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Part of the charm of the older trucks is the "vibe" they possess, and the character they have. I tried to keep as much of the original feel to the truck as I could; using the steering wheel and bench seat were part of that.
I pulled the steering wheel off a couple days ago, as the horn is not working. I have been doing upholstery projects, mostly for the VW Beetle I have; but I started looking at the truck steering wheel. I had sanded and filled all the cracks and fractures and painted the original one. I decided I would cover it with vinyl, and started yesterday.
Here is the progress to date; and I think I am going to be happy with the final product. Lots of hand stitching.
It will hide some of the warts and still keep the period feel.
looks real good.
I have a spare steering wheel that I was thinking of modifing, maybe taking a inch or so out of the circumference just making it somewhat smaller than original and making it more comfortable behind the wheel.
I finished hand stitching the vinyl cover to the steering wheel today.
I changed my plan on the fly and added 1/4" foam padding to the wheel , so my cover was a little "snug". I give it a 9 out of 10; as it does hide the imperfections.
Note: Will be trying to get the horn to work, when I re-install the wheel. Years back I bought a horn kit that has never quite worked (not good enough), partly because of the horm spring not functioning properly. On closer inspection, I need to remove a little material from the inner portion of the horn button , so the horn assembly will fit deeper and engage the springs.
The picture is kind; there are imperfections with the stitching, but lessons learned. I should have machine stitched the spoke pieces to the wheel covering. The addition of the foam padding made my fitment a little off, so the seams are pulled pretty tight.
I think it will stand up to usage and upgrades the cab a bit.
