The Upholstery Forum

I am a newbie and I am attempting to cover a billet steering wheel with the half wrap for the first time, Could someone provide me with some info, and tips on how to cover the blank half ring.

@marcusj76 I too have a half steering wheel to do. I'll share what I find.

Thank you @kl4bidn, I appreciate it. I will let you know what i find out also.

I never even thought to attempt a half wrap. It could work out, to stitch a wheel cover would be about $240.00 in my area not many go for the stitching labour cost let alone the whole price of the job.

There is a youtuber named Cechaflo, which has very interesting videos about upholstery, and especially one of them covers how to leather cover a steering wheel:


Perhaps it can give you some inspiration?

@marcusj76
My split steering wheel showed this morning.



Hopefully, we are talking about the same thing. I stripped off the vinyl, traced on to the leather. Looks pretty straightforward. Can't spray adhesive until the heat wave passes or take it home and do it. I'll post pix when done.

I have a Billet Specialties wheel with a similar ring as you have there. I did exactly what it looks like you're planning. I sprayed the fiberglass ring and my strip of leather which I cut to the same shape as the ring, but oversize. I tucked the edges around the ring, then trimmed what was left.

been looking at videos about recovering steering wheels with leather . I have one to do but wanted to use vinyl to match interior . Is using vinyl on the steering wheel a no no ?? This will be on a convertible I am building for my wife which will be like the first car she had . It has to be white with red interior and I'm afraid if I get red leather for steering wheel it will not match interior

@hapyrdr

You can use vinyl. Chefalo on youtube has videos on covering and doing the different decorative stitches on it.

@marcusj76 Those billet steering wheels with the leather face are pretty straight foreword. Just unbolt the 2 halves. Recovering the leather side is pretty simple. Just cover with leather and wrap around to the inside to get a nice finished edge. Use good glue. I recommend using Weldwood landau contact cement : http://amzn.to/2nwDBO5

If you need you can use steam to soften the leather and help wrap around the inside edge.

Thanks everyone for the info, that is exactly what i was looking for. I will be trying this out, i believe should go okay. @kl4bidn . thanks for the pics they will help out alot.

@marcusj76
Here's the completed back and front. I did invest in a heat gun with a stand. Helped nicely to pull the outside edge down nicely. Still looked good without the heat gun but hey, I had to try it out.

It looks awesome!!!

Looks great!

Nice work!

It does look great! @LeatherJohnny ,

@Cody, you made mention of Tandy leather in a post. I have a store 45 minutes from me and looked at their Upholstery Leather. Have you ever used their leather?

I'm not @Cody but I have been using Tandy Leather for years. The only problem with their upholstery leather is it is NOT uv protected (or at least the ones that I have been buying aren't) Other than that they are top notch. Hope this helps.

@Kra z Bill

That helps a ton! I guess I question how much faster will their non UV protected leather break down vs UV protected leather?

@BigRig i actually haven’t used it. Just know a guy around Minneapolis that gets his leather for belts and holsters from the Tandy there.

Tandy Leather is a great store! You can find lots of cool stuff there. Last I checked they don't sell automotive grade leather. But is worth a visit if your ever close to one.