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How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

T2FFN
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by T2FFN » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:37 pm

Exactly, i had to learn on lttle bits before doing full side fairings, and it gets smoother every time.

As its not permanant as such, and it binds to itself, i always spray over/around edges, even on the rear, so it forms a thin layer that goes over the edge and around the back. This 'should' help it stop peeling, which it hasnt yet.

Use something to prop up the parts so you can get the edges without it sticking to the worktop etc when drying.

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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by T2FFN » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:39 pm

You can also cut drying times using a hair drier, which makes lots of thin coats less time consuming.

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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by Bing » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:41 pm

T2FFN wrote:You can also cut drying times using a hair drier, which makes lots of thin coats less time consuming.

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Now THAT is a genius idea :thumbsup:
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by srhutch » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:57 pm

Will they be done before next week then Bing?
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by Bing » Fri Jun 01, 2012 9:02 pm

Nope, unfortunately not. Which sucks. When I experienced my mid-mod fail I did some practicing on a couple of plant pots (they weren't great either :lol: ) and I am pretty sure I don't have enough to do everything again. Don't want to start without knowing I have enough, and it's out of fecking stock on eBay :headbang:
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How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by T2FFN » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:37 am

Just as a small update; I have a small tear on the very outside of the right spoke. This area seems to get the most use by me, and has lasted a couple weeks.

On the other hand, my front grill surround has been on for months maybe, and still looks as it did when applied. I think daily handling greatly increases the wear rate and shortens it's life.


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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by Bing » Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:10 pm

Update from me on how plastidip wears with daily use... And it is not great. Had it on for maybe 6 weeks and this is what it looked like :

Image Image

Not the greatest quality pics, sorry :oops:

The reason it peeled so quickly is probably because I did not spray enough round the edges, but as TTFN knows what he is doing and has also experienced this, I think it is safe to say that daily use will pull this apart pretty quickly.

As you will be able to tell, I had the streering wheel in bits when I took these - I had decided that even attempting to do something different myself would be folly, given the evidence of my lack of any sort of craft competence. So I took the bits to a local chap to have them sprayed :D I had taken the plastidip off, but he also had to remove the remaining rubber coating... took him a lot longer than either of us thought, but I got them back today, results below :

Image

Image

Image

Worth saying that my photography skills are also not great, so you'll need to trust me that the finish is perfect and completely smooth.

Installed :

Image

Needless to say I am very, very pleased. The matte looks very OEM, but because it is painted (and it is the clearcoat that is matte) it should last a very long time. Feels like I cheated, but I am consoling myself with having tried to DIY it at least once.
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by bakes100 » Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:11 am

Looks good, do you know what paint he used for this?
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by Bing » Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:24 pm

Bakes, sorry I don't know what paint he used - it is just matte black paint, professionally sprayed, i.e. not out a spray can. After 4 months the edges of the side spokes where the plastidip bubbled has shined up a bit from use, but it still looks good, whereas the original coating coming off and revealing shiny plastic (and eventually the white base starting to show through) looks very tired. In order to prevent the slight shining on mine he'd need to re-spray them with a matte lacquer - which he didn't have at the time. When I have the cash I will get them done again with the lacquer, shouldn't cost too much as the prep is done. The prep took him a long time as the rubberised coating is a b1tch to get off completely.
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by pvr » Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:49 pm

What on earth do you do to the steering? Mine is the original and has no marks what so ever :?
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by Bing » Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:09 pm

Yeah, but I drive it every day PVR - I've done 18,000 miles since I bought it last September. The car had done 58k miles when I bought it, and the plastics were all worn. Every car you see with reasonably high mileage on Autotrader with an //M wheel has worn plastics... Look carefully :wink:
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by philip27 » Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:19 pm

I really want to refurbish the spokes on my steering wheel. I just have the standard Z4 steering wheel do I still need to remove the airbag to get the plastics off ?
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by srhutch » Fri Nov 16, 2012 6:01 pm

philip27 wrote:I really want to refurbish the spokes on my steering wheel. I just have the standard Z4 steering wheel do I still need to remove the airbag to get the plastics off ?
You need to remove really otherwise you will break something. Airbag removal is easy enough.
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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by Grwilliams23 » Thu Aug 06, 2015 6:51 am

Has anyone else done this refurb? I used plastidip and the results were fantastic...until a recent heatwave ( rare in Swales!)! It had a shrinking effect; and peeled off around the edges.

Just wondering if anyone has used a different product and how it has stood up to regular use?

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Re: How To - Steering Wheel Spoke Refurbishment

Post by sk93 » Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:17 am

Grwilliams23 wrote:Has anyone else done this refurb? I used plastidip and the results were fantastic...until a recent heatwave ( rare in Swales!)! It had a shrinking effect; and peeled off around the edges.

Just wondering if anyone has used a different product and how it has stood up to regular use?
Paint or plastidip still I believe.

I use plastidip and I get about a year out of it before it tears / wears through.
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