Last Tuesday's (1/13/09) 15% discount at the FS prompted me to get the replacement steering wheel from them. This is the dark saddle color. Seems to be good quality and it looks very good. It is about 14" across compaired to the original steering wheels 14 1/2".



This is the old leather steering wheel.


Pull the horn button off, remove the horn button pin. I rented a steering wheel puller from Advance Auto for 24.00, when the job was done I returned it and got the 24.00 back. Free is a good rental price.


Drill out the 4 rivets hold the plastic horn button collar on.




Remove the 6 torx screws holding the steering wheel to the bearing assembly and collar.


Reassemble in reverse.



I had to run over to Harbor Freight for the longer rivets. Needed 1/4" x 5/8" rivets.


Put the steering wheel back in place on the column. Put the horn button pin back in place.
Pop the horn button back on.


Finished product. The camera makes it look a little tanner than it really is.

Larry

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Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.

Better to put some good protector on the steering they get dirty very fast and are hard to clean .
.
Had to redye it .
Only complaint i have about it and i have it for 3 years .

[This message has been edited by Robert 2 (edited 01-26-2009).]

Thanks Robert, I'll do that. Now I will attempt to recover the old steering wheel like we discussed before. I have a nice piece of brown suede that may work nicely.

Looks great! Im going to have to replace mine. Is it real leather or vinyl?

Bob

quote Originally posted by Robert Barth Jr: Looks great! Im going to have to replace mine. Is it real leather or vinyl? Bob

The FS say it is covered with leather. It does look good for the money. It's an easy job with the steering wheel puller. It took longer to
post the thread than do the job.
Larry

Thanks! Thats just what my interior needs instead of that funky lace up cover that I have on mine.

Bob

I installed the black version of that wheel last year, and I also like it a lot. I changed mine without the use of a Steering Wheel Puller though and it was still quite easy (didn't put the rivets back in because there weren't any around at the time). You did a nice job showing the basics of each step with pictures, I'm sure someone will find this useful if they've never done it before.

quote Originally posted by KaijuSenso: I installed the black version of that wheel last year, and I also like it a lot. I changed mine without the use of a Steering Wheel Puller though and it was still quite easy (didn't put the rivets back in because there weren't any around at the time). You did a nice job showing the basics of each step with pictures, I'm sure someone will find this useful if they've never done it before.

Thanks Kaiju, I tried to get the steering wheel off without the puller but didn't have any luck so before I broke anything I took the trip to get the puller.
Larry

quote Originally posted by Larryh86GT: Thanks Kaiju, I tried to get the steering wheel off without the puller but didn't have any luck so before I broke anything I took the trip to get the puller. Larry

You saved your face and your teeth this way

damn that old steering wheel has seen its better days

In all honesty, i really don't like that Steering wheel. I think the color is too light, but more importantly, it may be the pictures but the new wheel looks both thicker and smaller, and I don't like it.
No offense intended. It is cheaper then recovering an old one though, that is for sure.

[This message has been edited by mattwa (edited 02-03-2009).]

quote Originally posted by mattwa: In all honesty, i really don't like that Steering wheel. I think the color is too light, but more importantly, it may be the pictures but the new wheel looks both thicker and smaller, and I don't like it. No offense intended. It is cheaper then recovering an old one though, that is for sure.

No offense taken, won't argue with ya. It is a whole 1/2" smaller and the grip is thicker. It looks one heck of a lot better than the ugly mushy original.
The flash on my camera washes out the color so it looks way tanner than it really is. Here's a photo taken withouth the flash. It's blurry but the color is truer.
Some folks will like this steering wheel, some won't. Just posting info to help those who don't have $250 to get the "rare" steering wheel that are offered up on
ebay on occasion. And the slip on covers look cheap and cheesy to me. Just my opinion.
Larry

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Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.

This weekend is the first time I had the GT out for a ride since putting the new steering wheel on it. I was totally pleased with it. The wider grip feels better and the smaller diameter wheel is easier to steer with. And it looks great.

Larry