So I picked up a GM wheel at the yard the other day, I wanted to put it on my 88GT. I removed the GT wheel and went to put the "new" one on and it wont fit. The spline is different. The splined area is too small for the Fiero steering shaft. I guess too small is better than too big, so my question is, is there a way to change the spine on a steering wheel. It looks like the spline area is "pressed in" and i guess I could use a hydrolic press to push it out, but can you just buy a new spline?
I was thinking about drilling out the hole on the wheel so that it just fits and then push it on with a BFH, then bolting it down nice and tight, but then I realized thats a stupid idea. Plus, the spline is tapered so a reqular drill bit would not work.
I really hate when I know someone has posted about this before and did what you want to do but I can't find it.
I remember someone here on PFF did just this - they took a newer GM wheel, cut out the center spline "teeth" (I guess that's what you would call it) opening, removed the same from the wheel they wanted to use, and then welded the Fiero spline onto it. I want to say it's the PFF member that has the Malibu dash that is like blue and silver on the inside and the steering wheel had a similar paint scheme to what the car looked like on the outside.
Geez I hate when I can't remember who did that work.
I guess the basic thing is that yeah you can probably do what you want to do. However I would probably have a professional do it. The other thing you'll need to take into consideration is if you were to swap spline openings, the re-welded piece has to be fairly perfect. If it's even off by a little bit, then you're going to feel it when you turn the steering wheel. I wouldn't try enlarging the hole. Just having the wheel tightened down and not secured by the splines is a good way to cause a serious accident.
I want to say it's the PFF member that has the Malibu dash that is like blue and silver on the inside and the steering wheel had a similar paint scheme to what the car looked like on the outside.
That would be Rickaddy (sp?). He actually used the entire Malibu column, underdash support structure and all.
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If it's even off by a little bit, then you're going to feel it when you turn the steering wheel.
Most modern wheels are eccentric to begin with, people just don't typically notice it.
It might be possible to replace just the last piece of the column that has the splines and threads. Can you get the one your new wheel was attached to?
Might be easyer to get the whole steering colum from the car you got the steering wheel from and swap the whle steering colum. Ive never done this,so I dont know if your going to run into problems.But as "85 SE VIN 9" says, that might be easyer way.
[This message has been edited by James Bond 007 (edited 08-27-2013).]
Thanks for all the info guys. I guess this is not something that you run into every day.
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Originally posted by fierosound:
You must REALLY like that steering wheel!
No not really, its a wheel off a Pontiac Vibe. I have a Vibe GT that I drive daily, and when I found an 04 in the yard I grabbed a few items off it for my car. While I was removing stuff, I noticed that the wheel had a cover on it, when I took the cover off, the wheel was perfect so I grabbed it. I removed the airbag and took the cover. I was going to keep it as a back up to my 03 Vibe but then wondered how it would look on the GT. I removed the GT wheel and then realized it would not fit. So now i'm just thinking of how I could make it fit. I should have thought about the fact that the Vibe is a Toyota and that the Toyota wheel probably would not fit the GM car, and it dosent.
My only other idea was to drill out the center of the Vibe wheel, put it on the Fiero colum and then tack weld it on. I figure "how many times do you really remove a steering wheel". I can't even remember doing it for any of my past Fieros.
Originally posted by jaskispyder: can you take the center of the vibe wheel hub and cut it out and weld in the center of a fiero hub?
Not sure, the center of the Vibe wheel looks cast, and i'm not even sure its steel. May be aluminum. I have the center of a mid 90's Chevy wheel that I saved for a future project (???) and that is what I was using to compare, I was looking at pushing out the spline sleeve on that one and seeing if I could press it into the Vibe.
Rob, Do you have any GT steering wheels your not going to use, and want to sell? It doesn't need to be perfect, as it's not for a show car. Thanks, Luke Va. Beach
Check out the link below. It shows how to remove the splined center section. Rob, if you have a decent one you are going to take apart for the splined center, let me trade you for one that would be better for taking apart.
Rob, Do you have any GT steering wheels your not going to use, and want to sell? It doesn't need to be perfect, as it's not for a show car. Thanks, Luke
Luke, no GT wheels but I saw your thread and I did remove the outer shell of an older GT wheel and get all the crap off, it was not that bad. used that wheel for several years.
I was thinking of another way of doing this. I seperated an older GM wheel into its parts. I tossed the "wheel" because it was crap and now i have a "hub" with the correct spline. Its an older GM wheel that was held to the hub with 8 "rivets". So what I was thinking is that I could mount the hub to the Fiero steering rack and then figure out a way of mounting the Vibe wheel to it. Not sure that makes sence but in my mind it kind of works. I'll give it a try this weekend and see if its possible. if it works, i'll update this thread.
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun?
I use a later GM wheel on my car. I wanted radio control on my steering wheel. The splines were different. I have a tilt column. I took the upper steering shaft from a 99 Grand Am and installed it on the fiero.
