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Steering Wheel Reconditioning

The wheel of my SE was worn and faded to a brown hue. I looked at getting a new one (£150) but fellow LEW member Alan Croft showed me his re-finished one,and i thought i'd have a go.

The kit cost just over £12 and came with all you need to apply it: The dye, instructions, two sponges, two tiny jars of toner and one tiny jar of gloss to add if desired (i did not use them but i assume they would be more relevent on coloured finishes).

The company is www.liquidleather.com

The kit is their 'scuffmaster' kit and costs £12.50 inclusive. They do bigger kits with spray guns and they will colour match any size order (even the scuffmaster) to your interior suppling the toners for you to mix get the perfect final match if needed.

 

You will need the following parts:

Reconditioning Kit

You will need the following tools:

Allen head Screwdriver

Everything about this was easy, the hardest part is getting the rubber center pad back on!

  

Removing the wheel is easy. Carefully pull off the center pad,and then undo the six allen head screws,done. (i think once you have experienced the ease of doing this,you will take it off a lot more for easy access on interior jobs, binnacle removal, pedal access etc).

  

I then cleaned the wheel with white spirits. This i what the instructions say to do and the dirt that comes off is amazing, now let it dry.
I taped the wheel to a reel of tape to make it easy to apply the product with the sponge. Apply thin even coats with the sponge provided, I did two coats, although the first was nearly enough – I just didn't want to apply it too thick.

  

I left it a day (but it drys in about an hour) and then re-attached the wheel. You can see the kit on the left and a before and after pictures middle and right.

Verdict

I think this is an Excellent product and at around £12 it's nearly £140 cheaper than a new one. Also it hardly used any of the dye, I would say the kit could easily do four more wheels so if shared then this is a very cheap job that will make a huge difference to your interior. 

This mod was supplied and performed by Paul Chandler on his 1989 SE

If you have any comments, feel free to e-mail me with at admin@lotusespritworld.com

 

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