn]

Anyone ever strip their steering wheel and repaint it?  What about filling in small cracks?  I have a used steering wheel that has small cracks and is a bit scratched on the bottom.  Just wondering if anyone has ever refinished theirs...
Thanks
Jason

[jeffc280sl]

Jason,  

I've not used the POR 15 steering wheel repair kit but I have used some of their other products and cosider them very good.

http://www.por15.com/PRODUCTS/COMPLETEKITS/STEERINGWHEELREPAIRKIT/tabid/109/Default.aspx

Jeff C.
1970 280SL 4-speed

[Khurram Darugar]

Does anyone have any insight on restoring a nardi steering wheel??   Mines in structurely sound condition but the finish is well.... needs a bit more than a spit shine.
Kay

Kay
Euro 280sl LHD Auto.

[Jazn]

Thanks for the info, will try the POR.

[Dick M]

I would really like to see a close up picture of steering wheel that has been refurbished....I have some cracking in mine.

Dick M
1970 280SL

[66andBlue]

Has anybody used a commercial restauration shop to have this done? And if so, whom and what were the results?

Alfred
1966 blue 230SL automatic

[66andBlue]

I would like to revive this topic and add another question.
Who has experience in refinishing the horn pad?
I would like to change the darkened and somewhat stained MB-Tex pad on my Type-II wheel - perhaps with leather matching  the rest of the interior or some vinyl similar to the original.
In the original pad the the foam ring was welded into the vinyl as shown on the right:


The vinyl in the center is quite thin which allows the tabs on the ring that holds the center star protrude far enough on the back side of the plastic disk that holds the foam pad so that they can be easily bent 90 degree to secure the star and the pad:



Here are the problems. My original disk (green one on the right) is cracked and I wanted to use the gray on the left. That gray one has a raised ring - recessed center on the front which makes it difficult to press the ring with the tabs in deep enough so that they can be bent on the back side.  The problem becomes worse if I try to use leather as cover since it is thicker than the original vinyl. I am not sure I can grind down the whole center part on the disk since there is not enough material.  Note that on the back side it has a depression.

I have another question for those who have tackled this refinishing problem successfully.  What is the best way to stretch and secure the new material (leather or vinyl) around the outer edge of the foam ring??
Thanks for any help that you can provide!

Alfred
1966 blue 230SL automatic

[Douglas]

I would use a water-based dye and paint it ivory again. You'd be surprised how durable the dye is.

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

[pauldridge]

Eastwood also has a complete steering wheel repair kit... includes epoxy for the cracks, primer, color coat of your choice, and clear coat... I'm changing my black wheel to White.. let you know how it turns out.

Phil Auldridge
230SL soon to be 172 Metallic Grey/blue interior. Auto/AC

[dseretakis]

Douglas, what king of dye are you referring to?  What is it intended for?

Dimitri

quote:Originally posted by Douglas

I would use a water-based dye and paint it ivory again. You'd be surprised how durable the dye is.

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

[66andBlue]

quote:Originally posted by Douglas

I would use a water-based dye and paint it ivory again. You'd be surprised how durable the dye is.

Good idea Douglas.
But if the plastic doughnut cover is ripped then obviously redying won't do the trick.  So again, is there anyone who has successfully recovered the foam pad (doughnut)?

Alfred
1966 blue 230SL automatic

[Eryck]

Horn pad - my horn pad was chocolate in color when I got the car. I soaked it in bleach (normal bleach for clothes) overnight and the result was amazing. Of course, not back to the original color but a darker shade of ivory, which is perfect because the patina is there. My restoration philosophy is 'sympathetic restoration' so patina is very important.  The bleach did not harm the vinyl at all.

No experience in re-covering the horn pad with leather etc.

Steering wheel - I replaced my cracked ones with a new one but a friend of mine who recently saw the cracked one told me that the 'bakelite' material is very easy to restore. He is an industrial engineer in Thailand and said that all the cracks can be filled and the whole thing baked again and pretty much bring it back to close to original condition. I am curious to find out and will probably try it out in the next couple of months but my timing may be too late for you.  I will post results in any case.

PS - This industrial designer friend also helped me reproduced my sun visor and there are still the old presses available in Thailand.  The result looked so good they even have the press marked edges. Only costed about US$100 for the pair. He is now trying to make a mold for the metal parts to try to reproduce the entire visors!

1965 230 SL White Manual
Hong Kong

[Douglas]

quote:Originally posted by dseretakis

Douglas, what king of dye are you referring to?  What is it intended for?

Dimitri

Dimitri,

I was referring to a leather or vinyl dye like the one sold by leatherique.com and other vendors. It's surprisingly strong and self-leveling, so you can apply it with a paintbrush without streaking.

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

[Longtooth]

I have 3 far more fundamental (novice?) questions ---

1. How is the outer chrome ring removed? Without damaging the vinyl?

2. How is it replaced?

3. How is the vinyl covering retained / stretched when replacing the chrome outer ring?

Longtooth
67 250SL US #113-043-10-002163
The 6% Club - Best of the Best
'02 SL500 Sport

[114015]

Hello Alfred,

(Don't know whether you are still interested in this topic or if you already done with your horn pad but ...)

Only the steering wheel hornpad on the right side of your pictures is the original one.

I don't know when this horn pad was changed (if ever) but I personally believe "after" 250 SL VIN 002979 and that means the left one is a newer part replacement provided by Mercedes-Benz later (until today to be exact).
Actually, I have never seen any totally original 250 SL up to serial 002979 (and earlier cars, of course) with the left side hornpad, never (which doesn't prove those don't exist). John Lewenauer's meticulously well cared 250 has clearly the earlier style hornpad.
So, if you want to go original, forget the one you illustrated on the left side.
The parts are - as to my little tinkering knowledge - not exchangable between both versions - you already pointed out all these differences.

Personally I highly recommend Eryck's or Doug's advice: Clean it up thoroughly or look for vinyl paint - that should do the job on the old one. Otherwise if the horn pad cushion is cracked too much (invisible on your pics!) you need to find another one from that era.

I bought a new one from MB when I was stupid 20 years ago (it was cheap then) and was immediately disappointed because it's totally different from the original one. Therefore it never got into my car.
Personally I am with Eryck: Better go with a slightly weathered (i.e. patinated) original than with a brand-new looking (but incorrect) new part.
I also wouldn't go with adding vinyl or leather to the original horn pad cushion because it adds thickness - as you mentioned.
Definitely I wouldn't paint it with your car's interior color - that's definitely unoriginal and a sacrilege - at least to me and certainly other connoisseurs as well.

Just my 2 cents...

Achim
(parts & knowlege collector)

Achim
(Magdeburg, Germany)

[114015]

Longtooth,

It's easy, you only need to be a little patient.

Please have a look at Alfed's pics. From the underside of the horn pad assembly there are approx. 12 plastic clips on the edge of the mounting plastic base that need to be pryed over the chrome ring. I do this with "cuttlery", i.e. with a table knife and the handles of several spoons. With this technique you never damage the vinyl. I carefully bend back the first clip and place the tip of a spoon handle between clip and ring. Then the next clip and so on. Carefully, because after 2 or three clips, the spoons tend to fall away. After a few clips the whole chrome ring comes off easily.

The inner small chrome ring (2 inches diameter) around the Mercedes star is held by six little clips in the center (as Alfred describes). You can see these already from underneath. Be carefully with these as they tend to break easily. Then the whole assembly comes apart. The chrome parts can then be polished, replated or exchanged if necessary.

Good luck!

Achim
(horn pad collector)

Achim
(Magdeburg, Germany)

[Peter van Es]

quote:Originally posted by 114015

...when I was stupid 20 years ago (it was cheap then)...

Achim
(parts & knowlege collector)

Achim,

I don't quite know what you meant by this sentence: was being stupid cheap or what  

When you do start adding some of the knowledge you have collected over the last 20 year or so to the Wiki, I'll feel a great deal better. Now I have to read all your posts and put take the knowledge and put it in the Technical Manual.

Peter


1970 280SL. Also known as 'admin@sl113.org' and organiser of the Technical Manual.

[Longtooth]

Achim, vielen dank..

Longtooth
67 250SL US #113-043-10-002163
The 6% Club - Best of the Best
'02 SL500 Sport

[66andBlue]

quote:Originally posted by 114015

Hello Alfred,
(Don't know whether you are still interested in this topic or if you already done with your horn pad but ...)
Only the steering wheel hornpad on the right side of your pictures is the original one ....

Hello Achim,
no the horn pad is not done yet.  
After getting lots of grieve also from others I decided not to use the matching leather for the pad. I may have located a good used one that hasn't yellowed too much, but we'll see.
Thanks for pointing out that the right (light green) plastic disk is the correct one and not the gray one as I wrote.  I looked through all my pictures and it is indeed the one on the right.  I have corrected the previous text.

Joe Alexander pointed out to me that it is difficult sometime to press that center pad with the 3 plastic studs onto the wheel because of that hump in the center.  Warming up the plastic disk with a hair dryer so that it deforms a bit more might make this easier.

Alfred
1966 blue 230SL automatic

[114015]

Hello Peter,

Well yes, you are right... :?

I did not say "was being stupid cheap" but I wrote "...when I was stupid 20 years ago (it was cheap then)...". That's a little different meaning.

Well, I was stupid 20 years ago to buy the newer replacement horn pad because that looked (and still does) completely different from the original horn pad. Instead, I missed to buy the original one together with the steering wheel I got at that time...
BTW, the same is true for the 280 SL hornpad ... the today's replacement is different.

As to WIKI, yes you are right. But 2 reasons for being fearful:
1st: I am not an expert, I am only a very attentive observer of things and after 22 years of past ownership grief you (or I) find out quite a bit.
2nd: I am by far not as computer-literate as you are. Although working 9 hrs. in front of one, I only use stupid regular programs like the MS stuff...
Because of that I have my problems with uploading etc. and I am hesitating adding dubious or otherwise vague & questionable knowledge to WIKI ...[:0]
But once I found out how to I may add one word or another to the toolkit section ....

Best,

the parts&knowlege collector

[waqas]

Has anyone actually refinished the steering wheel itself? (NOT the horn pad, but the outer plastic wheel covering, where we place our hands)

If so, I'd love to see pictures  (mine has cracks etc).

Thanks in advance!

Waqas in Austin, Texas

[66andBlue]

quote:Originally posted by waqas

Has anyone actually refinished the steering wheel itself? ..
If so, I'd love to see pictures  (mine has cracks etc).

Hello Waqas,
I had started this before the move and it  is on my to-do-list and I plan to post pictures as a I go along. In the meantime you can give it a try too.  
The most difficult part is to preserve or recut the the grooves in the wheel (but I don't know if yours has those).

Download Attachment: WheelRefurbish .jpg
111.27 KB

Alfred
1966 blue 230SL automatic

[waqas]

Alfred, thanks.

Found the correct link for that kit: http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=SWRK&dept=11

This looks very interesting. I imagine I'll need to re-paint the entire wheel. Do you know how to get the right colour? (satin, glossy, etc)  My ivory wheel is a bit off-colour, with some areas starting to show yellow.

I suppose one could easily go back and forth between the ivory and black steering wheels this way....

Waqas in Austin, Texas

[psmith]

Eastwood sells a kit also, but I just covered mine with a leather cover from Wheelskins.

Pete S.