Changing cf wheel into all leather

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Bill in Bama
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The one regret I have about my build is getting the carbon fiber steering wheel rather than full leather. I'm considering sending it to one of the shops that recovers wheels, and would like recommendations. Ideally I'd like to just swap it for a full leather one if the shop has cores they can outfit to my liking. My wheel is partial Espresso leather, and either that color or black would be acceptable to me. Mine is the multi function wheel without paddles as I have the 6 speed manual. I realize this is a long shot and I'll probably have to send my wheel in for recovering, and some of the shops I've considered have some poor reviews, thus my original question. Quality work is my first requirement but quick turnaround is also important.
'21 718 GTS 4.0, AGM/Espresso/ Cognac
'17 Cayenne base, White/Luxor/Black
'16 Cayman GTS, great car, sold for the 4.0
'13 Cayenne base, DBM/Luxor beige
'06 Cayman S, first mid-engine car
'86 944 Turbo, fast! Stone grey
'84 944, my first Porsche DBM

#1

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Tom
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Bill in Bama wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 3:11 pm The one regret I have about my build is getting the carbon fiber steering wheel rather than full leather. I'm considering sending it to one of the shops that recovers wheels, and would like recommendations. Ideally I'd like to just swap it for a full leather one if the shop has cores they can outfit to my liking. My wheel is partial Espresso leather, and either that color or black would be acceptable to me. Mine is the multi function wheel without paddles as I have the 6 speed manual. I realize this is a long shot and I'll probably have to send my wheel in for recovering, and some of the shops I've considered have some poor reviews, thus my original question. Quality work is my first requirement but quick turnaround is also important.
Not honestly sure if he does steering wheels, but @Crazy Eddie does amazing work with virtaully (and/or literally) the same materials the factory uses. Not sure about turn-around time though. What year and model car is it for? I imagine a CF wheel would fetch a fair amount on eBay or the like. Maybe just buy a new one the way you want it, then sell yours, to avoid the downtime?

I had a steering wheel on another car that was redone by www.dallassteeringwheel.com and it looked really nice, although I'm not sure how closely they replicate factory originality if that's important to you.

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Crazy Eddie
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Tom wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 3:28 pm
Bill in Bama wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 3:11 pm The one regret I have about my build is getting the carbon fiber steering wheel rather than full leather. I'm considering sending it to one of the shops that recovers wheels, and would like recommendations. Ideally I'd like to just swap it for a full leather one if the shop has cores they can outfit to my liking. My wheel is partial Espresso leather, and either that color or black would be acceptable to me. Mine is the multi function wheel without paddles as I have the 6 speed manual. I realize this is a long shot and I'll probably have to send my wheel in for recovering, and some of the shops I've considered have some poor reviews, thus my original question. Quality work is my first requirement but quick turnaround is also important.
Not honestly sure if he does steering wheels, but @Crazy Eddie does amazing work with virtaully (and/or literally) the same materials the factory uses. Not sure about turn-around time though. What year and model car is it for? I imagine a CF wheel would fetch a fair amount on eBay or the like. Maybe just buy a new one the way you want it, then sell yours, to avoid the downtime?

I had a steering wheel on another car that was redone by www.dallassteeringwheel.com and it looked really nice, although I'm not sure how closely they replicate factory originality if that's important to you.
As Tom suggested, I would try to swap your steering wheel with someone else as you have a highly desirable steering wheel …
Best of luck
Ed

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Bill in Bama
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Crazy Eddie wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 4:38 pm
Tom wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 3:28 pm
Bill in Bama wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 3:11 pm The one regret I have about my build is getting the carbon fiber steering wheel rather than full leather. I'm considering sending it to one of the shops that recovers wheels, and would like recommendations. Ideally I'd like to just swap it for a full leather one if the shop has cores they can outfit to my liking. My wheel is partial Espresso leather, and either that color or black would be acceptable to me. Mine is the multi function wheel without paddles as I have the 6 speed manual. I realize this is a long shot and I'll probably have to send my wheel in for recovering, and some of the shops I've considered have some poor reviews, thus my original question. Quality work is my first requirement but quick turnaround is also important.
Not honestly sure if he does steering wheels, but @Crazy Eddie does amazing work with virtaully (and/or literally) the same materials the factory uses. Not sure about turn-around time though. What year and model car is it for? I imagine a CF wheel would fetch a fair amount on eBay or the like. Maybe just buy a new one the way you want it, then sell yours, to avoid the downtime?

I had a steering wheel on another car that was redone by www.dallassteeringwheel.com and it looked really nice, although I'm not sure how closely they replicate factory originality if that's important to you.
As Tom suggested, I would try to swap your steering wheel with someone else as you have a highly desirable steering wheel …
Best of luck
Ed
Yeah, I'd thought about that, but wasn't sure how much interest I'd have in a swap. It would have to be a particular owner willing to swap a full leather for a CF one. My car is a 2021 GTS 4.0. I changed out the original wheel on my '16 CGTS, putting the newer style in it, and sold my original on ebay, so I suppose it would work again. Guess I should explore all the options.
'21 718 GTS 4.0, AGM/Espresso/ Cognac
'17 Cayenne base, White/Luxor/Black
'16 Cayman GTS, great car, sold for the 4.0
'13 Cayenne base, DBM/Luxor beige
'06 Cayman S, first mid-engine car
'86 944 Turbo, fast! Stone grey
'84 944, my first Porsche DBM

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Tom
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Bill in Bama wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 5:04 pm
Crazy Eddie wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 4:38 pm
Tom wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 3:28 pm

Not honestly sure if he does steering wheels, but @Crazy Eddie does amazing work with virtaully (and/or literally) the same materials the factory uses. Not sure about turn-around time though. What year and model car is it for? I imagine a CF wheel would fetch a fair amount on eBay or the like. Maybe just buy a new one the way you want it, then sell yours, to avoid the downtime?

I had a steering wheel on another car that was redone by www.dallassteeringwheel.com and it looked really nice, although I'm not sure how closely they replicate factory originality if that's important to you.
As Tom suggested, I would try to swap your steering wheel with someone else as you have a highly desirable steering wheel …
Best of luck
Ed
Yeah, I'd thought about that, but wasn't sure how much interest I'd have in a swap. It would have to be a particular owner willing to swap a full leather for a CF one. My car is a 2021 GTS 4.0. I changed out the original wheel on my '16 CGTS, putting the newer style in it, and sold my original on ebay, so I suppose it would work again. Guess I should explore all the options.
Can you post a picture of it here?

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Bill in Bama
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Here it is
Add Pictures/Files
PEC interior.JPG
PEC interior.JPG (5.18 MiB) Viewed 2366 times
'21 718 GTS 4.0, AGM/Espresso/ Cognac
'17 Cayenne base, White/Luxor/Black
'16 Cayman GTS, great car, sold for the 4.0
'13 Cayenne base, DBM/Luxor beige
'06 Cayman S, first mid-engine car
'86 944 Turbo, fast! Stone grey
'84 944, my first Porsche DBM

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Tom
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First, gorgeous interior. Second, I'm fairly sure that's the same as the 991.2 steering wheel, so you could no doubt get a new all-leather one from Porsche. Not sure what options you have, but Suncoast advertises them for $995...

https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/991LEAG2GT.html

You could buy the right all-leather one for your car then probably recoup a pretty good chunk of that selling the CF original on eBay....

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Bill in Bama
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Tom wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 6:42 pm First, gorgeous interior. Second, I'm fairly sure that's the same as the 991.2 steering wheel, so you could no doubt get a new all-leather one from Porsche. Not sure what options you have, but Suncoast advertises them for $995...

https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/991LEAG2GT.html

You could buy the right all-leather one for your car then probably recoup a pretty good chunk of that selling the CF original on eBay....
Yes, I could probably get close to what the leather one costs from Suncoast. I may go that route. I debated a long time before selecting the CF option, I was thinking a full brown leather one would be boring, but I really miss the feel of the leather. I had a CF wheel on my '13 Cayenne and it really didn't bother me, but for some reason it does in my GTS.
'21 718 GTS 4.0, AGM/Espresso/ Cognac
'17 Cayenne base, White/Luxor/Black
'16 Cayman GTS, great car, sold for the 4.0
'13 Cayenne base, DBM/Luxor beige
'06 Cayman S, first mid-engine car
'86 944 Turbo, fast! Stone grey
'84 944, my first Porsche DBM

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wem
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I had the all leather steering wheel in some prior Porsches and then on later Porsches I checked the box to get the cf steering wheel. The main reasons for the preference for carbon fiber were that my wife's wedding band put scratches in the all leather steering wheel and the constant rubbing from her rings damaged the stitching.

When I configured my Taycan, I decided to keep the all leather steering wheel since it was unlikely that my wife was going to drive the car. I regret it. There are some minor scratches on my leather steering wheel caused when getting in and out of the car (I am an EMT so sometimes I am in a rush to get to an ambulance call so need to get in and out of the car quickly and my uniform utility belt rubs against the steering wheel). The scratches are minor, but I know they are there and it feels like snake skin when rubbed the wrong way.

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wem wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 7:52 am I had the all leather steering wheel in some prior Porsches and then on later Porsches I checked the box to get the cf steering wheel. The main reasons for the preference for carbon fiber were that my wife's wedding band put scratches in the all leather steering wheel and the constant rubbing from her rings damaged the stitching.

When I configured my Taycan, I decided to keep the all leather steering wheel since it was unlikely that my wife was going to drive the car. I regret it. There are some minor scratches on my leather steering wheel caused when getting in and out of the car (I am an EMT so sometimes I am in a rush to get to an ambulance call so need to get in and out of the car quickly and my uniform utility belt rubs against the steering wheel). The scratches are minor, but I know they are there and it feels like snake skin when rubbed the wrong way.
Great, now I have to go look at my steering wheel to see if I've scratched it. :shifty: When I ordered my 991, the dealer mistakenly ordered the heated steering wheel option, which I thought was a ridiculous option. Then, after turning it on during a very cold morning commute, I suddently decided it was the greatest option ever invented. I imagine the CF stays cold?

#10

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