[Marin_Oil_Burner]

After viewing all of the posts on re-wrapping, I gave the Mewant cover a try. I agree with all that have said that the quality is great. I would say that it is very possible to get a nice result, but you have to have a ton of patience, otherwise it will look like grandma's nylons - wrinkly and unsightly.

Here are some of my tips that I learned along the way.

1. A number of folks said that they didn't use the two sided tape. I was the opposite, I used a lot of tape. First you need to figure out which way is front and which way is back, but once you do and you get it positioned correctly, I used the tape to anchor one end of the wrap onto the old steering wheel. I then placed another piece of tape to line up with the other half of the wrap and pulled it around the wheel, so the two sides came together where you stitch. The tape holds both halves together without the threading. When you do it this way, the thread is sort of aesthetic, and holds the ends in place, but really doesn't have a lot of stress on the threading....at least that's what I did and it worked out well.

The tape was super important on the bottom spoke, where there in an indent where the leather is supposed to go. To make it contour correctly, this area has to have tape...use plenty, its thin and doesn't show through the leather. Also around the bumps at 10 and 2 o'clock.

2. Peeling the back on the tape is very fiddly. My dad used to be a draftsman way back in the day and I recalled him using an exacto knife to place thin stencils precisely....I used the knife edge to peel back the tape backing and it worked really well. Less fiddly.

3. When sewing, you want it tight, but not overly tight where you get bunching (again, not like grandma's nylons). If you have a pick, you can carefully pull taunt the thread on each successive stitch....kinda like tightening up shoe laces.

4. When sewing, you can loop through a single loop multiple times on curves, like on the back of the bottom spoke. That makes the stitching line up better.

5. Use plenty of thread...they give you a lot. For the top part I measured out about 10 feet. For the shorter runs (between the bottom spoke and the horizontal spokes...I think I had about 6 feet. Take your time and be sure not to tangle the thread...you'll end up with a bird's nest, and you'll be swearing...or you'll end up with a knot, which makes pulling the thread through the loops more fiddly.

6. Plan on taking your time. I took my steering wheel off, and it still took me about 4-5 hours to figure it out and execute. I did this over two nights. I cannot imagine doing this on the car, that would have been frustrating.

7. Have beer or other depressants handy, and take breaks. As I said, its not an easy project but you can get great results IF you take your time.

8. The wrap was pretty nice, but some of the ends didn't quite match up (uneven), almost like it wasn't meant for my steering wheel. I trimmed the leather, but I left the stitching so it wouldn't unravel. I have a small "tail piece" of leather behind my paddles. Also at the bottom on the back side of the steering wheel, i know it looks untidy, but you can't see it. I still need to put some additional tape on the ends of that area, I can feel it a bit where i can peel it back (since there is no tape). Once I get that down it will be fine - completely unnoticeable to the untrained eye.

As I've decided to keep this car for a while and didn't want to buy a new wheel, or have it professionally wrapped, this was a perfect solution. Very happy with it but perhaps its in the category of only doing that job once...