As many Maserati's of the period, my Indy 4900 is equipped with a FIV steering wheel covered in leather. The wheel model is the european one with a small center and spokes having two holes each: Image Unavailable, Please Login Earlier Indy's and Ghibli's have a wood FIV steering wheel, usually with three (sometimes four) holes per spoke: Image Unavailable, Please Login I have however found this picture showing a wood FIV steering wheel with only two holes per spoke on an Indy 4900: Image Unavailable, Please Login Could it be that FIV offered such a two holes/spoke wood wheel or that actually the underlying material under the leather of the two holes/spoke leather is wood and was uncovered to get the wood visible?
I took a dive and decided to buy one of these classic FIV wood steering wheels. Not easy to find in good condition at a decent price, but got one, bought from an italian spare parts dealer. I know that such a rim would not be an original fitment on my car and that it does not really match the full black leather trimming, but I love the look. And I believe it would not be completely out of touch in the car if I decide to install it as such steering wheels were installed on the early Indy's. Depending on the refinishing that I shall undertake, I will see if I switch this wood steering steel with my current FIV leather steering wheel (keeping that one as spare, of course). So, this steering wheel looks used/unrestored but nice and is nearly complete (with the desirable small metal hub, but without the plastic horn button): Image Unavailable, Please Login The beech rim shows nice colours together with the black epoxy strip that "closes" the channel where the metal ring is embedded and routed on the back to provide structural strength: Image Unavailable, Please Login Not unexpectedly, there are signs of tear and wear. In particular, cracks appear within the epoxy strip that will have to be repaired: Image Unavailable, Please Login I know that such a restoration will not be easy and that care has to be taken not to damage the current epoxy strip. I intend to undertake that myself. Any advice to do correctly and to avoid mistakes is welcome.
Hi Froggie! That wheel looks really nice. Have you counted the splines in the hub? These were supplied for other fitments such as Fiat which do not share the same number as Maserati. Hope it is correct. If it is and you want to restore, I did mine myself Including replacing the whole Bakelite band a couple of years ago and will post some pictures to show how I did it. It really isn’t that hard. Happy new year everyone. Mark.
Hi Mark, Thank you for your kind comments. 34 splines, I think (hope) that it is the right number (I bought it from a Maserati parts dealer). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login I will be very interested by your pictures and tips. Serge
That looks right to me Serge. Here is the wheel before I got started Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
And afterwards. Image Unavailable, Please Login I’ll find some more pictures of the process and detail my method a bit later if you like. m
Thanks a lot. I see that you had similar cracks. Looks promising. No hurry, enjoy the new year eve, and happy new year to all!
As my FIV steering wheel is not equipped with a cental horn button, and because the reproduction plastic caps are sold at a prohibitive price, I sourced a wooden central cap that is normally used on Hellebore wooden steering wheels of QP 1's or Mistral's. Fortunately, the overall external dimensions (diameter, spokes openings) fit and the colour matching is nice. Here is how it would look once attached to the steering wheel if that can be done: Image Unavailable, Please Login Of course I know that it is not the right fitment, not only concerning originality (but hey, already a wooden steering wheel is not original on a 4900 Indy!) but more importantly concerning the attachment on the central boss and the horn function. Here is the underside of the cap and the attachment mechanism: Image Unavailable, Please Login Even though adapting the rings and brackets, it seems challenging to design a pushing mechanism to establish an electrical contact such as the one provided for the standard plastic button as shown here under for a FIV horn button (picture stolen from Ivan): Image Unavailable, Please Login I have seen however a pic of a FIV wheel with such a cap on an early Ghibli, so that in principle the assembly may be possible: Image Unavailable, Please Login Any ideas or tips to adapt such a cap: insert a spring and a plate of suitable sizes to interlock the cap with the crown that is already attached on the boss? other?
