Steering Wheel Replacement

[RustRocket]

Hi, I have an 82 Cutlass Calais, and I was wondering how hard is it to swap steering wheels? I've got a decent Grant wheel lying around, thought I might put it on and retro-fit the Oldsmobile horn button/center cap to it. On a side note, eventually I would like to swap in the four-note horn from a 94-96 B-Body, is this do-able? Any input is great, Thanks

 

[deanlemans81]

I can`t answer for a Grant wheel but when I changed the original wheel on my Lemans with one from a 88 TransAm, I just unbolted one and bolted the other. You`ll have to remove the original and compare to be sure.

 

[buzz77]

Actually I'm curious to know what to expect with the horn wiring. I have that bulky standard steering wheel, each spoke can honk the horn. If I go with the sport steering wheel with metal spokes where the horn is in the center cap, would I just cut the extra wires off?
I know everything else is basically the same procedure.

 

[DEVILSorchard]

Ive used grant kits many times before. There kits give you everything you need and are extremely easy to set up following the directions.

Getting the old steering wheel out can be a PITA. what Ive done for a steering wheel stuck to the splines is use a torch and heat up the steering wheel around the post. A small oxy acet torch works even better to apply heat quick without getting too much heat transferred through the steering post itself but the old propane torch works as well. A large cutting torch would be just a plain old bad idea.

The basic grant kits are some weak cast non ferrous material and the bolts that hold the steering wheel on will strip very easily if torqued down too tightly. Ive always used a bit of locktite and moderately snugged these down without issue. This weak casting has always somewhat worried me a bit but Ive never heard of one failing after install. The billet or premium kits they sell are very nice but I doubt they make them for a g body.

Installing a steering wheel incorrectly can kill you if it fails. getting a ridiculous 6" wheel with a big car mixed with known factory bump steer issues is asking for trouble. I'm doing this job tomorrow on the cutlass I can take a few snaps if anyone is interested.

 

[buzz77]

I'd be interested. Want to see how the horn wiring is set up

 

[DEVILSorchard]

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=53560#.VDDXLhZ8rRU

I just realized that you rustrocket that started this thread. We must have very similar ideas for our cars, every thread that catches my eye is usually started by you.

I put a simple walk through in the how to section of a steering wheel install on our cars.

 

[DmcL]

Just looked at that write up. For now I'm keeping the stock Monte ss wheel but it's not centred right so I want to take it off and re align it. Does the horn button just pull off the Monte Carlo ss wheel as well? Don't want to break anything lol