How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment
- Thread starter srhutch
- Start date
srhutch said:
Where did you get the lacquer? I used plastic primer and satin black bumper paint, which seems to be very durable and looks the part but still doesn’t replicate the original texture.
Agreed removing the stuff is horrendous! I found wet and dry plus lots of water did the trick, but it took chuffing ages.
Very useful information throughout here.
The water pump recently went on my 3.0si so whilst it was laid up in the garage awaiting delivery of parts I thought this would give me a great chance to get in and finally refurbish my spokes which were looking tired. I had thought I would only do this once I got the wheel covered in Alcantara by Royals but having had the chance to give it a damned good clean whilst the spokes were off, I will probably leave as is as the wife, whose car it is, doesn't really like any mods.
I did front and rear spokes so that the feel/texture will be the same even if you can't see the rears.
Having removed the remainder of the rubberised coating using IPA, and keying the sound paint below or removing it entirely in parts, I went with grey plastic primer, matt black and matt lacquer (all Halfords' rattle cans). I did not sand down between coats which means there is a slightly rough finish but I actually think it suits.
Time will tell as to whether or not the lacquer helps prolong the finish although the car only does ca. 2-3,000 miles a year.
Reinstallation was a bit of a problem for the centre spoke.
As most here have experienced, the clips had all broken and the lugs of the front spoke into which the screws go had previously been sheared off leaving the front spoke only held in by the airbag. A mix of superglue and 2-part chemical weld had given a pretty strong base but I managed to shear them again when installing as I could not get the rear spoke inside the "shroud" of the wheel which left a gap which as I tightened the screws caused the lugs to shear again
There was also an unsightly gap along the sides that necessitated removing the wheel entirely to take off the plastic shroud (3 torx screws, same size as the other torx screws on the spokes). This allowed me to properly seat the rear centre spoke first before reattaching the shroud. As a result, even though I only have the two torx screws to attached the front centre spoke to the rear centre spoke, it lines up pretty well. The rear side spokes could be moved into place with the shroud still fitted.
Really pleased with the outcome.
The red arrow marks where I could not get the rear centre spoke to fit inside the rear shroud without removing the wheel and taking the shroud off. Note the pretty good 'shut line' between the rear and front spokes despite only having the two torx screws to hold this section together. And if the lugs do break again, it will be a lot easier to just remove the front piece and repair.
The water pump recently went on my 3.0si so whilst it was laid up in the garage awaiting delivery of parts I thought this would give me a great chance to get in and finally refurbish my spokes which were looking tired. I had thought I would only do this once I got the wheel covered in Alcantara by Royals but having had the chance to give it a damned good clean whilst the spokes were off, I will probably leave as is as the wife, whose car it is, doesn't really like any mods.
I did front and rear spokes so that the feel/texture will be the same even if you can't see the rears.
Having removed the remainder of the rubberised coating using IPA, and keying the sound paint below or removing it entirely in parts, I went with grey plastic primer, matt black and matt lacquer (all Halfords' rattle cans). I did not sand down between coats which means there is a slightly rough finish but I actually think it suits.
Time will tell as to whether or not the lacquer helps prolong the finish although the car only does ca. 2-3,000 miles a year.
Reinstallation was a bit of a problem for the centre spoke.
As most here have experienced, the clips had all broken and the lugs of the front spoke into which the screws go had previously been sheared off leaving the front spoke only held in by the airbag. A mix of superglue and 2-part chemical weld had given a pretty strong base but I managed to shear them again when installing as I could not get the rear spoke inside the "shroud" of the wheel which left a gap which as I tightened the screws caused the lugs to shear again
There was also an unsightly gap along the sides that necessitated removing the wheel entirely to take off the plastic shroud (3 torx screws, same size as the other torx screws on the spokes). This allowed me to properly seat the rear centre spoke first before reattaching the shroud. As a result, even though I only have the two torx screws to attached the front centre spoke to the rear centre spoke, it lines up pretty well. The rear side spokes could be moved into place with the shroud still fitted.
Really pleased with the outcome.
The red arrow marks where I could not get the rear centre spoke to fit inside the rear shroud without removing the wheel and taking the shroud off. Note the pretty good 'shut line' between the rear and front spokes despite only having the two torx screws to hold this section together. And if the lugs do break again, it will be a lot easier to just remove the front piece and repair.
My steering wheel can also use a touch up. I am going to readup this topic 
mm, seems I would need three parts for this, the covers 32348035326 and the two buttons (with covers). Seeing the prices for that, it would be more like 650 euro. Then some homework becomes more likelyflimper said:
Lots of good advice here, but I'll add a quick description of my experience in re-finishing my 'pop-up' CID (computer information display) unit for the Sat Nav in my Coupe. The paint advice may or may not be brand-specific (I'm in the US).
I removed the ‘soft touch’ vinyl finish on the exposed surfaces with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) like most have described. It swells the original finish for removal, but it doesn’t dissolve it. The vinyl can be rubbed or scraped from the base plastic – and it’s a messy process! Then followed more IPA and lots of rubbing with clean IPA-soaked paper towels. This leaves a plasticizer residue. As a chemist, I'm familiar with this property of vinyl materials. I removed the plasticizer with low-odor mineral spirits. Because the plastic is an ABS/PC blend, I worried ketones or ethyl acetate would cause damage, so I tested on a hidden spot, and mineral spirits worked. I did a final IPA wipe to remove the mineral spirit residue (oily) before painting the parts.
To paint the display module parts I used Rustoleum® flat black primer, allowed it to dry for over 48 hours, and finished it with two coats of the same brand of matte clear. I asked the Rustoleum® help desk for the most durable surface out of three possible products they sell (satin bumper paint, flat auto accent paint, and their '2X-coverage' standard paints). They said that matte clear (not flat, not satin) was likely to be the best for a surface that might receive some wear and light cleaning but still look okay. This advice on matte finish versus flat or satin may or may not extend to other paint manufacturers. I'm happy with the result, now we'll see how well it wears.
I removed the ‘soft touch’ vinyl finish on the exposed surfaces with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) like most have described. It swells the original finish for removal, but it doesn’t dissolve it. The vinyl can be rubbed or scraped from the base plastic – and it’s a messy process! Then followed more IPA and lots of rubbing with clean IPA-soaked paper towels. This leaves a plasticizer residue. As a chemist, I'm familiar with this property of vinyl materials. I removed the plasticizer with low-odor mineral spirits. Because the plastic is an ABS/PC blend, I worried ketones or ethyl acetate would cause damage, so I tested on a hidden spot, and mineral spirits worked. I did a final IPA wipe to remove the mineral spirit residue (oily) before painting the parts.
To paint the display module parts I used Rustoleum® flat black primer, allowed it to dry for over 48 hours, and finished it with two coats of the same brand of matte clear. I asked the Rustoleum® help desk for the most durable surface out of three possible products they sell (satin bumper paint, flat auto accent paint, and their '2X-coverage' standard paints). They said that matte clear (not flat, not satin) was likely to be the best for a surface that might receive some wear and light cleaning but still look okay. This advice on matte finish versus flat or satin may or may not extend to other paint manufacturers. I'm happy with the result, now we'll see how well it wears.