"wood" steering wheels -

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

In AD7-545 David Johnson, having gotten his '82 GTV-6 steering wheel off
(congratulations!) discovered that the "wood" isn't wood - and its surface is
peeling- "Anyone know what this is, and what works best as a replacement?"

Alfa went from honest black plastic to wood to "wood" in the late
sixties/early seventies- for shift knobs as well as steering wheels. Past
digests have any number of sad tales of people attacking the "wood" with
sandpaper and/or varnish remover in order to refinish it. 

The GTV-6 style wheel has been used on several models, with various rim
finishes. In 1984 the GTV-6 went to a leather cover on the same style wheel-
at least I think it is leather, rather than "leather", and finding a good '84
wheel might be the simplest answer. There have been commonly available lace-on
leather wheel covers, which would not cover the transition from spoke to rim,
but that should not get the wear that the rim gets, so paint might be
appropriate. The less expensive ($10 or so) lace-ons are rather generic, but
the gold-plated-goodies type accessory boutiques have them available in many
colors, diameters, grip thicknesses, etc for different applications. Beverly
Hills Motoring Accessories, one of the more pretentious places, has $34.95
versions which might be worth an investigative phone call (1-800-367-2462)

I know of no good refinish material for the peeling plastic, and I don't know
the color of the underlying plastic; if it is a reasonable color one might
consider just peeling the "wood" off the surface, sanding as necessary, and
leaving it in its naked authenticity..

John H.
Raleigh

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