Recover steering wheel 4-spoke, 1985 Porsche 911
11-03-2006, 01:23 PM
#1
Recover steering wheel 4-spoke, 1985 Porsche 911
Recovering a 4-spoke steering wheel – 1985 Porsche 911
Special THANKs to all the postings on pelicanparts.forum especially GeorgeK. Also see http://www.stuttswap.com/stuttswap/r.../rstat392.html for some additional pictures.
Materials
- Kit #911sw4 from Performance/Automotion $50 (see source at www.agla.com)
- #18 Nylon waxed button thread (optional, you can use the kit thread but check length)
- 2 straight needles (kit came with 1 curved needle but I wanted straight)
- Duco Contact Cement
Tools
- 1 1/16” (27mm) socket with 2-3” extension
- Breaker bar (1/2”, but 3/8” may work with adapter)
Process
- Remove horn pad using small screwdriver to pry outward, disconnect horn wire
- Align wheel to be straight & scribe mark the shaft and wheel, bottom center is good
- I used 21” piece of wood against floor to hold wheel, turn ignition to release lock
- Remove nut, washer, and steering wheel
- Remove leather cover and trim.
- Scrape and sand to remove old glue, wash
- Position new outer cover on wheel, note the larger tabs on front
- Carefully center cover front/back and tabs/spokes on wheel
- Sew short side portions first.
- Sew lower portion, then longer upper portion
- Trim spoke area and center-trim leather (rough, not final) before adding stitching
- Add decorative stitch on center-trim and carefully do final trim/glue center pieces to wheel
Stitching
- Measure working portion length of cover carefully and use thread 6 times the length.
- Start at one end with double loop on first holes, makes sure the thread length is the same on both sides before tightening
- Basic stitch is crossover “7” from left side, reverse from the right.
- The top of the 7 is underneath cover. His gives you the XXXXX.
- Be consistent; right first each time or left
- On the long portions find a mold edge on the wheel to follow, keeping the stitch straight and not rotating around the wheel.
- Sometimes I used a small needle-nose pliers to adjust the ‘prior’ X stitch before doing the final tug on the current stitch. This is especially useful in the spoke corners where leather is bunching. Small flat blade screwdriver may also work but harder on the fingers.
- Use the straight double loop at the end. Tie off with double knot, cut excess thread leaving ~1”.
- Note1: I needed to improvise to get a couple holes aligned and in the congested areas around wheel/spoke intersections. Once I skipped a hole on one side. A few times I stitched to a new hole and used hole to get proper alignment & strength where leather bunched. Generally the holes worked very well.
- Note2: Avoid piercing the thread when doing a stitch. If you do, remove the needle and pull thread back through the piercing. The nylon is too strong to break unless it’s a single fiber. Pulling slightly on the thread moves it out of the hole center.
- Note3: My thread was waxed which acted like a lubricant and kept the thread more stiff which improved workability.
Gluing
- You may want to avoid this on the wheel/spokes but my original was tacked in place and that kept it on the wheel even without threads. It probably doubled the useful life.
- Use glue sparingly, especially at seams. Some touch up can be done with acetone (nail polish remover), but not all.
- Setting time was never a problem but I would not use the glue unless I could proceed quickly. It should be last step before stitching. I worked it ~1.5” at a time.
- Generally I did all longer stretches with glue and when doing final wrap on spokes.
- Glue will make any rework more difficult so be confident
Center-Trim Sections
- The spokes and center-trim may overlap & must be cut before decorative stitching.
- I used a ‘new’ Exacta blade and small sewing scissors.
- These have decorative stitches which are different than the wheel. The top of the “7” went to the next hole on the ‘same’ side for a X X X X look.
- Then a second pass is used to fill in for a XXXXX look.
- I did these sections in four stages: first under horn pad, then short face, large back face, and finally tuck area behind. I used blue masking tape to hold them while cure overnight.
- Do final trimming on excess thread and glue toward the back under trim.
Working Recommendations
- I did the work on a sofa with pillows on each side to hold thread and tools.
- Wheel was between my legs on a towel.
- I worked in the same direction each time.
- A LED strip light was very useful to illuminate working area by placing it through the wheel. This way it was easiest to see holes for both sides. A shop florescent light would probably also work but the LED’s had a very narrow beam focus.
- I did stitching over three days; it took 4 hours not counting a small section on a spoke that I had to re-stitch for better alignment and center-trim sections.
- Patience. Working in stages allows you to examine and correct your work.
Special THANKs to all the postings on pelicanparts.forum especially GeorgeK. Also see http://www.stuttswap.com/stuttswap/r.../rstat392.html for some additional pictures.
Materials
- Kit #911sw4 from Performance/Automotion $50 (see source at www.agla.com)
- #18 Nylon waxed button thread (optional, you can use the kit thread but check length)
- 2 straight needles (kit came with 1 curved needle but I wanted straight)
- Duco Contact Cement
Tools
- 1 1/16” (27mm) socket with 2-3” extension
- Breaker bar (1/2”, but 3/8” may work with adapter)
Process
- Remove horn pad using small screwdriver to pry outward, disconnect horn wire
- Align wheel to be straight & scribe mark the shaft and wheel, bottom center is good
- I used 21” piece of wood against floor to hold wheel, turn ignition to release lock
- Remove nut, washer, and steering wheel
- Remove leather cover and trim.
- Scrape and sand to remove old glue, wash
- Position new outer cover on wheel, note the larger tabs on front
- Carefully center cover front/back and tabs/spokes on wheel
- Sew short side portions first.
- Sew lower portion, then longer upper portion
- Trim spoke area and center-trim leather (rough, not final) before adding stitching
- Add decorative stitch on center-trim and carefully do final trim/glue center pieces to wheel
Stitching
- Measure working portion length of cover carefully and use thread 6 times the length.
- Start at one end with double loop on first holes, makes sure the thread length is the same on both sides before tightening
- Basic stitch is crossover “7” from left side, reverse from the right.
- The top of the 7 is underneath cover. His gives you the XXXXX.
- Be consistent; right first each time or left
- On the long portions find a mold edge on the wheel to follow, keeping the stitch straight and not rotating around the wheel.
- Sometimes I used a small needle-nose pliers to adjust the ‘prior’ X stitch before doing the final tug on the current stitch. This is especially useful in the spoke corners where leather is bunching. Small flat blade screwdriver may also work but harder on the fingers.
- Use the straight double loop at the end. Tie off with double knot, cut excess thread leaving ~1”.
- Note1: I needed to improvise to get a couple holes aligned and in the congested areas around wheel/spoke intersections. Once I skipped a hole on one side. A few times I stitched to a new hole and used hole to get proper alignment & strength where leather bunched. Generally the holes worked very well.
- Note2: Avoid piercing the thread when doing a stitch. If you do, remove the needle and pull thread back through the piercing. The nylon is too strong to break unless it’s a single fiber. Pulling slightly on the thread moves it out of the hole center.
- Note3: My thread was waxed which acted like a lubricant and kept the thread more stiff which improved workability.
Gluing
- You may want to avoid this on the wheel/spokes but my original was tacked in place and that kept it on the wheel even without threads. It probably doubled the useful life.
- Use glue sparingly, especially at seams. Some touch up can be done with acetone (nail polish remover), but not all.
- Setting time was never a problem but I would not use the glue unless I could proceed quickly. It should be last step before stitching. I worked it ~1.5” at a time.
- Generally I did all longer stretches with glue and when doing final wrap on spokes.
- Glue will make any rework more difficult so be confident
Center-Trim Sections
- The spokes and center-trim may overlap & must be cut before decorative stitching.
- I used a ‘new’ Exacta blade and small sewing scissors.
- These have decorative stitches which are different than the wheel. The top of the “7” went to the next hole on the ‘same’ side for a X X X X look.
- Then a second pass is used to fill in for a XXXXX look.
- I did these sections in four stages: first under horn pad, then short face, large back face, and finally tuck area behind. I used blue masking tape to hold them while cure overnight.
- Do final trimming on excess thread and glue toward the back under trim.
Working Recommendations
- I did the work on a sofa with pillows on each side to hold thread and tools.
- Wheel was between my legs on a towel.
- I worked in the same direction each time.
- A LED strip light was very useful to illuminate working area by placing it through the wheel. This way it was easiest to see holes for both sides. A shop florescent light would probably also work but the LED’s had a very narrow beam focus.
- I did stitching over three days; it took 4 hours not counting a small section on a spoke that I had to re-stitch for better alignment and center-trim sections.
- Patience. Working in stages allows you to examine and correct your work.
11-03-2006, 02:19 PM
#2
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 251
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Great description!!!!! I have an 85 myself and the top part of the steering wheel is really rough and worn...I will do this myself some day, maybe this winter....thanks again for the great description! 
