Restoring / wrapping Petri steering wheels

Another thing that you will notice about Petri wheels is that the face of the wheel is not brushed. The rear of the wheel has a grain in the steel, but it is not post plating brush marks. It is common to see brushed nickel plated Petri restorations, but the original wheels have no brush marks at all.
 
Here’s what a Petri will look like when the top matt silver coating is removed. Lots of bling. Although a personal preference, if it means saving a Csl Petri which this one is, even this shiny look is worth it. Pitted Petri’s hurt the eye.
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Keshav said:
Michael bought his wheel from Hans and I’m pretty sure Hans did all that was doable before he sold it. He is a professional Petri guy. ONLY very superficial ‘dirt’ can be cleaned off but most of the imperfections are below the surface and can’t be removed without scrubbing the top layer and leaving a chrome look underneath.
Therefore, if the Petri isn’t near ‘perfect’ to begin with, there’s not much that can be done in its favor other than a whole repleting as done by Wladek and Markos. That’s a long drawn job and has to be completed with a leather wrap.
Very good 38cm Petri can still be found with patience although not cheap anymore.

I bought a Csl wheel the other day (thanks to Stevehose) and only out of pure luck did it transform into a nice one. Pure good fortune. Not something one can expect nor repeat.
View attachment 70274View attachment 70275
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As Gary Player said,"The harder I practice the luckier I seem to get!"
 
Markos said:
Another thing that you will notice about Petri wheels is that the face of the wheel is not brushed. The rear of the wheel has a grain in the steel, but it is not post plating brush marks. It is common to see brushed nickel plated Petri restorations, but the original wheels have no brush marks at all.
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So just a flat/matt finish with no brush marks. Ok perfect. Thanks.
 
Keshav said:
Here’s what a Petri will look like when the top matt silver coating is removed. Lots of bling. Although a personal preference, if it means saving a Csl Petri which this one is, even this shiny look is worth it. Pitted Petri’s hurt the eye.
View attachment 70281
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Very interesting to see it more “bling”. Not so bad as you say and better saved than not.
 
Genuine metal surface of Petri is nickel not chrome, that's why it have yellowish shade if compare to ice white chrome, but chrome is sort of improvement, because surface is more resistant.
Polished Petri as for me is not best looking.
 
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Wladek said:
Genuine metal surface of Petri is nickel not chrome, that's why it have yellowish shade if compare to ice white chrome, but chrome is sort of improvement, because surface is more resistant.
Polished Petri as for me is not best looking.
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Mine above certainly pretty yellow. :D

I wonder why so many clean 45yo Petri wheels has such a white, almost bluish hue to the face.
 
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I am yet to restore my Petri - and like most ive seen mine has the usual flaws.

Something I was thinking about was to strip the wheel and try a "dip film coating "

I have never done it before, but I wonder if it could be an option.... its seems like a short cut, and is probably to good to be true - but worth a look all the same..

See below


Most of the finishes are designs however I did see this site below, and they look to have some finishes that may be good match

watertransferprinting.com

Metal Hydrographic Film Archives

Metal hydrographic film. Our selection of metal hydro dip film features stainless steel and brushed aluminum films that are used in the appliance market.
watertransferprinting.com watertransferprinting.com

If anyone has done it before I would like to know more...

Marc
 
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