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STEERING WHEEL SWAP


6ball

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  • 6 months later...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 6ball</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does anyone know if you can put an aftermarket steering wheel on an 89 Reatta? I have a Grant banjo style with a walnut grip that would look great in my car ( it it fits ) </div></div>Here are photos of DAVES89's steering wheel.

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Guest Kitskaboodle

I have done this very swap.

I think the 90/91 wheel is unsightly. frown.gif

So...I put one from an 88 on my 90.

No problems whatsover. smile.gif

Kit

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I got the wheel off a 88 customized Suburban. I went on the internet and bought a large pin. Nic knows which one I got. It was not the hatpin that is offered on ebay as that one is too small. It was a direct fit. My next choice on a wheel would be one out of a Lumina.

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  • 5 years later...
Guest PontiacDude210

Sorry for the zombie thread here, I wanted to be clear on something though. The resistor you used was a 3.3ohm and it is across the 2 wires in the yellow housing that trigger the airbag? Is there any risk of fire from doing this? I assume the airbag circuit is not constantly hot.

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Guest PontiacDude210

I'm not seeing much as far as 3.3ohm resistors, seeing tons of 3.3Kohm resistors. Should I be worried about the volt/watt rating on the resistor?

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Try 3300 ohms. Shouldn't have a problem with a typical 1/2 watt. Kits or Padgett, any suggestion on the wattage? Even if you used a 1/4 watt, if the resistor burned up, it'd probably only be due to a collision that would have tripped the bag.

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Guest PontiacDude210

My question was not pertaining to whether to sub in the wrong resistor or not. My question was, when Padgett says 4.1 ohm, is he referring to 4.1kohm(4100 ohms) or actually 4.1 ohms? 4.1 actual ohms is almost no resistance. Jbeary says to try a 3300 ohm, or 3.3kohm.

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Guest PontiacDude210
Try 3300 ohms. Shouldn't have a problem with a typical 1/2 watt. Kits or Padgett, any suggestion on the wattage? Even if you used a 1/4 watt, if the resistor burned up, it'd probably only be due to a collision that would have tripped the bag.

That's all I was wondering about. Having worked on electronics before, 3.3 ohms seemed low, but not knowing anything about automotive sensors, I had no idea. I was just making sure I knew what I needed for sure before driving into radio shack from the middle of absolutely nowhere. Thanks for the help.

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Guest PontiacDude210

If all them Radio Shacks had moved to the boondocks, they might be within an hour drive from me. I said I was coming from the middle of nowhere, not going to. But thank you anyway, for all your help.

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Ya jeez sorry bout the extra three zeros there. 3.3k would be real high and probably wouldn't do anything much. 3.3 - 4 ohm is about what a 4ohm speaker would measure. That's passing more current than a 3.3k. I don't think you'll have luck at rat shack finding such a high valued resistor but they aren't scarce. If anyone in town sells electronic parts try there first but you can also get these online. Parts-express has them here: https://www.parts-express.com/33-ohm-1w-flameproof-resistor-10-pcs--003-3.3. I haven't done this swap myself but I have never been steered wrong by these guys and it seems very straight forward. One question I have is; can this be done at the connector under the dash or does it need to be tucked behind the horn button? Personally I'd rather do this under the dash. Probably can find a 4 ohm load wire wound at rat shack to boot

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Guest PontiacDude210

I would be inclined to put one in under the dash, just being that I will probably be the last owner of my Reatta due to miles and am not concerned with retaining original wire clips. And behind the horn seems kinda cramped.

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Guest PontiacDude210

Done, with a black Z34 wheel. And working fine. Here's an idea though. Instead of tucking the resistor behind the lock plate, go under the dash. Pull the male end of that connector from a donor car and splice in your resistor there. That way, no cutting on the car and it is plug and play.

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Done, with a black Z34 wheel. And working fine. Here's an idea though. Instead of tucking the resistor behind the lock plate, go under the dash. Pull the male end of that connector from a donor car and splice in your resistor there. That way, no cutting on the car and it is plug and play.
Do you have photos of how to do that?
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Guest PontiacDude210

I did not photo document because I can't post pix from mobile and where I am, regular internet is not easy to come by. I can give you a quick description though. There's a coupling below the dash near the steering column with a pair of wires in yellow shrink wrap on the male end marked SiR. The yellow shrink wrapped end goes up the steering column to the airbag. I would recommend taking the male end and a few inch pigtail from a donor Reatta or Riv. Load up some shrink wrap on one side of the pigtail, solder in your resistor, shrink wrap over it to prevent exposed leads, then plug that into the car side(female) of the wire harness. Done.

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Thanks for posting your instructions. I was hoping for photos to go with them so I would be able to make a tutorial to add to Reatta Owners Journal. I have an '88 but your instructions here might help someone needing to replace an airbag wheel.

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@Pontiac Dude: I'm glad you tried it this way so I know what I'm up against when I do this. Where did you end up getting the resistor from? Did you end up using a 3.3 ohm?

Here's the original steering from the grand national. I pulled it out of the attic tonight hoping for much worse but this doesn't look as bad as the 91's. This was pulled at 60k and replaced with an oem wheel that I practically stole when ebay was in its infancy. Since the grand national has 95k and hasn't been driven in the past 7 years, the steering wheel is about the best looking part on the car. Here's a spare, yoohoo. I like Padgett's thought about avoiding something approaching 25 years old blowing up in your face. And because I already have this wheel I've decided to work on this as a replacement for the wheel for the medium beechwood one in the 91. The 89's wheel is still really nice, nicer than this grand national wheel so I'm not going to attempt that swap, that and it's just plain goofy to start with a blue color and try to go to tan anyway.

Since I bought all that Leatherique stuff, I'm hoping to strip this down and do a color change. I'll do a tutorial of that as well the connector to jump the air bag. I took my airbag out because I was freaking out over my busted horn buttons.

More to follow.

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Guest PontiacDude210

I got my resistor, a 3.3 ohm, from an electronics supplier on Amazon. Pm me your mailing address and I'll send you one, I bought a pack of ten and only used 2. Broke the first one by mistake due to clumsiness. The hardest part will either be pulling the wheel or tucking the clip on the wheel end somewhere safe. I removed mine because I don't plan on selling my old Reatta. Ever. When it dies it'll be a parts car for the next one.

I concur wholeheartedly, freaks me out sitting behind a 24 year old explosive charge.

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I did not photo document because I can't post pix from mobile and where I am, regular internet is not easy to come by. I can give you a quick description though. There's a coupling below the dash near the steering column with a pair of wires in yellow shrink wrap on the male end marked SiR. The yellow shrink wrapped end goes up the steering column to the airbag. I would recommend taking the male end and a few inch pigtail from a donor Reatta or Riv. Load up some shrink wrap on one side of the pigtail, solder in your resistor, shrink wrap over it to prevent exposed leads, then plug that into the car side(female) of the wire harness. Done.

Just got back from Gibson's and the harness is just as you described. Removed the kick panel. Looked for yellow wires, pulled them down, found the connector and snipped it out. When/if I do a steering wheel swap I will be ready. I am looking for a wheel, I have one that is leather one that is pretty nice [see the first page of this post] also am leaning towards a Lumina wheel [it is simulated leather] or will watch out for a Regal wheel [they are leather].

BTW how about some postings from guys and their steering wheel swaps?

Edited by DAVES89 (see edit history)
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The wheel is from an 84 riviera, it only came with gray leather so I dyed it blue, swaped the rivi logo from a reatta horn button. I really like the wood and the class that it gives the car. I have had many compliments on it. Thank you for yours

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Though it doesn't bother me that much, a lot of folks don't like the looks of the two-spoke airbag wheel - yet might be reticent to remove the airbag capability, It is, after all, a safety item that we hope will never be needed. But if it is needed, one would be glad it is there. With this in mind, I've sometimes wondered about retrofitting a later airbag steering wheel. The two spoke wheel and the various airbag modules under the dash cross to many other GM cars of the era. So it seems pretty feasible.

Around '93 or '94 Buick switched to a four spoke design that seems like it would match the curves of the '90-'91 instrument panel pretty well. In fact, the '93 Lesabre could come with either the two-spoke or four-spoke wheel. Then there is a later four spoke wheel that is fairly contemporary in appearance. In '98 GM switched to their "Gen 2" airbag system, and the steering wheel mounts differently. So it is likely that '97 is the limit of interchangability.

Has anyone looked into such a swap?

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  • 1 year later...

Bringing up an old topic, but I found a wheel like the one Zoltan bought [see post 31]. I will be installing it in the 'vert this spring. Mine has maroon leather trim. I think it will be a nice change. Already bypassed the warning light circuit. I got a harness from a Riv out at Gibson's and istalled the resistor into that. Now I am plug n play and can switch back anytime as the 'vert's original harness is still there and intact.

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Bringing up an old topic, but I found a wheel like the one Zoltan bought [see post 31]. I will be installing it in the 'vert this spring. Mine has maroon leather trim. I think it will be a nice change. Already bypassed the warning light circuit. I got a harness from a Riv out at Gibson's and istalled the resistor into that. Now I am plug n play and can switch back anytime as the 'vert's original harness is still there and intact.

 

 

I like my stock tan wheel but I wish I had accepted that wheel you offered me when you stopped by my house. It had big molded grips for your hands and it just fit me. I think you probably gave it to Mc_Reatta. Do you remember what it was off of?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Bringing up an old topic, but I found a wheel like the one Zoltan bought [see post 31]. I will be installing it in the 'vert this spring. Mine has maroon leather trim. I think it will be a nice change. Already bypassed the warning light circuit. I got a harness from a Riv out at Gibson's and istalled the resistor into that. Now I am plug n play and can switch back anytime as the 'vert's original harness is still there and intact.

I did the swap today. It looks great, even my wife likes it!  Where Zoltan's is blue leather, mine is maroon. Pictures coming soon. It really isn't plug and play on the 1990/91 as the air bag has to be removed and the lead wire up from the column has to be cut. I am OK with that as it won't go back in my lifetime of owning the car.

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I did the swap today. It looks great, even my wife likes it!  Where Zoltan's is blue leather, mine is maroon. Pictures coming soon. It really isn't plug and play on the 1990/91 as the air bag has to be removed and the lead wire up from the column has to be cut. I am OK with that as it won't go back in my lifetime of owning the car.

 

This is a photo of Dave's new steering wheel.

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Edited by Ronnie (see edit history)
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