The Nardi wood steering wheels I see all seem to be shiny. Mine isn’t, but maybe that’s the way it should be. Would some kind of cleaning/polishing be good for it, or should I leave it alone?
Factory fitted Nardis are supposed to be like that. I would leave it. Nardi spoke metal is very soft. The finish is an anodized so you can’t just strip the finish chemically. You have to polish it away, which means you will likely take some metal with it. The Nardi signature will look less crisp because you will take the edge off. I suppose if you had blasting media, you could blast it away.
I polished the spokes on my Nardi. Wish I never did it now.
Am I missing something, or is the OP more referring to the wooden rim?
There’s years of ingrained dirt, human oily palm sweat, and general grime in there.
Or, if you wish “patina”
If so, mine (in the loft) is mint, original, and very shiny…though plenty grippy.
Seems they go for £150.00 plus these days…if mint with all the bits.
They are also sought by a few other classic folks…Alfa etc.
Yes, they can be refurbed (wood rim) with a lot of care & using specialist lacquers.
Who in their right mind will pay £150 for a 30 year old Nardi, when a brand new Nardi can be brought for £190 from the UK supplier? People need reminding that these things are still made, before they get gouged for something with chipped and peeling varnish.
I paid £50 for my wood rim V-Spec Classico, about what they are worth. They fitted thousands of them to Roadster in Japan. Not rare. The leather Classico cost £40.
Yes, I agree. I guess there is one born every minute.
I’ve seen them advertised as such, but I have no idea what the results were.
Anyway…
Yes, it’s the wooden rim I’m interested in, the spokes are fine.
I’d found the video you posted and that’s a lot more work than I’d want to put into it.
An easier suggestion I saw was to use Windex (US Windolene) followed by Pledge. Sounds dubious to me, but it appeared to be serious.
This turned out nice, but …
http://www.collectivesparks.com/2017/10/refinishing-a-nardi-torino-steering-wheel-for-na-miata/
I think someone has previously had a go at trying to refinish yours. The usual issue is not that they become grimey, but that the varnish cracks and splinters off. I think there are some marine varnishes that can give the correct hue.
On my S-Limited; this wheel came off a R-Limited. Notice the inlay,
Never had to clean it.
There’s no sign of varnish on mine, no inlay either (though the last link I posted shows it’s a painted line). I did see a picture of one that had been refinished with “Danish … oil”. Can’t remember what sort of oil they said, but it looked like something similar has been done to mine.
I think the chances of me getting mine back to the look of yours is vanishingly small. Very nice, btw, the wheel and the car.
If I could find one for £50, I’d consider changing it, but all the wood ones I’ve seen are more like £250.