Reskin Or Recondition R32Gtr Steering Wheel

[Marko R1]

hi all,

i have a nice r32gtr steering wheel with a few little marks, im ultra fussy & would like to look at whether i can get this reskinned in the same leather?

anyone out there who can recommend this service?

regards

marko

i am based in sydney

[jrm]

Have you considered tackling it yourself? I recently repaired, and re-dyed the leather on my R34 and N14 steering wheels (12 and 16 years old respectively) and they both came up looking near-factory.

I used the leather steering wheel repair kit from PPC http://www.ppcco.com.au/kits6.htm. I also bought various grades of sandpaper for the early stages, some cloths and brushes to apply both the dye and clear sealant for the last stages.

For the $50 this kit cost, and the results I got vs reskinning (typically $200-250), I was stunned with the results. It's truly amazing how well leather responds to this sort of treatment.

[Marko R1]

this is interesting - thanks for the link!

have u got any pics of your wheels?

so it actually fills small chunks of leather?

[jrm]

They do have a 'filler' type product in the kit, but I didn't really need it much.

After the initial prep work, sanding at multiple grits of the wheels brought it back to an even layer on the R34, but the N14 wheel needed two small divots filled that you could barely notice, but I figured I'd give a go. I was surprised how well just the pure prep & sanding came up though - you'll probably be surprised how much it will even out.

It all comes down to how much time you want to spend, really. I took a long weekend to get the R34 wheel done as it just had wear marks that had lifted the top coat of the dye - these easily sand away to reveal the leather underneath. The N14 wheel took about a week because I had to take it further back and fill those two divots, and overall it required a bit more care.

Have a read of the instructions included with the kit:

http://www.ppcco.com.au/fact_sheets/pi/pi_leatheriquesteeringwheelkit.pdf

It might give you some ideas on how the process works.

Here's an 'after' picture of my R34 wheel. You can see it's lost some of the 'grain' to the leather in the upper-area compared to the rest wheel due to it requiring more sanding/preparation. I don't think it's particularly noticeable, particularly in person - but it's worth mentioning.

(Click for a larger image)

[Marko R1]

u have sold me on this kit - the r32 wheel does not have a grain in it though so it should turn out very good

[NSNPWR]

The 32 wheel does have a grain in it when new, the reason yours doesnt is because its 20 years old...same as my brothers GTiR wheel, its gone smooth as smooth, if you run your nail along it you will scratch it badly because its gone brittle...

Anyway, there is a place in Adelaide that reskins wheels, they do OEM stuff for Holden etc. I had mine done by them a while back, they did an awesome job and I added some red stitching to modernise it a little, think it cost me $165, there is an article on Autospeed if you do a quick search.

[Marko R1]

i'll take a pic of my wheel & post it - not sure if this leather kit will repair it...

[NISSAN GTR]

Wiltshire motor trimmers , south rd and barwell st , kurralta pk

Dye and leather polish is temporary .

[jrm]

Dye and leather polish is temporary .

You're joking, right? Sure for leather polish - that's just a temporary surface treatment - but proper leather dye? I don't believe so.

You think the leather from Nissan isn't dyed? The kit also uses sealant coats over the top of the dye to protect it - much as it's done at the factory. The method is exactly the same that professional auto-trimmers use.

Seriously, go have a read at their website: http://www.ppcco.com.au/leatherique.htm

Given the cost of the kit compared to retrimming, I figured it was worth a shot - and ended up doing both my cars after being so impressed with the results. In the end, I figured - worst case - I'm gonna retrim anyway if it doesn't work - and it did.

[GTR-N1]

interesting thread > link> result

[NSNPWR]

Wiltshire motor trimmers , south rd and barwell st , kurralta pk

Dye and leather polish is temporary .

Im not sure Wilshire actually do steering wheels? Have you had one done there?

Heres the Autospeed link -

http://autospeed.com/A_109733/cms/article.html

and the contact details, nice guy that runs the business too, very helpful -

ATUC (Automotive Trim and Upholstery Contractors) +61 8 8243 1383

[ohno1]

edit: i was going to say something but im mistaken!

Edited January 2, 2011 by ohno1

[Marko R1]

my 2 other gtr's & my brothers gtr dont have a grain in the leather, definitely smooth finish on the r32

[Marko R1]

hi jrm,

before i buy the kit, do u think that ppc kit will repair this wheel? u can feel the divots in the wheel although they are not really dip gouges...

the rest of the wheel is except for the top 1/4 of the wheel between say 12 o'clock & 3 o'clock

[jrm]

Most of those look like they should come out, I'd say. Some of the deeper marks may be left as marks, but at least with the dye they'll be turned dark which should mask them.

If you really want to risk it and play without buying the kit - try hitting up the leather with some 400 grit wet & dry sandpaper and see whether taking the top coat of dye takes the damage out with it (you'll want to start at 400 and work your way up to like a 1200-1500). Ideally with the kit, you'd do this with their leather prepping agent, but I did try it out on mine before buying the kit to see how it would come up too - cos I wasn't real sure either. Anyway, don't sand it too deep, and you don't want to turn the leather to suede.

Afterwards you're going to be left with a light colored wheel that's going to look pretty terrible, but it should let you know what the state of the leather is once the top layer of dye, etc is off. If you need to use the wheel prior to hitting the wheel at this point and don't want to feel too stupid, as a temporary thing, you could hit it up with like a leather boot polish or something, but I wouldn't advise it.

I know with my wheel I just got pissed off with it one night and hit it up with sandpaper after reading hundreds of websites on leather repair and then bought the kit the next day to finish it up ... heh. Either way, good luck with it.