My new project (prototype)

[supertrick_05]

Well I tried this with my old Neon and failed miserably, but I figured I'd try again with my Grand Prix. I'm making a leather steering wheel cover and stitching it up with a different color thread. With my Neon, I tried to take off the leather from the steering wheel, cut it up to make templates, and make a new leather cover, but it was not easy by ANY means. I eventually gave up and stopped trying over and over. This time I've thought about it and this time I'm not going to make a new OEM cover...I'm going to make a cover that goes OVER the factory leather! Meaning I don't have to make the 4 spoke areas, which were the biggest pain in my ass with the Neon wheel. I'm just going to make the leather a little bit longer by the spokes and then tuck it under the cover so there's a nice rolled finished edge instead of a raw cut edge. Anyways, here's my first prototype. I didn't think of rolling the ends until after I cut this one out, but I'm sure I'm going to have to go through a few prototypes before I come out with the final result...and by God I WILL finish this one! Anyways, on to the pictures...

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow I'm going to punch the holes out to where I need to sew it together, then when it's all sewn up, I'm going to mark where I need to extend the leather for the spokes and cut the cover off and make a new one. I'm going to have to sand the suede side of the leather down on the spokes part so that there's not too much bulk on the outside of the cover when it's tucked in. Anyways, enjoy!

 

Oh, one other thing...as soon as I get a chance to take out my shift boot and redo it, I'll be making a group buy on custom boots with any color thread. I did that with my Neon boot on the Neon forums...made custom ones and sold them. The color of leather will only be black though...no graphite unless I can get a good price on a hide.

[94 olds vert]

That is really cool.

 

I might have to do this.

[AL]

That steering wheel looks so nice!

[Cully77]

If you get fed up there's always this:

 

http://www.pfyc.com/pc/GN2001/MOINT/Wheelskins+Leather+Steering+Wheel+Covers.html

 

[KingVee]

If you get fed up there's always this:

 

http://www.pfyc.com/pc/GN2001/MOINT/Wheelskins+Leather+Steering+Wheel+Covers.html

 

That looks so half-assed, I would never pay for that...

[jeremy]

That looks so half-assed

 

do you really think that the OP's finished product (if he does actually finish it) will look any better???

[KingVee]

That looks so half-assed

 

do you really think that the OP's finished product (if he does actually finish it) will look any better???

Who knows? I've seen many things that people did better than half-assed companies out there.

[Cully77]

I've seen that kit done without the 'two tone' and it didn't look horrible.

[supertrick_05]

Those do look horrible because the holes for the thread to go through continue throughout the spokes area and it really looks ghetto. I emailed them to see if I can get a wheel cover withOUT the holes punched and they said that is not an option. So this is the only option I have, and yes...when I get it to the final product, it will look MUCH better than the Wheelskin brand ones.

[Cully77]

Fair enough, I look forward to seeing the final product.

[supertrick_05]

It's going to take me awhile because it's just a time-consuming project and I'm working on it in the very little spare time I have at work.

[GnatGoSplat]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but are you doing this just to get different colored thread?

If so, maybe it would be easier to just use a tiny hobby paintbrush and paint the thread!