Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Cord wrapped steering wheel

So I tried restoring my slightly bent, and seriously split, original Walsall steering wheel a few weeks ago after getting the car. It was an improvement - but I still wasn't thrilled with the results. Had to use some filler and the poly was wavy. In addition, the wheel had been sanded a few times in the past, and felt as thin as a pencil in my hands.

So, I decided to try wrapping the wheel - ala TOK 258 that won LeMans. Below is the actual interior of TOK 258. I doubt the wrap is original - but this is where I got the idea from:



Most period racers used cotton cord or hemp twine to wrap their wheels...I found a product called "Danish Cord" that is used in weaving furniture seats. It's actually made out of paper in Denmark, and has a nicer finished look in my opinion. It comes "laced" and "unlaced", and in "natural" color as well as black. Pictured below are my results using "Natural, unlaced" Danish Cord.

The process is easy, the ends are finished by tucking/pulling the ends under the wraps on the back of the wheel. PM me if you need details.

I'm still not sure if I love the results - may try the black product, or possibly using 4 equidistant wraps instead on the longer top wrap...but it's still an improvement on the ratty wood of the old wheel.



In the future I *may* commission a copy of the TOK 258 wheel from Mike Lempert...but he's gotten pretty pricey (which I think is understandable considering the quality of the work he does).

Cheers,

GC

Well done. It looks great

TOK258 didn't win Le Mans though.....

Arwyn

When I stripped the wrecked leather off my mid '70s wheel I looked at cord binding it ... only stuff I had to try with was black paracord ... too slippy and couldn't get a decent wrap .... by the time I got round to thinking of an alternative I'd got to really like the plain black rubber rim ... if I decide to have another bash at it I'll definitely get in touch for tips as your wheel.looks really good.

K

Yeah - I considered paracord for about 30 seconds...when it comes to wrapping steering wheels - 90% of the posts are about paracord...looks stupid on thick modern wheels IMHO...

It won the 2L class - that's still a win in my book....

Nicely done, but why not from spoke to spoke as in TOK?!🤔

Not bad, but the cord seems a bit too thick to me. I would also have wound from spoke to spoke.

I wanted a bit more wood showing - which was why I didn't go spoke to spoke...

Agree that the cord looks a bit thick (it's 3mm)...but it feels really good in the hands. Had a devil of a time finding a material that looks period but also with a degree of finish...waxed cotton string of some sort might work (1.5-2mm), if I can find some in black I might try that next.

Looks good but have you actually driven with the wrapped wheel? Your hands when driving may be at the 11 to 1 o'clock or 7 to 5 o'clock position but for me they would be at the 9-10 and 2-3 o'clock position which would mean straggling the wood and wrap which might prove a touch uncomfortable.