Rewrap 380mm wheel pics

[Zithlord]

Some time ago I bought a leather skin for my 380mm wheel, and last night I thought that it would be perfect to do in front of the fire place. The wheel is the fake rubber leather type. The good thing about this is that when you wrap a new skin on top of this you get a thicker grip (same as RS wheel?) I soon found out that a glass of wine and the fireplace did not work out. You need very good light and table, masking tape, pliers, scissors etc. I also found out that you must tighten the tread more that you first think. The tread that came with mine was not enough because I wanted the original XXXXX pattern and to get that right it requires much more thread. The leather came from Agla. Below are the pics.

[motortownmatt]

Looks very good! I'm looking forward to tackling this task soon on my new acquisition. Overall how difficult was this project? It seems like the details where the spokes meet the outer rim could be a little troublesome.

[Zithlord]

It is much easier than you think Matt. But it takes time, at least 4 hours. The only spoke I found a bit trick was the seem up against the final spoke. But you just twist, pull and adjust the already covered part and everything will fit perfectly. The important thing is to keep the stitches tight and in lack of any better ideas I used electrical tape(se picture) Remember to use two treads and needles. That is the only way I figured out to get the XXXXX stitching. I made a pic of the stitches I used.

[Milou]

I used ivory thread instead of black which makes the "X" pattern visible and gives it a racing vintage look.

[Paul Schooley]

Likes like great stuff to me. I'd sure like to do one just like that on my 71. Just made a note to self for things to, uh, accumulate during the upcoming stay in Cal.

Post a pic of yours then Milou.

[RSwannabe]

Where did you get the leather skin?

[37yrold911]

what does the tape do?

[Gearbox]

Looks like the Alan Gunn Leather kit. I bought one a while ago but ended up saving the original. The tape is to keep the stitchings tight as you sew up the rim before tieing off the string. I found using 2 needles and cris crossing the stitches was much easier, the Gunn kit only comes with one. Simple job, but it takes time, especially if it's your first time.

[Zithlord]

Gearbox, yes its the Alan Gun kit, and the tape keeps the stitches tight. I also used two needles and two treads and criss crossed as shown in the drawing.

John