Volvo RWD 120-130 Forum

Hey Guys,


It's been too darn cold to be out in the garage for very long...so I figured I'd get my steering wheel project finished. It had been sitting on the back-burner since May - I've been busy.



Just to recap - the idea was to cut down the 17" stock steering wheel and make one a little less bus like. Here's the start point. I cut the old weel rim off and welded on the new smaller rim. I also gave it more dish to space the wood wheel away from the horn ring.

I ended up having to do a segmented wooden wheel as I couldn't get the mahogany to bend nicely (I could have steamed it, but I'm "lazy"). I went with a segmented wheel - with all parts being cut sequentially it minimizes the look of the segments. I decided to go with an inlay of Bloodwood - it matches my red interior and is hard and very pretty.

Here's the shots of putting the wood on the metal rim - West System Epoxy was used to glue everything.

Lots of clamps were used, but light pressure, you don’t want to squeeze out the epoxy.

What was I saying about the clamps?

Here it is with the plastic repaired and the mahogany toned to a better colour.

I carved a thumb groove to make it a very comfy wheel.

The horn push that I have in the car right now will replace this ratty one - it was just for test fitting things. Not bad for a $10 eBay wheel and about two weekends and a few weeknights.

Be careful...clear coating your wood steering wheel increases the colour and "pop" of the wheel. Here's the last instalment of the wheel build until I get it bolted in the car at least. Another well spent afternoon in Greg's paint booth...I mean garage the the new wheel and shift knob have a new finish. It's a 2-part polyurethane clear that came out of a rattle can. It's every bit as toxic and hard as normal car paint, but quite a bit less expensive ($25 per can). I only needed a single can to get the parts coated.

Five coats of clear were applied to the wheel (including the black centre part) and 4 went on the shift ball. After it dried up (overnight) I had a little wet sanding to do (starting at 400 and ending up at 2000 grit) as the finish settled into the grain of the wood and there were a few mishaps. You'd think I'd be better at the wheel painting gig after the GT wheel, but clear out of a can is tricky. It sanded great and polished up like a new dime. It takes quite a bit to polish the poly as it is so hard, but the results speak for themselves. Smooth as glass.

From the side.

Aerial shot.

This shot shows off the Bloodwood to best effect.

That’s all for now.

Craig