Technical Steering Wheel Leather Peeling - Solved!

[jnoiles]

As those of you with leather steering wheels no doubt already know, the Fiat steering wheel leather is thin and tears/flakes off very easily. I've seen tons of threads about this on the net.

After two and a half years mine started doing it. You can see it on the wheel rim in this picture:


I could take this back to the dealer and argue with them for hours only to be turned away unhappy. I took matters into my own hands instead.

One night at the Ace Cafe, MEP graciously assisted me in the removal of my wheel. I think in the process we almost lost fingers and eyes a couple of times. Huge thanks for helping out. The next bit of fun wouldn't have been possible without this effort.

Then I shipped it off to Jack the Wheelman in Abingdon. Jack is a lovely bloke, easy to deal with, quick turnaround, quality materials.

I chose black alcantara with black stitching but he can do any combination of leather and stitching you need. Alcantara was £30 more than leather but mmmm alcantara:





This weekend it's going back on the beast and I can finally use Blue&Me to skip tracks again. Woo!

 

[RobinPJ]

You want to get your driver's seat seen to as well - all the red leather seems to have peeled off it.

 

[RobW]

what are the steps to remove the wheel? and special tools?

how long did it take to get done?

thinking of getting this done too by the same guy

could i borrow your race wheel as a temporary replacement please?

 

[jnoiles]

what are the steps to remove the wheel? and special tools?

I'll take some pictures of the process when I put it on and see if I can put together a guide on removal by putting them together backwards. It was a complete ball ache of a task.

Roughly, it was:

- disconnect the battery
- remove the lower cowl
- slide thin flat blade screwdriver inside the gaps to pop the airbag out
- unplug and remove the horn/airbag and wires for blue&me
- slide them through the hole in the wheel
- undo the bolt securing the wheel on
- pull the wheel off
- under the steering wheel, towards the middle of the car loosen the inset allen key to let the cowl with indicator stalks come off
- unplug it and remove indicator things
- fiddle for hours with the stupid indicator self canceling thing trying to remove it without the clock spring exploding in a 100 metre long ribbon of misery
- put the indicator cowl and stalk unit back on and tighten it on
- slide on boss kit and bolt it on
- screw race wheel on boss kit with 6 screws
- live without horn and constant airbag light for a week while your wheel is off getting covered

how long did it take to get done?

MEP and I took it off at the Ace cafe one night, in the freezing cold and the dark, with torches and tools

thinking of getting this done too by the same guy

I was really impressed. I got a real sense of service from him. Quite rare these days.

could i borrow your race wheel as a temporary replacement please?

Unfortunately the race wheel is back on the race car as it came back from the engine builders last week. And it's being wheeled around at the moment running in the engine. And all over the place having work on the ARB's, springs, etc done on it in the next few weeks. But the boss kit is going spare if you need it.

 

[306maxi]

How much did it cost Jason?

 

[jnoiles]

£130.

 

[J333EVO]

Found this by chance but the guy Jason used is http://royalsteeringwheels.com fir anyone maybe looking to do similar in future.

If you google 'royal steering wheels' you'll see lots of very positive comments from Porsche & BMW owners.

Also has eBay shop with exchange wheels for Audi's/BMWs/Porsche etc with good feedback.