[Blasirl]

My attempt at rehabbing an eBay steering wheel

If you have followed any of my build posts, you know I was looking for a Hot Wheels steering wheel specifically with red stitching and paddle shifters. Well after a lengthy search and a bit of haggling, I purchased a slightly damaged wheel. This is what it looked like when I first received it:

For some reason I cannot find my original photos, but this is from the eBay site.



All during the search, I researched how to install it, but didn’t think much about fixing it. I received it and shelved as I wasn’t ready to install it yet. Well fast forward from August ’18 to May ’19 and I was ready to install it and realized I had not repaired it.

I pulled it out and thought, what the heck is the damaged covering made of? It is a soft rubbery feel, but no one seems to know what it is. After striking out on a bunch of Camaro forums, I had to think outside the box. The first and second thing that came to mind that I could use to repair it was PlastiDip and Liquid tape.

Well, after opening up my jar off plastic tape, I realized that was going to be way too messy, so PlastiDip it was. Now I had to dimantle my newish steering wheel. I pulled out my trusty trim tools and a few choice screwdrivers and away I went.

• As you can see in the first two pics, I slowly worked my way around the edges and gently pried the trim off.

• Next I had to disconnect the plugs to the buttons on either side. There were no locking clips to worry about.

.

• It came off fairly easily. Just take your time and make sure the leather does not catch on anything.

• This is the wheel without the trim or buttons.

 

[Blasirl]

• Some additional blurry closeups of the disassembled wheel (I really need to get a new -read better - camera.

• The next step was to remove the switch pods. There are two small Torx screws on the backside of each one. I actually took these photo’s incase someone needed the Camaro pod numbers to cross reference to the Cruze pods, but they seem to be the same as I just use these on my car.

• This is the trim without the pods.

• The only thing left was the chrome piece. Flipping the trim over, you will see the chrome tabs that need to be gently pried out.

 

[Blasirl]

• After a lot of sweating, the first side is off.

• Rinse and repeat. As you can see, there is a small knob that should not be there. That was a present from the seller. One of the mounting protuberances was already broken off. I was going to repair this with some PVC glue (the pieces are made of PVC) , but when I went to get the pieces, very carefully placed out of the way, I tripped and flipped it into neverland.

• Here are the fully disassembled trim pieces. The bag with the wire in it was the new wire for the paddle shifter.

• The next step was to carefully clean the black rubberized trim pieces. I used isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth. It seemed to work well. I then gave the damaged piece a light coat. after a short wait, I applied another Coat.

• After they had dried thoroughly, I reassembled the left and right pieces with the switch pods but did not connect them to the chrome piece. I found it easier to put them back individually.

• Before installing them, I went over the leather and cleaned up where some of the tucked in parts intersected with the holes for the trim pieces. It looked a bit sloppy and I believe that was the reason for the broken piece.

• I set one of the pieces onto the wheel in preparation of putting it back on. If you look closely, you can see this was not the smoothest looking repair, but it will work for now as at least it is black.

• This is a pic with both pieces installed without the chrome.

• I reinstalled the steering wheel harness plugs for the controls and set the chrome piece in place. Just a few words about the chrome. I did not think about checking with a magnet until just now, but I cannot tell if this is metal or plastic.

• It seems to be well made and solid. The chrome is flawless. Having said that, still be careful as I do not think you can get a replacement. While I had it at this stage, I used some leather cleaner / conditioner on it and buffed it up a bit. Easier now than later.

 

[Blasirl]

• This is the reassembled wheel.

• also purchased some paddle extenders for it. They are only sitting on the wheel temporarily here as I felt the were more of a hazard with the wheel off. I actually installed them after installing the wheel.

• Hope this helps someone in the future. It was much easier than I anticipated. I will probably end up removing the black trim pieces again in the future in order to completely remove the old coating and redo the PlastiDip so that the repair is not so noticeable – to me at least.

 

[boraz]

on a laptop, those pics are so small theyre pretty worthless....sorry.

 

[Eddy Cruze]

Excellent article! Looked for the Community Reputation button, all the Community stuff is now gone

 

[Blasirl]

on a laptop, those pics are so small theyre pretty worthless....sorry.

Complain to the new software installers. Normally you can click onto the pic to get a larger version. I did not know this was not going to happen. I just wrote a very long list of issues to the Administrators about how difficult it was to post.

 

[Blasirl]

I also just tried to increase the size via the edit box. A few surprises were waiting there as well. I found a button that said add all full size photos and clicked it. It dumped all the photos in the middle of the first post and they were the same size as the ones in there already. I had to go back in and delete them all one at a time.

When I did find a way to increase the size or at least try to, it wanted a width and height, not small, med or large as it was in the past. I had no idea what to put, so I did not put anything.

 

[Blasirl]

on a laptop, those pics are so small theyre pretty worthless....sorry.

Go back to some of the posts you have made with pics. It looks like most of the ones I have posted have been downsized.

 

[boraz]

Complain to the new software installers. Normally you can click onto the pic to get a larger version. I did not know this was not going to happen. I just wrote a very long list of issues to the Administrators about how difficult it was to post.

yeah, i was pretty sure it was something the overlords screwed with

 

[Blasirl]

Finally was able increase the picture size.

 

[Jhonny_BH]

Does anyone have the electrical circuit diagram of the automatic transmission of manual gear shift signals?

 

[Blasirl]

Does anyone have the electrical circuit diagram of the automatic transmission of manual gear shift signals?

How-To: Add a Working Paddle Shift Steering Wheel

This is not the only thread on this subject, but I wrote this to clarify some misinformation and my procedure was a bit different, so I hope you do not get upset with me for posting this. Robert Overview: This idea started one day when I read a Sonic Forum post about adding paddle shifters...

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