Frequently Asked Questions
How long will my steering wheel restoration take?
Typically, a restoration takes about three weeks, though it’s often completed sooner. For repop enhancement services, you can expect a turnaround of 10-12 days. For more intricate builds or custom requests, we will provide you with a specific delivery date.
Can I provide my own paint or paint codes?
Yes, absolutely. If you have a hard to match custom color, or just want to ensure your wheel is done from the same batch you had mixed for the rest of your interior, we will gladly apply it.
Can I send you my reproduction wheel?
Yes, absolutely. Many reproduction wheels have casting or molding flaws—seams, flash, surface imperfections—that we can correct and refine. We also work closely with you to get the color and finish just right, whether you’re matching an interior or aiming for a more authentic look. The result is a cleaner, sharper, more accurate version of your repop wheel.
Do you farm out any work?
No, all of our steering wheel restoration work is done in-house. We take pride in managing every aspect of the process ourselves, ensuring that every wheel meets our highest standards for repair, restoration, color, and finish.
What can I expect from the final result?
We specialize in concours-quality restorations, with repairs that are undetectable. Finger grips, raised accents, grooves, paint color, and finish—everything is carefully restored to match factory-new standards.
Related: Are there exceptions?
Only by customer request. For instance, one customer sent in a wheel that was quite worn, intended for use as a "driver" at cruise nights. To help keep costs down, he opted to eliminate the work factory grooves on the front of the wheel rather than have us restore them. We were happy to accommodate this custom request, and the result was unique, functional, and perfectly suited to his car.
I'm building a custom--can you help?
Absolutely. One of our specialties is downsizing steering wheels to suit custom builds. Many car owners want that vintage look but prefer to avoid generic aftermarket options. In addition, we've worked with numerous customers who’ve retrofitted their cars with power steering, making a smaller wheel both practical and comfortable.
We’ve even done with hub swaps for customers mating vintage interiors with more modern running gear.
Do you restore vinyl, leather, or other soft wheels?
Sorry, not at this time. Our focus is on Bakelite, hard solid-color plastic, and wooden steering wheels.
Depending on condition though, we often CAN help with hard wheels that have soft plastic horn bars, center caps, etc.
Is Steering Wheel Bob's work guaranteed?
We guarantee the surface finish for one year. It's important to know that as your wheel continues to age the original resins and compounds also continue to change from the inside out. Our process includes deeply reinforced repairs that replace damaged and compromised portions of your wheel and we use highly resilient materials that greatly mitigate the aging process, but nobody can fully stop the march of time. (Few manufacturers anticipated that these steering wheels would still be in use 50, 80, or even 100 years later.)
You can help preserve your wheel--whether original or restored--by avoiding extreme heat or cold, extended periods of direct sunlight, or undue physical stress (critically, don't lift yourself out of your car by using the wheel, and never, ever push an open vintage car--like a Morgan or MG--around the shop by the steering wheel--eventually you WILL break something).
What is Bob's background?:
With over 50 years as a builder, carpenter, and passionate car hobbyist, hand-craftsmanship is in Bob Monetti's blood. He grew up around his father's car lot, and Bob's first job as a teenager was in a body shop--where he learned bodywork and painting from old-school artisans. He painted his first car at 17, and has been hands-on in the car hobby ever since. Bob completed his first ground-up, frame-off restoration over 50 years ago--a 1930 Franklin that won a CCCA First on it's inaugural outing and continued to rack up a series of Firsts and 'Best in Shows' over the next decade.
You can learn more here.