VDM wood steering wheel

B

bavdog

Member
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Hi all, I own a bmw VDM wood steering wheel that I bought on ebay years ago in hopes of restoring and mounting on my 72 Bavaria. I believe these were found on 2800s but I love wood and thought it would be cool on my Bav. Anyway, does anybody have any info regarding these steering wheels and/or thoughts on a good restoration shop?
Thanks, Bavdog (I will post some pics soon)
 
My Bav came with one of these. The laquer was cracked/crazed throughout. I had done a lot of furniture restoration so re-did this myself. The laquer sands off easy but be aware the wheel is not solid wood. It is a veneer on what looks like fiberglass. After re-staining with oil-based stain, I finished it with a 2K laquer (can get in a spray can set up for EZ app). Came out quite nice.
 
How about the black spoke portion of the wheel? Mine is not too bad but does have some minor crazing/cracking issues. I know what you mean about the thin wood...I sanded very lightly with 180 grit and had some burn thru where the spokes meet the wheel. Will probably just blend it in.
 
Athena, my coupe, came with one that had a crazed finish, I just sanded with 220 and refinished.

Vern's steering wheel was a complete restoration complete with new veneer. The spokes were cracked and crazed. I used Minwax High Performance Wood Filler to fill and smooth, then painted with semigloss black spray, then used 0000 steel wool to make it look right.
 

Attachments

  • 480-img4.jpg
    480-img4.jpg
    94.1 KB · Views: 225
  • Unrestored Wheel.jpg
    Unrestored Wheel.jpg
    98.5 KB · Views: 231
  • Finishing_02.jpg
    Finishing_02.jpg
    93.9 KB · Views: 243
  • Restored_01.jpg
    Restored_01.jpg
    93.8 KB · Views: 220
Great photos, thanks! Please tell me know how the re veneer works. I am a professional woodworker with extensive veneer knowledge and it still is a headscratcher how that can be re veneered! And I assume the spokes can be repaired with an epoxy filler, sanded and sprayed. And missing 1 silver trim piece where spoke meets wood...backside. Any leads for salvage steering wheels? Thanks again for all the feedback. BTW, I reside in Atlanta.

Bavdog
 
Reveneering the steering wheel. Remove all old veneer. I used blue painters tape following the seams of the steering wheel to make patterns to place on pressure sensitive mahogany. Placed the tape on the veneer and cut out the pieces. Then I wetted the veneer with water, keeping the PSA dry. Placed veneer on the wheel and pressed it into position, then used fiberglass reinforced strapping tape with a lot of pressure to get the veneer to conform to the wheel. After 45 minutes I carefully removed the strapping tape. Repeated the process until it was done. I used an iron to conform the veneer to the finger grips on the back.

I had to make spoke covers, my wheel was missing all 3 front covers. Made them out of an old 1/8th inch aluminum road sign.

Al Taylor, [email protected], may have some steering wheels to use for parts.
 
Last edited:
I have a set of 3 back chrome trim parts. My wheel has what looks like brushed aluminun and I am missing two front pieces. I was going to hone down the rear chrome ones to fit the front and replace all of them to match. If Mr. Taylor has 2 brushed aluminun ones, I can pass the chrome ones on for what I paid for them (20 bucks which incl shipping). This is not my post so I won't contact him unless all are ok with this...........I don't believe in wheel "trim blocking" so to speak.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top