shelbymotorsports Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 For those of us that have the three spoke 1/2 leather steering wheels here's a picture from ebay where someone removed the rest of the leather. These 1/2 leather wheels were first used in the 1988 Shelby CSX-T with the remainder of them being used in some of the Shelby Dakotas. I also have a three spoke full leather wheel from a 89 CSX and you can see the fake wood where the leather has worn thru on it. Not sure if all of the full leather wheels have the fake wood underneath but some do. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Just in case any of the 1960's Ford guys make it down to the Dodge forum I figure I will give them some info on this wheel. I know how much real wood wheels from the 60's go for and don't want them to get too excited on this wheel. First and most importantly it is not made of wood. What looks like wood is actually plastic with some sort of fake wood graining that does rub off with use. The wheels were made by a Japenese comapny called Izumi. This company was bought out in the 1990's when airbags took over the market and they were about to close up shop. Over the years some people have said these wheels use a Momo adapter. They are incorrect. They use an Izumi adapter as the Momo wheels have a different screw hole pattern. These wheels were a stock wheel Izumi sold thru its aftermarket parts division. The only difference is they replaced the Izumi signature with Carrolls signature on the right hand spoke. And a tidbit for the Shelby Dodge guys. These exact wheels in full leather trim were also used on the Fitzgerald Dodge Shelby Viper. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLa1Rob Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Did any of the Shelby cars really come new with the leather/wood combo? I have felt that people have just peeled them as the leather wears over the years. At least that is what I had done with my CSX. I peeled the worn out leather and dyed the woodgrain vinyl with a mahogany color. robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Did any of the Shelby cars really come new with the leather/wood combo? I have felt that people have just peeled them as the leather wears over the years. At least that is what I had done with my CSX. I peeled the worn out leather and dyed the woodgrain vinyl with a mahogany color. robin Robin if you are talking about the 1/2 leather wheels in this thread from Izumi yes they came on the Whittier cars. The 1/2 leather wheel was used on the 1988 Shebly CSX-T and then on a portion of the 1989 Shelby Dakotas. I purchased my Shelby Dakota new in March of 1989 and it was one of the ones with a 1/2 leather wheels. From my research and contact with Izumi back in the early 90's below is the the reason some of the Dakotas received a 1/2 leather wheel when the specs were for a full leather wheel. Whittier for some reason ordered a few hundred more wheels than they needed for the 1988 CSX production. Why I'm not sure. Perhaps there were plans for more cars than 1000 for Thrifty Rental perhaps there was going to be another 1988 Shelby CSX but for retail customers, who knows but for some reason Whittier ordered more 1/2 leather wheels then they needed for 1988 production. Fast forward to 1989 production and Whittier goes to place an order with Izumi for the 1989 full leather wheels but Izumi says hold on we still have hundreds of these 1/2 leather wheels that you ordered previously sitting here. In a nutshell Izumi didn't want to get stuck with the remaining 1/2 leather wheels so Shelby reduced the 1989 wheel order by the number of 1988 wheels Izumi was holding and thats how why some early production Shelby Dakotas got the 1/2 leather wheel. Steve PS- And yes Robin I too have seen people remove the top & bottom leather of a full leather wheel that has worn thru. I added a pic to this thread that shows a full leather wheel with worn thru leather at the top. This is when people see the fake wood and decide to remove some of the worn leather so it takes on the look of a 1/2 leather wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Here's a full leather wheel with worn out top leather showing the fake wood underneath. Steve Photo used with greasers permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLHS0136 Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 thats how why some early production Shelby Dakotas got the 1/2 leather wheel. Steve Were the production numbers out of sequence on the trucks? My 0160 has the full leather but my previous 0819 had the wood/leather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLa1Rob Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Thanks for the info. Has any one tracked which specific cars should have the 1/2 leather wheel? If I understand correctly, all '88 CSX-T's and some '89 Dakotas had them. It would be incorrect on any other model? robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Were the production numbers out of sequence on the trucks? My 0160 has the full leather but my previous 0819 had the wood/leather. Yes you can say they are out of sequence. For example S/Dakota #008 was NOT the eighth truck built, it actually was the 1495th truck built. That's right one of the last trucks to be built has a dash plaque number of 008. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Thanks for the info. Has any one tracked which specific cars should have the 1/2 leather wheel? If I understand correctly, all '88 CSX-T's and some '89 Dakotas had them. It would be incorrect on any other model? robin Robin that is correct only the 1988 CSX-T and the Shelby Dakota "officially" had them. That doesn't mean a previous owner could have changed the wheel or purchased a different wheel from the Shelby Performance catalog. As far as I know there were no records or notations made on which Dakotas received the 1/2 leather wheels. From my research it was a random thing but it seems the early build trucks got the majority of them. Just depended on which box of wheels the installer was given that day. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86glhs76 Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 intresting. I have seen about 6 88 CSX -Ts and all had 4 spoke foam wheels, including 0002 which sold in Spokane 10 years ago. I have seen them in the later Dakotas, 2 in fact. I took the foam backed wheel off my 89 CSX and put on a half wood. I've seen them done before removing the leather, couldn't figure out how they did it with one of my wheels and left such a clean edge. Big Shelby wheel question out there, who releathers them correctly? Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdac guy Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 intresting. I have seen about 6 88 CSX -Ts and all had 4 spoke foam wheels, including 0002 which sold in Spokane 10 years ago. I have seen them in the later Dakotas, 2 in fact. I took the foam backed wheel off my 89 CSX and put on a half wood. I've seen them done before removing the leather, couldn't figure out how they did it with one of my wheels and left such a clean edge. Big Shelby wheel question out there, who releathers them correctly? Rob I have seen and held a half leather wheel that Tim Costello had done at http://www.american-stitches.com/index.htm It was so nice, I didn't want to let go of it. They do a great job, will do it to your specs, and are reasonable in price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSX-VNT #414 Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 I have seen and held a half leather wheel that Tim Costello had done at http://www.american-stitches.com/index.htm It was so nice, I didn't want to let go of it. They do a great job, will do it to your specs, and are reasonable in price. Looks like that's a great company to send a wheel out to needing restored. Depending on how much of a kick in the balls they charge, that may very well be who I go through to have my steering hweel restored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phatnlow Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Hey Steve i have a question for you. My dash plaque says my S/D is number 995 but the plaque on the radiator support says the engine serial number is KN652000994. Does it matter if they don't match up? Or does it make it more unique, rarer. I thought i would ask this. A friend of mine brought it to my attention tonight. Thanks Leonard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phatnlow Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Hey Steve sorry to bother you again.. I have one more question for you. Is my steering wheel in my S/D under all of that leather wrap a fake plastic wood grain wheel or is it a real wood grain wheel? I'm a little confused. I ordered a black leather wrap measured perfect to fit just to cover the main part of the wheel for $79.00 and paid $100.00 to a local shop to stich it on. It actually looks real good they also built up the low part in the top wheel that was missing was only about 1 inch of a bad spot. Your opinon would you leave it like this? Then later on send it to your friends at Craft Customs in Texas and have it done better. Or later on would you strip it down to expose the real wheel underneath? Either way which would help it be more valueable? Thanks Steve Leonard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted April 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Hey Steve i have a question for you. My dash plaque says my S/D is number 995 but the plaque on the radiator support says the engine serial number is KN652000994. Does it matter if they don't match up? Or does it make it more unique, rarer. I thought i would ask this. A friend of mine brought it to my attention tonight. Thanks Leonard Your plaques are correct for your truck. The numbers are not supposed to match each other. The math equation used by Shelby is to take the model year and subtract the dash plaque number which then equals your engine plaque number. So for your truck you would take the model year of 1989 and subtract your dash plaque number of 995 which leaves you with the number 994 as your engine plaque number. Another example that may be easier to follow is Carroll's Dakota whicis truck #0001. Again you take the model year of 1989 and subtract the dash plaque number, in this case 1, which then makes the engine plaque number 1988 for Carroll's truck. Hope that helps. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted April 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Hey Steve sorry to bother you again.. I have one more question for you. Is my steering wheel in my S/D under all of that leather wrap a fake plastic wood grain wheel or is it a real wood grain wheel? I'm a little confused. I ordered a black leather wrap measured perfect to fit just to cover the main part of the wheel for $79.00 and paid $100.00 to a local shop to stich it on. It actually looks real good they also built up the low part in the top wheel that was missing was only about 1 inch of a bad spot. Your opinon would you leave it like this? Then later on send it to your friends at Craft Customs in Texas and have it done better. Or later on would you strip it down to expose the real wheel underneath? Either way which would help it be more valueable? Thanks Steve Leonard Leonard, The wheels use simulated wood made out of plastic. Since you've already paid to have the wheel fully rewrapped I would just leave it that way. I'm not a big fan of the half leather wheels as the top & bottom edges of the leather catch your hands when making turns and then show signs of wear from this. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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