Mythical SS

*********UPDATE***********


My wheelskin finally came in so I wanted to go ahead and put my shift knob together and add my old painted cap to my new leather shift knob.




Taking apart the new shift knob wasn't as scary as I thought. I had to remove the set screw completely and slide a medium sized flat head screwdriver in between the plate and the knob at the base above the set screw....and off it pops cleanly with no scratches.






And here it is mated with the painted old cap.
















And installed....











The good news is that I believe it has the desired effect I was looking for. It simply looks like I walked into a GM dealership and ordered a 34U leather automatic shift knob for the '06 SS 2.4l. Well, that's what I WANT it to look like. lol



Anyway, after the knob install I set to work my utterly pathetic chewed up/jacked up steering wheel....



My original steering wheel.... put it this way,... the junkyard donor car steering wheel looked 100% better than this...

*********THIS is the UGLY TRUTH that Autozone steering wheel cover was hiding**************









Wheelskin to the rescue!














Got it started and approx 5 min after taking this nice sunny late afternoon pic.....it was dark and storming. Typical Florida daily/weekly thunderstorms this time of year. *sigh*





And has been raining ever since.


Ah well, as soon as I get some good weather to go along with some decent light I'll finish it and take some final pics.

ps. Anyone know what I can do about the steering wheel center cap? Can it be changed, because it can't really take much more cleaning or me pounding the horn because of these non-driving people we have down here in nice sunny south Florida, its starting to strip.

Snail_SS

iTrader: (3)

You can change it pretty easy to be honest I changed mine not to long ago. although I have the newer steering wheel but I'm sure the process is the same.

You will have to remove the air bag tho fyi

Mythical SS

Always something...well, if I really want to do it I guess I should research the best way. Instead of buying a new one, maybe I could refurb the old one....eh I don't know..





*sighs* I know I know...…the semi-perfectionist in me is screaming a bit, but lemme explain.


The very first thing I thought of was to wrap the steering wheel in some sort of thin rubber/foam and securing it before installing the wheelskin. If anything to make it an even surface for the new leather. I didn't want to strip the old stuff off either way because I appreciate the slight increase in thickness on a steering wheel. The grip is nicer for me.

Plus wheelskins are designed to fit over the existing wheel cover for your particular model, I didn't know how much 'thinning' it out would affect how the leather lays and bunches in the seams and bumps. The good news is that I can cut it off and redo it if I see some thing I can't live with. Hope that's not the case though, this is tedious work. lol

Snail_SS

iTrader: (3)

Yup really easy ^ I was kinda scared to attempt it at first like he mentioned the whole process took about 20 minutes

Mythical SS

**************************** UPDATE****************************




So, it finally quit raining enough to complete the Wheelskin install. This is how it turned out...…..




****INTERIOR about a week before. The interior certainly looked better than what it used to when I started this refurb a couple months ago (overall).

BEFORE















And this is how it looks after the new cover and painted shift knob. The black and yellow color scheme on cars have always been considered sporty, bringing it to the inside does the same to the interior I think.











The more I look at these pics the more I need to replace the center cap.... *sigh* more $$$










Even with my old dSLR camera its hard to get decent light enough to properly show the correct contrast without washing out the colors against the now mostly black interior.







The sun made it hard to get a decent passenger side shot. Need to learn how to use this camera better I guess...







All in all I like how it turned out. I believe that the wheel and knob color additions certainly gives the interior a much more sporty look but does it in a way that seems a lot more natural. I've seen a lot of cars come stock with two-tone leather steering wheels and paint coded shift knobs.

The yellow of the wheelskin and the gm34u rally yellow are close enough in hue to not clash I believe. But now, I got my eye on some nice black/yellow cobalt SS floor mats.....more $$$ it looks like


My biggest takeaway from the wheelskin install is to TAKE YOUR TIME. Wheelskins video says "APPROX 60 MIN". Unless you've sewn leather before or some sort of Rockstar tailor/seamstress, that 60 min approximation. is not just a lie...its a DAMN LIE.

IF you think you can sew and pull this leather 'tight n right' while keeping the holes consistent in "approx. an hour" …...you're going to f*** this up. Straight up. That's all I'll say for now but I have a couple issues with the wheelskin. The string for one is a kind of wax string that's supposed to make it easier to pull....and it does.... but make sure you do it in an environment less than 80 degrees. If you do not the wax gets very sticky and tacky....not good to work with.

Anyway, I'll be making a more detailed post about the wheelskin install after a bit for anyone looking to maybe get one for themselves. I will say that the fit and finish of the wheelskin is very good and the feel of it in your hands is awesome.




Well, thoughts and opinions? Might as well rename this thread to "Mythical's Ongoing Interior Refurb" lol

ProfDNS

Looks good! Although I do see some seems that are not pulled down as tight as they should be, but as you said, you're not a seamstress
This was the best video I found that really dug into what you accomplished - although he removed the existing leather and replaced it:

As for the center logo, you could mask off the steering wheel itself and paint it, although Snail_SS actually replaced his with a custom one.

Mythical SS

Thanks gentlemen, its something I'll seriously consider. Seeing it now is starting to bug me a bit more each day.











Dude...……first, thanks…………second…... I pulled that sh*t tighterr than a virgin holding her thighs together at a prison rodeo. I pulled that string so hard …….each freakin stich...… it sounded like damn piano wire. I pulled that string so hard, that I was wearing my weightlifting gloves (recommended on installation) and STILL felt the indentions across my hand well after I took them off.


There's no one other than the Hulk himself that could've pulled that sh*t tighter...….man...…..looked like I'd ran a darn marathon after I was finally done.

lol don't mean to go on but, that's just how I feel about it. That stitching is pulled mad tight is all I can say. Like I said I'll be doing a follow up post on the wheel install with some super up close pics. Then you'll see what the issue is....

ProfDNS

Thinking about it further - it could also be because you have 2 layers of relatively thick leather on the steering wheel now, and those undersides by the controls are more accentuated.