HOWTO: Redline goods steering wheel cover install.

Body kits, seat covers, fluffy dice, and other non-performance mods.

HOWTO: Redline goods steering wheel cover install.

Postby HardwareBoB » Mon Feb 01, 2016 12:07 pm

Buy the kit from here: http://www.redlinegoods.com/Legacy05shiftboot.php

As it comes:

Image

Remove the Steering wheel - no pics because this is the easy part.
  • Disconnect the battery, pump the brakes.
  • Loosen the two torx screws in the side of the steering wheel - the airbag will come/fall out.
  • There's two clips on the back of the airbag charge, get under them with a small flathead screwdriver and pop them up. Then pull them out.
  • Remove the horn wire from the back of the airbag cover.
  • Locate the steering wheel straight across, and draw a mark on it and the steering column so you can align it later
  • Undo the 17mm (IIRC) bolt on the steering wheel with a breaker bar.
  • Pull. I've seen people say to use a steering wheel remover, but I've not seen that needed in the two I've removed.
  • Once out, get a flathead screwdriver and remove the four screws holding the plastic backing plate onto the steering wheel.



Put the cover on the wheel - you'll need to stretch it a bit to make it fit. I've put the airbag in it here so you can get an idea of what it looks like, but you don't need it anywhere near the job.

Image

Go around the whole steering wheel, pulling and stretching to make sure it meets up in the middle, and it's correctly aligned, this will take a good 10-30 minutes of stuffing around - also make sure it's not backwards.

The way I glued it for the most part was with cyanoacrylate (super glue) - I squirted it up into the void and squished it down. This allows you to adjust it before it dries. I did this as I went around and sewed it.

Now - cut a length of supplied thread. No. Longer. No. LONGER. LONGER. The thread will need to be probably 5 times longer than the length you want to sew. On mine, I redid one of the smaller sections, and I have a join up near the the top of the steering wheel. Don't stress if you have to do the large bit in two pieces, I doubt anyone will ever notice mine.

Bend the thread in half, push it through the supplied blunt needles eye.

To start, do a knot around the first stitch, I just did two half hitches (what you would consider a knot if you don't know knots). Make sure that you have a decent (5cm or so) trail so it doesn't come undone.

Simply thread across to the other stitch, then back across and down one, and so on. Once you have done 5-6 stitches, Go back and get more tension on every stitch - pull the stitch up with the needle, then hold the base, then skip to the next stitch, and do the same. Do this every 5-6 stitches, and it should hold the tension 3-4 stitches back. If you get the tension wrong you might have to re-tension it which is a pain in the ass. This is especially a problem around the spokes where, depending on how and if you've glued it yet, or done the other side, it can be very hard to guage.

You can use cable ties (or as I later realised that was better - velcro ties, easier to move) to keep tension if you need to stop because your inlaws need to come over for whatever reason.
Image

Once you're done with a section and you're happy with the tension across the spoke, tie it off, and again, make sure you leave 5cm+ tail.

Use a dab of superglue (with a little brush or applicator of some sort) on the knots. Leave it for an hour.
Image

Get a pair of scissors or wire cutters (I used wire cutters because I happened to have them to hand - I'm not sure scissors would get you enough power to cut it in this way). Cut off the ends of the thread where you've glued the knots.

Where there's corners, Cut a straight line into NEARLY where it meets the wheel, then trim off at an angle until you can make them sit flat. You might also need to trim some off the end for them to sit right.
Image

Get some contact glue. Put the contact glue gently over the ends of the leather and the ends of the spokes.
Image
Image

Wait 20-30 minutes. Push the ends of the leather down and onto the spokes, and it should look like this:

Image

Reinstall the backing, and drop the airbag into it to see how it looks:
Image

Pretty damn good I think.

Reinstall in the car, then go and have a drink, because this process will have taken you at least 4-5 hours. Budget a whole day for it and you'll have plenty of time.
User avatar
HardwareBoB
 
Posts: 1579
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:52 am
Location: Melbourne
Car: MY05 GT 5MT Wagon
Real name: Matt
Profile URL: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=27514

Re: HOWTO: Redline goods steering wheel cover install.

Postby norbs » Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:32 pm

Looks good. Nice write up.
'05 Lib GT with a few mods :-)
norbs
 
Posts: 389
Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:11 pm
Location: Melbourne


Return to Cosmetics

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests