Recently, the clear coating on the steering-wheel wood is starting to crack on the top bar of the wheel. It isn't a huge problem, but when I slide my hands past it I'm catching little sharp-ish edges instead of the smooth coated wood, and it has become a bit annoying.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how best to R&R this thing? I like the wood and hate to cover it up with a steering wheel cover. Could it be sanded down a bit and hit with some new clear finish? Anyone have suggestions on products to use, or has anyone done something like this to their wheel?

 

Do some searches, I know for a fact someone posted about redoing their panels in the past couple years. They posted pics and it came out rather well, so there's no reason I see, you shouldn't be able to do the steering wheel.

 

Contact this guy he does awesome work & I'm sure he could create a custom listing to handle your wheel.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jaguar-Xj8-...r/123395743601

 

The wheels are rather easy -- proper liquid prep and light sanding. Spray varnish w/ UV protection. Recently did my triumph -- wheels don't show the imperfections like the flat panels do. You can always send it out ..... or even buy a used one. One of the guys in our group had a nice black one for $100 bucks last year.

It's important to not overly sand -- you just want to prep and redcoat the clear. Typically the top of the wheel gets hit with the sun and fingernails -- little rough. A couple coats in that area and then coat the rest -- you can't see that top area when it's on the car anyway. Using a good liquid prep is important to remove any wax and built up junk from years of hand location etc.