Does your Fiero have the "paddle buttons" steering wheel found in many SE, GT, and Sport Coupes? Are yours broken? Do you still have all the pieces? If you do then there is a RELIABLE way to fix them!

When the buttons break, they seldom do so cleanly. This is actually a good thing! A "dirty" break allows nearly perfect realignment of the parts, and since the white part usually breaks a little inside the gray paddle, it's possible to get a totally invisible repair that lines up so well you'll never know they were broken. Better yet, the repaired paddles are stronger than original.

To start, head to your local auto parts dealer, or department store, and locate some "plastic welder", Devcon and others market it. This stuff is a 2 part Epoxy type adhesive. DO NOT waste your time with any one part adhesives, and NEVER use Cyano Acrylate "super glue" on plastic. Neither will last in this application, nor will they reinforce the paddle. (so called "super glue" hardly ever works well on plastic.)

Warning: This adhesive is Very fast setting. You will have only about 90 seconds of working time before the stuff is too thick to use. Use it out doors! It stinks horridly! Sniffing this won't make you high. It will make you sick or dead.

Take the switches off the steering wheel, and make sure the parts are free of obvious dirt. (the adhesive is a combination Solvent welder/Epoxy. As long as the parts are clean the adhesive will bind to it.) Dispense, and mix, the adhesive on a disposable item, like cardboard. Apply the mixed compound with a small wire, or tooth pick, to the edge of the white part, and inside the paddle. Press the pieces together, and hold still until the adhesive sets. ((if the break is deep enough into the paddle it will pretty much hold itself straight))

To reinforce the paddle, apply some adhesive to the back of the paddle joint. You can be fairly liberal. If you apply it to the front of the buttons stay well inboard of the thick paddle end or your repair may show. In fact, if your paddle buttons haven't broken yet, you could reinforce them to keep them in one piece through all but the most severe beating.

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Thanks for the tip Ogre. I have another remotely related question on the steering wheel: how do you get the darn thing off? I've made my own pulley to pull off the steering wheel but then you come to this round plate with the holes on the side for the steering-lock. I checked the haynes manual and it said you needed a special tool for it - which ofcourse you can't get here in Holland. The reason I need to take this off is because one of the two springs from the turn-signal thingy that makes it pop back automatically, broke off. I got the biggest part of the broken spring out, but there's still a small piece inside and I really don't want this piece to lock the steering wheel while driving... And of course it's quite annoying that the turnsignal doesn't pop back automatically.

that disk is called the lock plate. It is basically standard on all U.S., and Canadian, made cars. The tool should be available globally since US car Companies all export cars. the Lisle company makes/distributes this tool. Try them at http://www.lislecorp.com/ they may have a Euopean(sp)distributor. I just recheck their site... it's broken. Here's their address and US phone#:

Lisle Corporation
807 East Main Street
Clarinda, IA 51632
(712) 542-5101

To remove the lock plate you pull off the plastic cover, it just snaps on. Depress the plate, and remove a retaining clip from the steering shaft.

This sounds easy, it's not. I've done it with and without the lock plate tool. It's a bigger pain w/o the tool, but even with the tool that clip is annoying as hell. When reassebling, the plate only fits one way.

The tool consists of a U shaped piece of flat steel with a hole in the center of the U bottom. A bolt goes thru the hole to a coupler that conects to the steering shaft. A nut on the bolt is then turned untill the plate is depressed enough to get at the clip.

You could make the coupler by welding a couple apropriatly sized nuts to a piece of pipe, or conduit. The rest is just a nut, bolt, and a piece of bent steel with a whole in the center.

Thanks again! I saw a drawing of the U shaped tool in the Haynes manual, but couldn't figure out what it was supposed to do.