I assembled some pictures of my steering wheel as I redid the finish with SEM Color Coat. The 15 year old wheel was in pretty good shape as far as the leather condition but the color had worn out and turned black in the worn areas. I have used the SEM Color Coat for other interior pieces like the armrests in the doors and an armrest I added to the center console. Those areas had stood up perfectly for over 2 years with no signs of fading or wear. Even the areas that see frequent rubbing stood up just as well as the original finish. So I decided to redo the wheel itself. I can't guarantee that it will stand up as well as the other areas especially if you drive with greasy hands like I do sometimes but for an hour or so work it is worth it to me! Below is a progression of pictures I took as I went through the process. I began by lightly sanding all of the leather with 180 grit sandpaper just to scuff the surface for adhesion. You could also use a 220 grit paper. In either case you are only sanding with light pressure. You don't really want to scratch the leather too much. It's pretty easy to get a feel for what I'm saying when you actually begin. Some areas in the corners might stay black and need to be cleaned with alcohol to get all the oils off of the surface. Other solvents like laquer thinner may work also. Once the grease and oil is gone you can tape everything up and apply several light coats. It covers well and only about a half of the spray can was used. It dries quickly and the wheel can be replaced within minutes. I wouldn't be too aggressive with the wheel for about 24 hours though. A can of SEM Color Coat in the color called Presidio cost me $7.95 at the local auto paint supplier. I think the pictures speak for themselves. BTW if you check out my laptop page you will see that I did the laptop in the same color. The wheel wasn't done at that time though. Redo your Steering Wheel in an Hour
Look at how blackened some of the wheel was.
Yukk!
This has been sanded. Notice that the black areas are lighter now.
Just about ready to begin.
More of the ugly wheel.
The backside.
Masked off and ready.
Now that looks better!
The dark areas are just shadows from the trees.
Just like new.
The armrest for the center console. It attaches with velcro to the console. It came from a boneyard regal and was originally a maroon color! This is how it looked after about two years of daily driving. I just cleaned it up a little.
