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      08-17-2014, 05:39 PM   #1
yousefnjr
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Z4M Alcantara Wheel Wrap DIY

Noticed my original wheel is starting to get a little dry on the top side. Instead of reconditioning the leather and crossing my fingers, I've decided to re-wrap it myself. My research has taught me a few things:
-Nobody sells a pre-cut pattern for our car
-Alcantara and ultrasuede are the same thing
-The stitching pattern on the OE wheel is pretty goddamn fancy

I ordered the material last week from Field's Fabrics. About $40 shipped for more material than I'll need. I chose black for most of the wheel, and I got another sheet of red for my poser 12 o' clock stripe. The quality is good, no backing material, and it feels great the red is a bit darker than my iPhone can capture



I'll also be vinyl wrapping the trim pieces between the rim and the airbag. They're in pretty good shape on my wheel, but a refreshing couldn't hurt. I ordered some vinyl in matte black, as well as a matte dark red. Waiting until I see the colors in person to decide, but if the red isn't too bright or gaudy looking, I'm going to wrap them in that...otherwise I'll use the black.

I think I can use 3 different thread colors for the stitching (//M style) but the pattern will probably be different than OE. I'm no seamstress, but my wife has a sewing machine and I've been getting some practice.

Ideally this will fit over the existing leather on the wheel, so I can always take this off if it wears or I don't like it. The ultrasuede is only a couple mm thick, so it shouldn't feel enormous (relatively) when it's all done. The wear rating on the fabric is 200,000 rubs.

Looking to get this done next weekend if I have the time. Stay tuned!
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      08-19-2014, 06:27 AM   #2
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Goodluck with this project! You're braver than me. I'm going to look for someone to cover my steering wheel. Post pics of your progress.
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      08-19-2014, 01:26 PM   #3
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Subscribed! will have to do this sooner or later! thanks
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      08-19-2014, 04:56 PM   #4
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Subscribed... anxiously awaiting pics & write up.

Best of luck
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      08-19-2014, 07:49 PM   #5
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Definitely keeping an eye on this one, sounds tasty.

Also learned from this thread that fabric wear rating is measured in number of rubs. Hah.
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      08-19-2014, 08:23 PM   #6
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I'd worry about the wheel getting too thick. My idea was to remove the old leather, and make a template out of it, including the holes for the stitches. I don't know how to do the actual stitch though
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      08-20-2014, 11:36 AM   #7
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Nice! Always wanted to do this myself, though, not brave enough to take on the stitching alone.

Can't wait for pics!
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      08-22-2014, 07:15 PM   #8
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Vinyl came in the mail. The red is a little bit lighter than the seats, but pretty close. The bigger problem with it is that it's metallic. Still not sure if I wanna use it, might wanna wait and see. I've practiced wrapping a few small things are work this week and while corners are still a little difficult for me, I think I can manage

Color looks closer in person





Picked up sewing supplies yesterday, will attempt factory stitching. After some more research, it turns out the OE stitching isn't really that complicated. It's just machine sewn on either side of the leather, and theres a third thread in the middle that hooks the sewn thread back and forth, never actually going through the leather. Pretty sure the leather cover is glued on, with some padding or foam underneath too. I'm tempted to remove it to make my pattern, but I'm worried about losing or distorting the foam underneath when it comes off. Need a couple beers first for some courage.



Some helpful resources I found:

Guide on how to do everything with a 370z wheel


Stitching Video
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      09-02-2014, 08:25 PM   #9
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So I removed the wheel this weekend and got started. My original plan was to make a pattern of the wheel with masking tape but that was a miserable failure. I decided to go all the way and cut off the original leather. I learned that the wheel has a leather cover, with some adhesive-backed foam underneath, maybe 1/8th inch thick. The inside is a rubber core, and the thumb-rests are glued on pieces of rubber. I took some pictures along the way for anybody that might be curious:















The recesses are for the seams in the original cover


My quick and dirty attempt at the factory stitching, not as hard as it looks


I haven't been able to make the pattern from the leather cover yet (3 month old twins in the house) but it's coming. Driving with a rubber steering wheel until I get this done I'll be putting on some of that same foam and the new cover directly on top, so thickness shouldn't change.

I started wrapping a few of the steering wheel trim pieces. I tried the matte black first, and noticed that a lot of the imperfections on the surface show through. I scrubbed and cleaned the goopy black stuff off a bit and it helped some, a good sanding would be better. I actually tried using the red vinyl next, and it hides the bumps much better. I kind of like the look of it too, I think I may use it. I'm going to do the outer and bottom pieces in red, and the button surrounds in black. Might do the back pieces in black too, I put snapped them together on the table and it looks pretty good. Here's two of the pieces put up on the rubber core:


Last edited by yousefnjr; 09-03-2014 at 08:37 PM.. Reason: bigger pictures
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      09-02-2014, 08:34 PM   #10
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Looking good so far. Let's see the ultra suede next!
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      09-03-2014, 06:57 PM   #11
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Looks pretty cool, bigger pictures would be nicer for us to get a good feel for it.

I think this would be a great solution for dinged out trim pieces. The CF wrap looks guetto around corners.
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      09-03-2014, 08:40 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rkstar9 View Post
Looks pretty cool, bigger pictures would be nicer for us to get a good feel for it.

I think this would be a great solution for dinged out trim pieces. The CF wrap looks guetto around corners.
Bigger pics added to the latest post
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      09-03-2014, 11:15 PM   #13
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Excited!!!
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      09-08-2014, 10:06 PM   #14
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Was able to get the pattern made over the weekend. Sorry for the sideways pictures, my phone and this image host are acting funny



There's a thin layer of foam and lots of adhesive in there






Doesn't lay perfectly flat on its own because it's stretched, I used some weights to hold it in place while I traced in pencil


I flipped the cover over and traced it again with a red colored pencil


I split the difference between the two tracings with a sharpie and smoothed them out where I could, used a ruler for the straight edges


Looks even enough I think...


Traced pattern onto the fabric, in my eagerness I had cut it earlier and just barely have enough to fit it


Did the same process for the piece that fits the bottom. Just need to take the wheel back off and test fit/adjust the pattern, then I can cut it and machine sew the seams. After that it's just some glue and hand stitching.

I finished wrapping all the trim pieces, will get some more pictures up later. A few of the pieces are pretty tricky but I think they came out well. I could probably re-wrap a couple of them better after so much practice (sometimes 4+ attempts per piece), but I'd rather not fuck with it because time is so tight.

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      09-08-2014, 11:20 PM   #15
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You can do itttttt (Waterboy movie tone)!!
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      09-11-2014, 10:40 PM   #16
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Some pics of the trim pieces. Don't mind the black squiggle in every picture, there's something on my phone's lens Might re-do the button pieces again, I had a hell of a time trying to cover them in a single piece of vinyl. I think I can do them a bit cleaner, but the wrinkled inner portion might be hidden by the airbag, so I guess it depends how much it shows. The lines in the slot in the bottom piece are hard to see when installed, so I might keep that as-is.













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      09-11-2014, 11:18 PM   #17
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That looks pretty good. Can't wait to see it put together.
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      09-12-2014, 10:04 AM   #18
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That looks awesome
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      09-14-2014, 08:58 PM   #19
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Finally had some time to finish this up earlier today. Not bad for a first attempt, but there are a few mistakes I made that I'm going to correct when I try to re-do this again in a couple weeks. I adjusted my pattern at the last minute and should've trusted my initial measurements I made the width too small in a few areas so there is a small gap, and squared off the sides which caused some wrinkles on the inner portion.... also didn't have the stitching fully even all the way around. Learned a lot while doing this, so hopefully the next one will look more OEM quality. For now it's good enough until October

put red stripe in the piece, 1.4mm stitch for all the connected seams on the cover


doesn't look that pink in person, I swear



stitched all the pieces for the cover together, and then did the outer seam. 4.5mm stitch mostly, very thick thread called jean stitch


neoprene foam for under the cover, 1/16th thick, super soft


foam glued onto the all pieces of the cover. I used a 3m glue spray for photographs which worked well



cover slipped on, tight fit which is good






all stitched up




can see the gap in this one, thats also why the middle stitch is so wide


trim pieces on



installed


can see the wrinkles




Love the overall look, next one will be killer up close too









Feels really good in the hand
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      09-15-2014, 02:22 AM   #20
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That looks freaking awesome, well done sir
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      09-15-2014, 04:29 AM   #21
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Umm... It doesn't look good at all IMHO, I can appreciate your attempt and your thread for sharing, too many wrinkles and the center red mark looks off centered, uneven stitching. Just looks bad on a M car.
Sorry...just giving constructive criticism. I am sure your next one around will be much better.
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      09-15-2014, 08:36 AM   #22
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Agreed that it's not pretty up close, but the important thing for me is that I know what caused the mistakes and how to make it better. This whole thing has been a learning experience. I thought about holding off posting until it was all good, but I also thought somebody might benefit from seeing the whole thing, good and bad. I know it would've helped me to see some of this stuff before hand, and there isn't a whole lot of information out there about it.

Might ditch the stripe on the next one, my wife made me feel like a nerd trying to explain it to her. "But you're not a racecar driver..." Thanks honey
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