Okay, so for as long as I've had the car the steering wheel has had a rip in it: Across the fabric (leather?) that is where you would place your had at 12:00 on the wheel. Since I have a 1988 944 S, it has an airbag, so replacing the whole wheel myself isn't much of an option. But is it possible to just replace that fabric part? Or does anyone have a steering wheel cover that fits our wheels and looks good? Thanks for your help.

 

Hmm, think I just found the answer to my problem.

<a href="http://www.smartcart.com/Paragon/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=AGLA944" target="_blank">http://www.smartcart.com/Paragon/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=AGLA944</a>

Anyone have any experience with these?

 

Mouse,
I will tell you what I experienced about a year ago when I decided that my worn wheel was detracting from my otherwise pristine interior. After talking to several other listers who tried the DIY AGLA route, I learned that it is rather labor-intensive, but did provide nice results. I decided to have AGLA redo my wheel, and it came out allright. They did have the wheel for about 2 months, but did provide a loaner. I had to send my recovered wheel back once because of some loose sticthing, but overall I was satisfied--the leather is very supple and it looks nice and stock. If I was going to do it all over agin, I would probably get a 930S wheel(no airbags for me). Good luck in whatever you decide--I am sure some of the others who stitched it themselves will chime in here.

 

I recently restored the 3-spoke wheel on my '83 with an AGLA recovering kit. The results are very good and people ask me if the wheel is new.

However, it does take a considerable amount of patience and dexterity to do it properly. There is very little information in the kit instructions, as AGLA also offers wheel restoration by professional seamstresses. They can send you a "loaner" wheel, so you can drive your car during the lead-time.

The four-spoke non-airbag wheel is definitely harder to do than the 3-spoke, and from the looks of the four-spoke with airbag wheel, it's probably the most complex of all, so the seamstress route might be the best way to go. I don't know how "crafty" you are, but this is a pretty intense hands-on project and the results will depend largely on how patient and skilled you are with your hands.

One tip I was told AFTER the fact, was that professionals WET the leather before sewing, which makes the stitching much easier. Another tip is that to duplicate the OE Porsche "cross-stitch" you need to use blunt needles. I did a write up on the process if you decide to do it yourself.

 

Everything said here is right on. Over a year ago I had mine releathered. I ordered the stuff to DI myself, but I took one look at it and quit. I sent it off to AGLA the next day.

Although, they did not send me a loaner wheel, they said they were out of them. I went out and got a maroon wheel from the junkyard and then ended up selling that to Doyle on this board.

Anyway, the craftsmanship is about 90% perfect, I'd say. There are a few spots I don't like, but nothing is perfect. One thing I suggest, one thing I HAVE done since the moment I got that wheel back, is use DRIVING GLOVES. They take an extra 10 second to put on and take off, but my wheel still looks brand new even a year and a half later, because it has almost never touched human skin! ****-sounding, I know, but trust me. When you spend as much money as I ended up having to, it's worth it to wear gloves. Even when folks poke fun.

-Matt

 

I have done mine and I like the results... Can't remember which leather I used now but it was cheaper. I don't have a very good picture of it, from some angles it looks great but some of the leather towards the center of the wheel doesn't look as good as the rest, but it didn't cost a whole lot and took me a few hours to do. I think this picture shows a corner of it:

Depends on how much you want to spend I suppose.

PS: This is the 4 spoke non-airbag wheel, should be about the same difficulty for you, maybe a tad more.
Ahmet

 

The toughest thing about recovering the wheel yourself is getting the original "X" shaped stitching right without any interruptions. From the photo posted, it appears that a different stitching pattern was used, which is fine but it doesn't look as original.

I kept trying and trying until I figured out how to duplicate the original stitching and the results are worth it. You need to have 2 needles going at the same time and they have to be blunt enough to run through the holes without piercing the other's thread. If you try this, you will know what I mean.

The AGLA kit itself costs around $60. Depending on how much time you have to do this, there are some savings but on an airbag wheel you have quite a project ahead of you. Not to mention disconnecting the airbags if you want to remove it to do the job. I found it easier to sew it on without removing the wheel, but YMMV.

As for gloves, I wore them for years, enduring all sorts of comments but I'm sure they did lengthen the life of my original wheel leather. Good ventilation to keep the wheel dry helps also. Where I live it's hot year round, and since I had the A/C overhauled the wheel always feels dry and smooth.

 

Wow...sounds like a lot more work than I had in mind. Maybe that little rip isn't so bad after all

Thanks for your responses

 

Well, I just got the AGLA kit in the mail today for one of my VW's. The factory stitching on the VW makes the Porsche X pattern look like childs play. In any case I decided to bite the bullet and do it the right way and match the factory pattern. So far I have three hours into the project and I expect another two to three hours before I can begin attaching the cover to the wheel. I figure I will have about eight hours into the project. So far I like what I have seen in regards to quality of the leather, much softer than the factory stuff. I'll post my final results.