Spiral (Bicycle Handlebar) Wrapping a Steering Wheel

[Rasardehn]

Hello everyone! Thanks for the add!

I'm looking at taking some 2oz brown cowhide from my old loveseat, cutting 5/8" or 3/4" thick straps out of it, to rewrap the steering wheel on my 2008 mercury mariner, the old leather is getting kinda worn and slippery. Then I'm having my wife put a line of stitching on the back edge of the strap to fold the trailing edge back underneath to create a ridge, to help increase the "bite" to help hold the tension I'm going to be putting on the strap as I wrap it. There'll also be a section at the top of the wheel in the center that'll be red, similar to how a lot of racing steering wheels have a black, red, yellow, or other contrasting color to indicate top dead center, that the steering wheel is back on center.

 

I'm going to be wrapping the steering wheel similar to the way handlebar tape is wrapped on road/race bicycles, something I've done a good bit of times with cork/synthetic tape, so I'm familiar with the methodology/the amount of tension needed to keep it tight. Will wetting the leather before starting the wrap really help with this? I'm kinda questioning it, seeing as how it's a relatively thin leather.

For the spokes on the steering wheel, I'll be placing sections of leather on the spokes, then wrapping around in a "butterfly" or "infinity loop" pattern.

 

Other questions:

 

Has anyone done anything similar and have some advice?

Will using cement on the beginning/end of the wrap be sufficient to hold it in place, assuming I place enough tension on the leather as I'm wrapping?

Would other members be interested in a "How To" write-up with photos after I'm finished?

 

Thanks in advance guys, look forward to hearing from you all!