Got a neat new toy off Ebay. Won't be here for a while, but hope it looks as good as it does in the pics. Will be going from this: To this: I had this same style wheel on my '89 Custom Cruiser, and have this one's twin on my '88 Cutlass. Really like these. The leather is thicker and softer than on the air bag wheel, and with the large red Olds emblem these look nice. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks in the "new" OCC. This wheel is coming from California. He says the blue leather is like new and it came off a low-mile car. Hope it really is. Can't wait to get the airbag wheel off and see this on my wagon. Toys! -Mike
Be careful. It may be illegal to disable an airbag on a car that came with one originally. Not that anyone would find out, but you never know, especially if you were ever to try to sell the car at some point. Plus, as pretty as the new wheel is, you're sacrificing the safety that comes with that airbag.
Like we never survived the 'horsepower wars' without them!!! Still know guys with steering wheel imprints on their chest. Took 'em what, 35 years to enforce seat belts - we lived!!
Great idea for a swap Mike. A far nicer wheel to have your hands on for the many hours of driving that you do. I'll be interested to hear how you do the swap and what issues you might have, for future reference. This should be fun as all your projects turn out to be.
Here, it is illegal to swap out an air bag equipped wheel for one that doesn't have an air bag. If the officer decides to be nasty, he can pull the plates off right there, and impound the car, leaving you with a ticket for driving an unsafe vehicle! That even applies to those who have a permit to have the airbag disabled. Another reason I won't drive a newer car! I do like that leather wheel you are putting in, though. Looks really comfortable for your hands! Mind you, it is also in Hurley's favorite flavour; leather. I'd have to keep the beagles in the way back! Can never forget that 3 foot tongue with a thumb on the end of it. I swear, beagles tongues are prehensile!
Nice wheel, nothing compared to a Spark-O-Matic 10" diameter welded chrome chain steering wheel, but nice nonetheless. In the U.S. there's no federal law against removing or disabling airbags if you own the car.
Before: And After: Best Mod Yet! Looks and FEELS so much better than that airbag wheel. For a 25-year-old wheel the leather on this one is in very nice shape. Only found one little scratch in it. Got out the saddle soap and cleaned it really well. Love it! Love this old car too. It feels more like and Oldsmobile now. Hahaha!
For you OCC guys who want to try this mod, I removed the air bag light from the gauge cluster and just snipped the air bag wire that came out of the column. Taped it off and DONE. The 2-spoke steering wheel and horn contact fit the column fine, but when fully tightened the outer ring of the new wheel rubbed the column just a bit, so I used my bench grinder and CAREFULLY sanded it down just a tiny bit. That did it! Works fine and look totally factory stock. If you're looking, this was the optional wheel for cars with the FE3 handling package. Used in everything from Calis to Cieras, 98 Touring Sedan and Cutlass and 442. Optional from 1985-1990 on most Olds cars. This wheel also was offered from around 82-84 in a half-leather, half plastic style with asmaller horn button...as seen in Hurst/Olds...but I think those look goofy. Go for the full leather ones! Oh and the leather on these us MUCH better quality than what was used in the 90's. The color does not wear off, and it's a thicker and softer leather, but like all leather if exposed to the sun for years it will go bad, and these are getting harder to find now. My favorite mod yet on this car! -Mike
I can already feel the difference in how much air I feel from the a/c vents, especially the one to the right side of the wheel and left of the climate controls. It no longer has to blow around the air bag before it hits ME. Will be nice this summer! -Mike
This is simply the most awesome of all the things. I want one of these wheels for my next vehicle. Or the Chevy version from the late 80s Celebrity Eurosports: I also like the base 2-spoke wheel on 90-94 Luminas and the deluxe 2-spoke wheel on 88-90 Beretta and Corsica. Either would work well on an A-body car. They'll fit others but are a bit smaller than a B-body wheel I think.
Well, I'm totally surprised. In this day and age with regulations to cover the regulations, I figured Mike's OCC ignition would prolly be disabled without a "ok" signal from a air bag "detect circuit." New wheel looks great compared to the bag wheel. Nice job!
I had a 91 Mustang 5.0 LX, that I had from 1993-96. I came across it in Oct. 2011 in a neighboring town with a "for sale" sign on it. I couldn't believe it was still in existence. I also noticed that it had had it's airbag wheel replaced with a aftermarket wheel. The car was pretty beat up...
