Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[ukdave2002]

Hi

I have a acquired a used Mota-Lita wooden rim steering wheel. The wood is ok but the lacquer has worn through in places, anyone got some hints and tips on removing the old lacquer and re lacquering ?

Cheers

Dave

[whiteshadow]

I've not done a steering wheel , but I've played a lot with wood.

You need to remove the old failing coating
-Either lightly sand, but this with also cause a fresh lighter surface colour!
- Or possibly better - use a varnish stripper with synthetic wire wool - careful on the metal

Then to coat...
I don't think you want to use oil/wax....could be slippy/tacky!!!
-oil based varnish ...darkens the wood (but I think looks better)..also darkens with age.
- water based varnish - Doesn't yellow, but the water raises the grain, so needs light sanding.
- Epoxy coat ...may be difficult to apply but will be bullet proof.

Both the water based & epoxy do in my opinion have a bit of a plastic look!

With the varnishes make sure the first couple of coats are thinned to penetrate the wood, and lightly sand and clean between coats. Keep adding coats till your happy

[Miken]

You could try this;
A couple of years ago i fitted some pale oak window boards/ledges inside my house.
I sprayed them with Halfords clear laquer and they look fine.
Rub down in between coats with 400 grade . Easy to apply,quick drying, cheap and hard wearing so far.
MN

[steely dan]

I did this 1970's Motolita for myself recently .


It had been hanging up in a friends garage since the early eighties and was pretty poor condition. Carefully and gently sand any varnish from the rim using 120 grit to start then 400 and 600 to finish , if there are any indentations you will have to fill using wood filler and sand to contour. Be careful as I couldn't identify the wood on mine but it had softened with age and was dry and a little powdery. I then polished the alloy spokes using 1200 grade wet then 1500 wet and finally hand polished with Autosol.
Mask of the spokes and exposed rim edge between the wood sandwich and apply two coats of teak stain. Allow to dry and the seal the grain with one coat of clear lacquer . I used Morrels satin lacquer sprayed by gun but any good clear aerosol lacquer will suffice . I then applied several coats ( 10m I think ) of Briwax clear wax using 0000 steel wool allowing each coat to dry off before buffing to finish . The wheel has a very natural feel to it without being hard and glossy . I say this as I also "paint " wood effect on to steering wheels and these have to have a hard lacquered finish to protect the finish and although not at all unpleasant feel entirely different.
[/URL]
Good luck and I hope this helps.

[Rick]

Interesting post & pictures, thanks steely, do you have any "before" shots of the Moto Lita wheel? looks fab.

RJ
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[steely dan]

[steely dan]

Double post