With my sucess last year in recovering an RS 380mm steering wheel, I decided to tackle a ST/RSR style thickgrip wheel. I will also be incorporating my replica factory hub spacer to make for a more comfortable driving position.

Often incorrectly referred to as a "double-wrapped" wheel, the thick grip wheel was based on the base hard plastic 380mm wheel (as opposed to the RS wheel which had a hard foam rubber core) with a layer of felt and thin cotton padding below the leather - not two layers of leather. Thanks to Jeff Smith for showing me his original RSR wheel dissected. (pics below)



So, I found a $15.00 1971 or earlier hard plastic wheel at a swap meet for the project. First step was to drill out the rivits which attached the hub followed by refinishing the spokes and then taping them off for protection.




The next step was to clean the rim and cover it with felt purchased from my local fabric store. I ended up using two layers of felt to match the thickness of the originals. 3M Spray adhesive was used to apply the felt


Notice that the felt does not cover the spoked areas of the rim.


And here is the wheel wrapped in felt.



Next step - making the cover.