RE: [alfa] repairing wood rimmed steering wheel

["kloliver" <kloli@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

David:

We refinished a Spider wheel last year....here's what we did:
1. Stripping was done with a metal scraper used in furniture restoration.
They are sharp, flexible, come in different blade contours, and since
chemical strippers do not work on the clear finish applied, seemed to be the
only way to remove the "plastic like " finish.  Built a fixture to bolt to
the wheel hub and clamp in a vice.
2. Lots of sanding after this....started with 100-120 grit for scratches and
gouges, gradually went to 320-420 to smooth out.
3. Stain - had to match stains....ended up with a custom mix of 2 colors.
We started with a brown mahogany stain (which is still pretty red) and added
some brown stain to make it a bit less red.
4. Epoxy to fill and build up - there is a material called "MirrorCoat" by
System Three.  It is a 2 part epoxy of low viscosity typically used to do
things like table or bar tops. The wheel gets 2-3 coats of this to build up.
Any runs can be wet sanded out in between coats with fine sandpaper.  After
final coat, let cure several days, wet sand just like a car paint job....go
up to 600 grit sandpaper, no need to go finer than that.  Fluorescent lights
and a rubber squeegee will help you see if you have any imperfections in the
wheel rim before you do the last step.  One key thing we learned - when you
mix and apply you will get bubbles.....use a hair dryer (or better a heat
lamp to avoid kicking dust up) to GENTLY warm the surface of the wheel to
get the bubbles out.
All above materials were purchased from Woodcraft, a local woodworker's
supply store.
Last step;
5. Since the Epoxy is not UV resistant as a topcoat, we used 2 coats of
Interlux Gold Spar Varnish (it's actually a polyurethane) - this is a marine
grade, UV resistant material - got this from West Marine.

This took a LOT of time, and materials were expensive, but was worth it -
the wheel came out great, and these materials are very durable.

Let me know if you want any more info or pics of the wheel.

Hope this helps.

Kevin  O
74 Spider
84 GTV6


Does anyone have experience in repairing/refinishing a Personal Wood rimmed
steering wheel?  Mine has a few scratches and cracks, but no structural
damage.  Any suggestion for materials/process and where to acquire the
materials?  Thanks.  David
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