Sooo, my 17k mile had a grease monkey scratch the finish right where my left hand sits somehow-they never even got to mount my tires by days end. It has about 10-15 small chips in the finish only so no wood damage.

Anyone ever fix their wheel finish? I'm pretty good at woodwork having owned a big antiques importing shop but I know some of these new finishes are polyester, not polyurethane.

I'm thinking I can fill in the chips with a matching finish(not stain) and then color sand it down smooth.

 

I know it's a bit of a snivel compared to other problems with the Jags but...

 

I think it is a big distraction and should be repaired or replaced.

 

I agree.


The person that damaged it should sort it. One wonders what he was doing at the time; not fitting your tyres obviously and not any activity you had sanctioned or agreed to.


If I were doing it myself, since it appears only to be scratched lacquer, I would have the steering wheel off and float lacquer in to the depressions using a cocktail stick or similar. It contracts a lot as it dries so will take a number of applications. Obviously you would have to read up about disabling the airbags.


Mike.

 

There's a clockspring removal thread in the stickies that will be most helpful should you decide to remove the wheel.

 

If you do repair it please post a picture back.

I have always sent all my wood repairs out to Madera.

Madera Concepts - Jaguars
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We've had a fine antiques shop for 45 years but me, myself, an amateur finisher. I think I'll sand this one smooth and overlay the bare wood with gloss water base urethane. This is likely an OEM polyester finish.

 

jeffn,

With your knowledge there's no reason you can't repair those chips yourself. Guitar luthiers face these kinds of issues all the time. Here's a link to a lacquer-fill repair like mikefarnham suggested:

Lacquer Drop Fill

And if you're concerned about compatibility with the UV-cured finish on the wheel (whether it's polyester or polyurethane), here's a link to a method using cyanoacrylate (super glue) that should work with either one:

Super Glue Drop Fill

With either method, an important key is to allow the new finish drops to dry as thoroughly as possible before attempting to sand and polish. If you're patient and let it dry thoroughly, you can wet sand to 3000 grit, then rub out with a good polish like Mequiar's Scratch X 2.0 on a microfiber towel to achieve a mirror gloss.

In addition to the clockspring that aholbro1 mentioned, be sure to research the proper method of disarming the airbag before you disconnect it. I just did this on an X308 and that required disconnecting the battery, then waiting a minimum of 3 minutes before disconnecting the airbag. But it may be different on the S-Type.

Cheers,

Don

 

Awesome is so overused but, awesome Don, thanks! Never considered the superglue concept and am loathe to take down more oem finish. I can imagine myself glued to my car though-could be in worse locations I guess.

 

Yes, it's a greasy wrench(spanner) kind of place that we all knew and hated in the 60-70s. But I thought it was an iconic business but discovered it was just a greasy floor tech shop. And now I discover they were busted last year for selling weed out of the place.

I should have followed the old adage or when someone shows you who they really are, believe them.

 

As they were selling weed. They should be able to afford a new steering wheel for you

 

Don't laugh, but you may find a mint one off Craigslist. Plenty of low mileage donors out there. You'll probably take the wheel off anyway, might pay to have one ready...in case your carpentry skills are like mine (overzealous with a belt sander....).