I just bought a used wooden steering wheel out a 1967 pontiac firebird. It's a old one, maybe a OE .
The wood is old but oke. The problem are the aluminium rond "studs" or bolts that are in the wood. These studs have some aluminium oxidation on them.
I want to recondition the wood and i want clean or replace those studs .
Any tips / tricks are welcome:-)

Here are a few photo's:

 

Thats an old aftermarket wheel, I have the same on my car. You can probably still get and Olds logo horn button. You can try using a small burnishing brush to clean them up.

 

Small Dremel wire cup brush, or a red or green Scotch Brite pad, just push the corner of the pad into the hole and use a back and forth twisting/sanding motion.

 

You might try a cotton swab with just a touch of aluminum wheel cleaner (Spray type) and just twist it like you would when polishing valves. Larry

 

Thanks for the info guys. I got my dremel out and used a spinning wire brush. The brush was a bit to large so i used electrical shrinking tube to make it fit the holes in the wood. Worked very well ��



Custom wire brush






Now I only need to sand and oil the wood.

 

On mine I use Tuff Stuff and a rag to remove the oil residue from my hands and let dry. Give it a shot before sanding.

 

Good tip but I'm in Amsterdam, the Netherlands so no tuff stuff here... i have to find something similar . What is Tuff stuff doing for the wood??

 

Any foaming interior cleaner will probably work the same. Basically its removing the oil and grease that was transferred by your hands. It will get really dark and slimy as it soaks in, wipe it off really good and then let thoroughly dry.