So I’m not going to explain everything, but that’s what it looks like for my investment so far to recover steering wheel (although I may end up with a couple)
Some interesting lessons here that may really be helpful to someone by the way, spoiler is the first picture.
1. started out with purchasing a Redline kit to recover with synthetic Alcantara. Wanted a slightly thicker steering wheel as the stock ST is a skinny one. Applied foam and stitching project didn’t end up well as I easily ripped through the material so the cover was (somewhat) ruined.
2. Contacted Redline (Poland) they were slow responding back and forth but agreed to give me a little bit of a discount on a leather (stronger material) cover and more money to have them send me the kit, and subsequently install. I paid, received, and sent off the steering wheel.
3. Ordered a cheap non-leather 2019 Fiesta SE wheel from e-Bay, it was like new. Thought about using the Alcantara cover that was torn, with a BMW stitching strategy that loops through the straight line stitches rather than through the holes in the material.
4. Steering wheel is much larger, so cover does not fit well especially on the sides. Started sanding down the sides... but then looked a the difference (nice to have another ST with a like new steering wheel to show.
5. Local shop will recover this one in Alcantara for $450 (I would be well over $1000 at that point)...
6. We’ll see how the leather cover turns out from Redline and the local vendor, but they remove the leather cover and install some cheap thin foam, so it will not be much thicker I bet. Lether seems nicer that OEM, and I had them put a bloue stripe/ring at the top, blue stitching.
RECOMMENDATION: Buy a cheap non leather steering wheel that’s already a lot thicker, sand off some of the weird angled edges, and recover by a local shop, or you can try ordering a cover for the non ST wheel and DIY (not doing this so you may end up with issues if they don't have the exact same wheel dimensions set properly).
I'm not done yet but lots of lessons learned... and the non-ST wheel is much nicer if you prefer a thicker steering wheel.
Some interesting lessons here that may really be helpful to someone by the way, spoiler is the first picture.
1. started out with purchasing a Redline kit to recover with synthetic Alcantara. Wanted a slightly thicker steering wheel as the stock ST is a skinny one. Applied foam and stitching project didn’t end up well as I easily ripped through the material so the cover was (somewhat) ruined.
2. Contacted Redline (Poland) they were slow responding back and forth but agreed to give me a little bit of a discount on a leather (stronger material) cover and more money to have them send me the kit, and subsequently install. I paid, received, and sent off the steering wheel.
3. Ordered a cheap non-leather 2019 Fiesta SE wheel from e-Bay, it was like new. Thought about using the Alcantara cover that was torn, with a BMW stitching strategy that loops through the straight line stitches rather than through the holes in the material.
4. Steering wheel is much larger, so cover does not fit well especially on the sides. Started sanding down the sides... but then looked a the difference (nice to have another ST with a like new steering wheel to show.
5. Local shop will recover this one in Alcantara for $450 (I would be well over $1000 at that point)...
6. We’ll see how the leather cover turns out from Redline and the local vendor, but they remove the leather cover and install some cheap thin foam, so it will not be much thicker I bet. Lether seems nicer that OEM, and I had them put a bloue stripe/ring at the top, blue stitching.
RECOMMENDATION: Buy a cheap non leather steering wheel that’s already a lot thicker, sand off some of the weird angled edges, and recover by a local shop, or you can try ordering a cover for the non ST wheel and DIY (not doing this so you may end up with issues if they don't have the exact same wheel dimensions set properly).
I'm not done yet but lots of lessons learned... and the non-ST wheel is much nicer if you prefer a thicker steering wheel.
Attachments
-
1.9 MB Views: 148
-
126.6 KB Views: 122
-
110.3 KB Views: 121
-
101.3 KB Views: 127
-
126 KB Views: 124
Last edited: