ehall
10-22-07, 01:44 PM
One of the last things I have left to do on my 85 DeVille is restoring the steering wheel. The major problems here are that the grip has become worn and cracked, and that each of the individual components have faded to a different color over time.
Here's a view of the front from the bottom. As you can see the horn pad has faded to a completely different color than the grip. The decal in the center has also started to separate from the clear plastic cover, which is what the little flecks of silver are from. Otherwise it's a pretty clean wheel.
http://www.ehsco.com/misc/cadillac/Steering%20Wheel/front-bottom.jpg
Here's a view of the front from the top. That black area on the grip is where the leather has been worn out. The horn pad also appears to have a stain that is not coming out with basic cleaning. Also, you can see that the plastic ring on the bottom has turned a golden color which is completely different from the horn pad and grip.
http://www.ehsco.com/misc/cadillac/Steering%20Wheel/front-top.jpg
Here's a shot of the bottom as photographed from the side. The "ring" in the picture above is actually part of the plastic brace that the horn pad is mounted onto, and that whole piece of plastic has faded three or four different colors on its own. Meanwhile, the metal cup at the base of the wheel is the shroud for the telescoping part of the shaft, although it is more or less the same color as the grip but more grey and less brown.
http://www.ehsco.com/misc/cadillac/Steering%20Wheel/rear-side.jpg
Breaking this down into major components--
Grip color pretty much matches the vinyl and seat color, and is the closest to being "correct" but is also irreparable damaged and needs replacing. I got some color samples from wheelskins (http://www.wheelskins.com/original_wheelskin.php) and their "sand" color is a pretty close match. It's the color my wheel was when the wheel was new, basically. I will probably just order a new grip and if it's too far off then I will just dye it.
Horn shroud is not at all correct for my car, but is in pretty good condition (assuming that I can get that stubborn staining off). I need to get this dyed if I want to keep using it. Another option would be to have it covered in leather (or leatherett) to match the seats and armrests--then it would be "original" at core while still looking good on surface.
Plastic brace must be painted. It is permanently discolored and there is no other option here. Interestingly the underside of the brace (which has seen no sunlight or handling) has also turned that golden color, so the outside parts that are kind of yellowish are actually the natural plastic while the darker parts are apparently stained to a darker shade that is closer to the "correct" color... anyway I don't know much about this part. I guess a body shop could match the paint for me? Another option would be to wrap this piece in leather too, so that the whole wheel assembly was more or less leather.
The telescoping shroud piece also needs to be painted to match the steering column. Although it is close to the grip color (which is close to the dash and seat vinyl), the steering column paint has not discolored much and is more of that creamy brown. This would be a slightly different color than the wheel assembly, so it'd be a separate paint job I guess. If I wanted to go crazy I could cover this piece in leather too, although I don't think that really makes sense (it won't match the column, and my hands don't ever touch it).
Anybody got any thoughts on any of this stuff I'd appreciate hearing them. It seems like I'm going to have to replace the grip, and either stain/paint or cover the other pieces in order to get them looking right. This is a sizable project for being so simple.
Here's a view of the front from the bottom. As you can see the horn pad has faded to a completely different color than the grip. The decal in the center has also started to separate from the clear plastic cover, which is what the little flecks of silver are from. Otherwise it's a pretty clean wheel.
http://www.ehsco.com/misc/cadillac/Steering%20Wheel/front-bottom.jpg
Here's a view of the front from the top. That black area on the grip is where the leather has been worn out. The horn pad also appears to have a stain that is not coming out with basic cleaning. Also, you can see that the plastic ring on the bottom has turned a golden color which is completely different from the horn pad and grip.
http://www.ehsco.com/misc/cadillac/Steering%20Wheel/front-top.jpg
Here's a shot of the bottom as photographed from the side. The "ring" in the picture above is actually part of the plastic brace that the horn pad is mounted onto, and that whole piece of plastic has faded three or four different colors on its own. Meanwhile, the metal cup at the base of the wheel is the shroud for the telescoping part of the shaft, although it is more or less the same color as the grip but more grey and less brown.
http://www.ehsco.com/misc/cadillac/Steering%20Wheel/rear-side.jpg
Breaking this down into major components--
Grip color pretty much matches the vinyl and seat color, and is the closest to being "correct" but is also irreparable damaged and needs replacing. I got some color samples from wheelskins (http://www.wheelskins.com/original_wheelskin.php) and their "sand" color is a pretty close match. It's the color my wheel was when the wheel was new, basically. I will probably just order a new grip and if it's too far off then I will just dye it.
Horn shroud is not at all correct for my car, but is in pretty good condition (assuming that I can get that stubborn staining off). I need to get this dyed if I want to keep using it. Another option would be to have it covered in leather (or leatherett) to match the seats and armrests--then it would be "original" at core while still looking good on surface.
Plastic brace must be painted. It is permanently discolored and there is no other option here. Interestingly the underside of the brace (which has seen no sunlight or handling) has also turned that golden color, so the outside parts that are kind of yellowish are actually the natural plastic while the darker parts are apparently stained to a darker shade that is closer to the "correct" color... anyway I don't know much about this part. I guess a body shop could match the paint for me? Another option would be to wrap this piece in leather too, so that the whole wheel assembly was more or less leather.
The telescoping shroud piece also needs to be painted to match the steering column. Although it is close to the grip color (which is close to the dash and seat vinyl), the steering column paint has not discolored much and is more of that creamy brown. This would be a slightly different color than the wheel assembly, so it'd be a separate paint job I guess. If I wanted to go crazy I could cover this piece in leather too, although I don't think that really makes sense (it won't match the column, and my hands don't ever touch it).
Anybody got any thoughts on any of this stuff I'd appreciate hearing them. It seems like I'm going to have to replace the grip, and either stain/paint or cover the other pieces in order to get them looking right. This is a sizable project for being so simple.