Steering wheel refurbishment

[Andy8421]

Filled with Elan enthusiasm following my trackday, I have decided to start on the Sprint. Calipers off to Clasicar automotive, seats off to Option 1, new ladder frames from Spyder (I am not looking forward to this job).

I am trying to pick off jobs that need third party help, and have long lead times. Next on the list is the steering wheel. The plastic around the steering wheel has cracked. Trawling through the forum, it looks like this is a pretty common problem - particularly on the signed Chapman wheels.

Most of the threads are old - it seems that it is not possible to replace the plastic, and that recovering with leather is the usual solution. To be honest, originality aside, I always thought the plastic looked and felt cheap and nasty, so I would be prepared to go down the leather route if required. A couple of questions:

1. Is replacing the plastic with leather the only option currently available?

2. Len Chandler seems to be the 'go to' steering wheel guy. Has anyone used him recently, or have any other recommendations for steering wheel refurbishment?

Thanks again to all for the help and advice.

Andy.

[trw99]

Andy, I and one or two others on here have investigated replacement of the plastic rim to original spec. It is not economically feasible for small shops to have the engineering machinery built to replicate the process used by Springall.

I have had discussions with Mark at Jacob Engineering, who own the Springall name and make excellent Lotus steering wheels (http://jacobengineering.co.uk/) about this and he has decided to continue to provide the wheels but with leather rims. His wife is an excellent leather craftsman and can recover your wheel in leather for you.

Although I am sure most of us probably prefer the feel of a leather rim, the key to replicating the wheel is attempting to get the thickness of the rim to match the original. The Elan can, of course, be steered very precisely and needs little pressure or effort from the driver. The narrow original rim aids this feeling of nimbleness. At least, that is how I see it, subjectively!

Tim

[h20hamelan]

I removed plastic off Chapman wheel, and replaced with heater hose (maybe 5/8). Then covered with leather from online, stitched it myself-easy.
Ken at Bean had recommended this route. Still nice after a few years.

Edit- cost £8-

[Lotusian]

I can definitely recommend Len Chandler. Good work and good to deal with.
Ian

[Frogelan]

I bought a new 26R style Springall wheel from Mark at Jacob Engineering. It has been beautifully made and stitched.

Certainly for a new wheel (and other specialised engineering) he is very much the guy to talk to.

[smo17003]

I think that I would be inclined to buy the repro Jacob's steering wheel, and then put the original wheel safely away at the back of a cupboard. Still having the OE wheel, in original condition, would be important to some if you ever decided to sell your car in the future.

[Donels]

I used Paul Darby to recover my steering wheel. He’s the guy that Drew Pritchard uses for all his car stuff. He’s excellent and does a quick turn round. Cost is £140.

[reb53]

Have a go yourself Andy !

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=23420&start=#p149681

Cheers,
Ralph.

[The Veg]

When I bought the Plus 2 the wheel's covering was missing but the rubber underneath was in excellent condition. I opted for leather since this is the part that I'd be touching the most while driving.

I've only driven the car a few hundred miles since but I have absolutely no regrets about the leather!

[tonyabacus]

Andy
I used Paul West, he recovered my wheel in leather after I had refurbished the spokes to the standard I wanted. He made an excellent job and I think the cost was around £100.

I also recall quite a long time ago now, a company that specialised in refurbishing very old vintage/veteran cars that suggested they could recover similar to our non leather wheels, so that may be worth investigating. As it was a long time ago, I will attempt to find the information, but it may take a while.

I don’t think there will be too many people that will be pedantic about the wheel covering. Besides which as we know, the cars came fitted with either as well as some having a signature and others not, so how will any prospective purchaser know what was fitted to your car originally.
Tony

[trw99]

Tony, have a look at this article we published a few years ago in Club Lotus News magazine.

Tim

[tonyabacus]

Hello Tim
That is a very interesting article, do you recall when it was first published?
I am sure a lot of Lotus owners especially those new to the Marque will find the information very useful, over time many stories emerge and myths start to grow, but this should help clarify things.
Tony

[trw99]

October 2014, Tony.

I’m pretty sure I’ve posted it on here before, along with other articles ‘wot I rote’.

Tim

[Nickm]

I’m pretty sure I’ve posted it on here before, along with other articles ‘wot I rote’.

Tim, can these very useful and informative bits be posted in the wiki section somewhere? Then they'll be easier to point people to them in the future.

[Roland]

Andy,

My original Chapman Signature PVC/plastic rimmed steering wheel is in good condition but it is not really great to drive with. I looked at refurbishing it and getting it done in leather. This was not coming out cheap at all as an option.

I then looked at Jacob Engineer/Springall and their reproduction leather bound Chapman signature wheel is almost the same price as refurbishing mine.

Like others have suggested here I concluded that the best thing to do is preserve my original PVC rimmed wheel and buy the Jacob Eng. wheel.

Regards

Roland