Re-leathering Steering Wheel

The late 70s and early 80s Corvette wheels were rimmed with sewn leather. There are a few places who re-do their wheels. A wheel is a wheel. Check with some of the Corvette places like Corvette Central or Paragon. They could probably "steer" you toward one of those guys who redo Corvette steering wheels. If I was at home near my "library", I could be more specific.

 

Drew,

Have you talked with Matt at Reoriginals (Houston, Texas)...they may have some good input. Or maybe FerrariUK???

 

I have spoken to some of the most knowledgable vintage Ferrari authorities, and the prevalent opinion is that the leather steering wheels CAN NOT be properly restored. It would require the very special equipment that Momo has laying derelict behind their factory, to do the unique stitching properly.

Tom Shaughnessy has some strong opinions on this topic ... as does Fred Peters. Others claim that it can be done ... but no one has shown me an example of the result. Tom say "no way".

I just replaced my 365GT2+2 wheel (correct and same as Daytona of that year) with an also correct wooden one (same as the Road & Track review car). I'll keep the leather one, which I really like ... hopefully someday a solution will be found.

I think Tom wants to buy the Momo equipment, and restore it!! Then he'll redo everyones wheels :-D

Bill

 

What's so weird about the stitching? Does anybody have a close up photo that shows all?

 

If Tom S. gets ahold of the Momo equipment he'll part it out

 

Here's what I can get this evening. Tomorrow I will take better ones with natural light. This is my original steering wheel ... notice how only a portion of the stitch shows. All of the cross part of the stitching is hidden ... and of course, the leather must be pulled very tight to compress the foam core. This is what the special machine does.
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Drew, if you still have the original stitching on the wheel, just show Bascom how you want it done and they will do it. Or send the wheel to me and I'll drive it down for you. It's about an hour away. It may be hard to describe the stitching over the phone or by pictures.

 

Drew ...

For your on sake, do plenty of research BEFORE attempting a restoration on your leather steering wheel. Regardless of what claims of success you hear ... many top vintage Ferrari experts say NO. If the opinions of Fred Peters and Tom Shaughnessy doesn't make you cautious ... good luck. It will be too late once the old leather is removed. If it is true that someone has figured a way to do it correctly ... have them show you the results on another wheel, before you let them do yours.

And then ... if the work you see IS really first rate ... let us all know!!

Bill

 

With all due respect releathering a steering wheel by an expert of interior trim is doable. The only thing that I see that can not be perfectly recreated is the feel or sponge of the wheel. The original wheels were a bit stiffer when squeezed. However like I said if Bascom can not duplicate your wheel they won't do it. It's not worth their time or effort. They have too many projects doing Pebble Beach-like vintage cars to get bogged down with this wheel. But I am very confident that your wheel can be redone. They did my Daytona dash and the stitching is simply perfect.

 

The original foam is poured, best of my knowledge, and until someone spends the time (and money) to make a mold, straighten the wheel to fit in the mold, pour the foam, then releather the wheel, you just wasting money. I am done trying to get this task done,for now and I am not willing to invest the time to build a mold at this point, although I have thought of it, have 7 wheels waiting for restoration.

What do I know anyway. 15 years experience and
thousands of dollars wasted doing this task.

Buy a better wheels is my recommendation, I have none for sale.

BTW Momo just sends them out, that path has been tried, too!

 

I respectfully disagree. The wheel that I had releathered although not spot on is far better than a lot of other reproductions we put on our Daytonas. My wheel is only different with respects to touch. It is a little spongier (a word?) than the original. Otherwise the stitching and overall dimensions are correct. To find a good/excellent original leather MOMO wheel is near impossible to find and extremely expensive, as is the original MOMO wood wheel. If one is caught up by a derameter or 2 difference between an original and releathered wheel I advise you find that good/excellent MOMO wheel out there somewhere for buco bucks. Personally, the releathered wheel is an excellent compromise, will not be docked in concours (if that is a concern) and will serve you well for many years. It boils down to what you (and I) chose to be anal about and where we are willing to accept an excellent compromise.