I have known for ages that it may be a long time (if ever) before I stumble across an acceptable steering wheel, so I decided to investigate how much success I might have in restoring the one I've already got. The dark stains you can see are from WD40.
This is a close-up of a typical section of the steering wheel upper side. There are several cracks on the rear side, near the hub. They are easily repaired with a special epoxy compound. The following couiple of photos concentrate on the upper side. More on the rear repair work another time.
This is how the cheesy, hopelessly rough surface looks after a few minutes of wet rubbing with 240grit. I only had enough time to do a section of about 1/4 the total outer surface.
And lastly, this is what that same section looks after a rub over with a cutting compound, applied by hand.
A second go over with a finer compound will inprove the finish greatly.
I will finish the sanding next weekend. If using a cutting compound by hand, you should go over again with a burnishing cream. I don't have any yet, but it is now on my shopping list for next Saturday. So are polishing wheels for my Sons Dremel. I will follow up all the hand 'buffing' with a machine cut, then the burnishing cream. I think this wheel will do nicely. Pity the small ridges have all but dissappeared, but they were AWOL even before I started sanding. You can just see them in the finish of the above photo.