LeX2K

I picked up a wooden steering wheel for my ES, only problem is the leather is black. I had a very hard time finding one of these, so I bought it despite the leather not being brown like my all leather wheel. So what can I do to get this re-covered? I checked with local upholstery shops, none of them were willing to do anything for me.

One shop told me it was impossible to remove the leather without destroying the foam underneath. He suggested spraying the leather with a type of leather/fabric paint. I don't know if I like the sound of that, not sure it would hold up, or even cover the black properly. craftcustoms.com is a place in Texas that does this type of thing, they gave me a quote of $250 to re-wrap the wheel in the correct colour. So by the time I have it shipped back and forth, it will get quite pricey.

Any other solutions? A shop closer to me that does this kind of work would be ideal. Here is the wheel, wood matches my car perfectly.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

I've seen the paint done on an interior of an E36 M3 back in the day, and it was like the real deal. Mind you this was from tan -> black.

Not sure how much more 'involved' the tan -> black would be, safely assuming there's a step that will dilute or remove some of the black dye in the process.

LeX2K

Hmm interesting. I'm wondering about getting the paint into the seam where the wood meets the leather, it's a pretty tight fit. I don't mind doing a dye/paint job as long as it works, but the last thing I want to do is destroy the wheel it was damn near impossible to find.

PFB

Yes, I have an idea. Sell it to me.

Phil

LeX2K

lol, no. Well not yet, have to at least see if this is doable.

Megafast13

I wouldn't use anything on it. The steering wheel is always being touched or rubbed against...

What I would do is keep it black. Get black floor mats and possibly a black model shift ****. It'll look good.

Or, have tan leather stitched completely over top of the black. It will be puffy and not look completely OEM, but that's your options.

LeX2K

Good suggestions. I wonder if a place like craftcustoms.com does what you say, just covers up the existing leather. I don't want that, leather part will be thicker than the rest of the wheel.

PFB

How much did you pay for it, and where did you find it?

LeX2K

$200 on Ebay. This is the 3rd ES300 1997-2001 wheel I've seen on Ebay. The first two I was outbid, plus the condition was a little rough, cracked wood and what looked like a couple of chunks taken out of the leather. But the one was the correct leather colour.

BTW the wheel did come with the airbag. Also, the seller only shipped to the a U.S. address so I had it sent to a friend who of course shipped it my way.

aykay514

do they fit on 92-96?

PFB

Nice. So keep me in mind if you ever want to sell it. After all I am a fellow Canadian (lol).

Phil

MrBruin09

Have it professionally re-dyed. That would be the easiest route.

Or you can contact this company and they should be able to help.

http://www.craftcustoms.com/pages/Wh...witchboard.htm

LeX2K

Excellent question. The answer is yes, but depends on the year. You will need a 1997-1999 ES300 airbag because the connector on the 2000-2001 Lexus airbags will not fit. The steering wheel itself from a 1997-2001 ES will fit. I don't know what years the ES had a wooden steering wheel, but I thought it was 2000-2001 only but I could be wrong.

That's the company that gave me a $250 quote. I might do that, but I need to get clarity on how they do it, I don't want leather on leather I don't think that will look right. I'm going to contact leather specialists (not auto upholstery shops they were useless) to see about getting the leather re-dyed. Or putting in black mats, black shifter and maybe a black column is something I might do, but now finding a black shifter lol.
I promise if I do sell it, you'll be the first to know.

nine3es

iTrader: (3)

i do upholstery and have done several wheels. craftcustoms and i both remove the oem leather, use it for a pattern, then hand stitch on the new leather. its quite a job for the average upholsterer but you should be able to find a true old school upholsterer in your area.

as for the paint, if done correctly it will last a while. especially since most people steer from the wood sections the wear is less on the leather. it does not last near as long as actually re-wrapping the wheel though.

personally, i re-covered mine in a matching vinyl, cheaper than leather but will last longer than painting. just another option for you, it may be easier to find a local guy to do vinyl? craftcustoms offers a vinyl option as well, along with 1/8 padded if you like the "puffy" look/feel.

LeX2K

Great info thanks! I'm going to do what you suggest and look for an "old school" craftsman to do the leather work. I just thought that the auto guys should be doing this kind of thing all the time, so they would be experts at it. I was wrong apparently, not enough demand I would guess.

If anyone in the Calgary area does this kind of thing let me know.