Re: Thinking about a wood steering wheel for my 25
I bought a wood Moto-Lita wheel off Ebay a few years ago in slightly rough shape for a pretty cheap price. The guy I bought it from was in the UK, he had this wheel on his '71 TR6 for most of it's life so it has a bit of legacy with Triumphs. Anyway, when I got it the wood was not in bad shape at all. There were a few small chips here and there but nothing big, so I left them thinking it gave the wheel character, and plus I think it would have looked worse if I tried to fill them and the filling color didn't match up right. I stripped the slightly peeling, heavily yellowed clearcoat (man that stuff they used is hard to get off), cleaned up the wood itself with some very fine steel wool, and put on 4 coats of high gloss marine polyurethane. Took some mothers aluminum polish to the spokes and now it looks very nice. Not like new, but like a well cared for wheel with miles and history behind it and I didn't pay an arm and a leg. Suits my tastes fine, and the wood is close to the color of the dash. I'll throw up a pic later when I get home.
Funny part was that when I bought the wheel it did not include a hub. I bought a Moto-Lita hub and horn button kit from a guy online who deals in Brit car parts. When I received the kit I found that it did not include the screws that attached the wheel itself to the hub, or the top trim ring that surrounds the horn button, and which the screws go through. I contacted the guy I bought the kit from and he said that stuff comes with the wheel itself, and he couldn't break up a new wheel kit to give me those pieces. I then emailed Moto-Lita directly but I was a little worried that since my wheel was so old they might not have the parts I needed. What nice people they were over there, they provided super customer support. They told me those wheels have been made the same way for decades now, and the trim rings and screws from the new wheels will fit mine fine. A screw kit and the trim ring mailed to my house, $9 and change US, I couldn't believe it. If you need anything for a used Moto-Lita wheel don't hesitate to contact them directly, great people over there.