Next time just get the pre-airbag clockspring. The airbag clockspring is probably wider/thicker because there's at least 2 more wires on the ribbon cable inside... probably more because Pontiac had optional steering wheels with a crapton of other buttons. Each has to run parallel, so the more accessories, the more parallel tracks... to a point... until things go digital. My Jeep clockspring had 8 parallel lines on the old one, when I upgraded to add factory cruise control buttons. It probably only used 3 or 4 of those, horn, airbag. The horn is usually chassis ground at the wheel.
The steering wheel change is cool, but I want to know more about the old Mac. What’s up with that? Also what’s the keychain light you are using? Wanna get one for my parents.
Toyotas at that time had 2 spoke steering wheels and they sure wouldn't fall apart like that. My 85 Supra steering wheel still looks fine minus some wear.
When I had my 85 Supra, the steering wheel still looked practically like new, which was pretty surprising. Exterior of my car was white with a blue interior. Loved the seats in that car with the hand pump bolsters.
Just want to shout out a HUGE THANK YOU for doing these videos. I wrecked my 90 Firebird Formula head on into a Mustang and have been working on it myself all year. They told me to junk it, but I couldn't do it. I'm stoked to find these videos because they cover most info I've been looking for and have not been able to find! Like how to remove my deployed airbag. (I didn't like the steering wheel at first, but I'm really glad it was there!) Hope you keep making these, definately not enough videos out there on how to work on firebirds!
No puller technique- Leave the nut on halfway or less, Place hands at 9 and 3 o'clock positions, pull side to side (be strong, pull hard) and the steering wheel will pop right off. The nut on partially will prevent a broken nose. Works well for me every time. I've never had to use a puller. An old timer showed me this
I've a friend who built a '54 ford pickup street rod (with a Chevy crate motor, I know, pure Heresy), who made his own steering wheel out of wood, I know it sounds funky but it's actually really nice and works very well. Don't know how California is going to take what you did but you can do that sort of thing here in Kentucky. P.S., just contributed to the channel via paypal, I've always been a car guy since youth (grew up in the'60's), I'm glad you're now in a place where you can follow your passions.
I don't want to be a bigger buzkill here, but at least in USA you can have some insurance issues if you remove an airbag from an airbag equipped car. Obviously they'll only care if you crash, but just an FYI. I don't know how helpful the airbag would be on a 1991 car like that anyway, so I'm not saying you were wrong to remove it, but there is a small element of legal risk involved.
Yes, you eat the steering wheel you dont get paid I assume. I wonder if you indicate to insurance no drivers airbag(even though aftermarket wheel) you get paid?
@@wildandwonderful7069 On my car, a 1994 model, I believe it was sold with and without an airbag and with and without ABS. Mine is non-airbag and non-ABS equipped, so I just checked off "airbags - no" and "ABS - no." Some companies deal with it differently, though this could have been my agent scamming me, with Progressive my two cars went from $130-180 with no airbags (car before was a similar age car with an airbag) but then Geico was only $80 for both even checking off no airbags and no ABS. I don't know Camaros/Firebirds well, but there might have been non-airbag equipped ones sold in different states or in Canada or similar. I think the bigger issue is less that you'd not get paid if you wrapped it around a tree by yourself, but if someone slams into you, and you have medical bills, their lawyer would say you were negligent by removing the airbags and thus they are less culpable. At least this is my understanding of how the system works. Keep in mind, not a lawyer (a lawyer probably would write some even bigger warnings than me) just pretending to be one on the internet. I think another legal issue reading about it again is supposedly by federal law technically removing the airbag makes it a salvage title vehicle if he were to sell it, though he could just throw the old wheel back on. Also I think with classic or modified car policies, it's probably OK to remove the airbag on those policies more than on a normal driver insurance policy, as someone would appraise the car in person, see it doesn't have it, and then you'd have the argument someone appraised it in person and OK'd it. But with a classic policy, though they're generally way cheaper (usually $100-$400 a year) and you do get paid if it's crashed or stolen, the car must be garaged, can't be driven to work, and you have a mileage cap of generally under 5000 miles a year. More than likely nothing at all will happen and thousands of riced out Civics drive around with no airbags and a flimsy $50 ebay steering wheel, but USA is a wonderful land of legal technicalities. If I were him I'd probably Patreon this video and not have it documented freely online. The car just magically changed steering wheels one day and he *cannot recall* how it occurred.
It's not illegal for the owner of the car to remove the airbag wheel. It just has to be equipped with one when sold new. Federal DOT regulations. Don't worry and be happy with the mod. Ps.disconnect the warning light.
There are no legal risks for a project car like this. There could be liability only IF they kept a staring wheel that said airbag on it and disabled the airbag warning light so another driver would not be aware there is no airbag. But completely changing the wheel makes it obvious there is no airbag in the car.
AND THERE IT IS! So we get it in the comments instead of the video? Actually, maybe that's better. And now, I'll tell you...I drove a late '70s Porsche once. It felt pretty damned cheap to me. As did the mid-'90s Porsche I took a spin in. So let's stop the BS.
let me see you drop the clutch above redline while racing in a European or Japanese sports car and still have a good transmissions and clutch a year later
Those 1st generation Air bag steering wheels on any car where fugley as hell for sure. Looks 100% better now. I had an 89 Formula 350 I bought in 93 and modified, while keeping the stock look of the car was important to me. I will give 2 important things IMO. 1 free mod (labor only) Cut 1/2 of a coil off the front coil springs. This will drop the front end about 3/8 of an inch at the fender gap, and the nose/front air dam 1/2 an inch. Also any time you shorten a spring, you stiffen it, in this case it it slight but welcome. Some may argue that you will ruin the springs temper by cutting it, but that is not even an issue, if you use a cutoff wheel the heat will not even transfer 1 inch from the cut. 2 cost $ but is worth every penny, SUB FRAME CONNECTORS. These have a wonderful positive affect on the whole car. Love your passion for the car. I miss mine, this body style has aged well. Peace
With a Miata, when you replace the stock wheel with a wood steering wheel, you have to install a special resistor onto the airbag wire, or you’ll get a warning light on the dash
You used to be able to get a Toyota emblem cheaper at a Chevy dealer than at a Toyota dealer, if you knew the right part number and the dealer was compliant. The specific reason was the Chevy Cavalier was marketed as the Toyota Cavalier in Japan (didn't sell well.)
Some people with the last generation Firebirds did the Grand Am steering wheel swap, because those Firebirds had the same "meh" pillow steering wheel as GM's minivans. That way you'd get something a lot more pleasing to the eye while having common Pontiac design themes and still have an airbag, horn, and cruise-control buttons.
Some might think that changing out the steering wheel is a trivial matter. One, that concerns only aesthetics, but so much of the driving experience is tactile in nature; you hold the wheel the entire time you are in motion and so much of what the car is doing is transmitted through the wheel to your hands. That said, the new wheel is so much better looking and truer to the car's initial styling. Are you going to locate a horn button under the center hub?
I feel ya. I have a 92, did the exact same swap, though it was partially because I was scared that the airbag would go off randomly 😂 still gotta get around to rewrapping my wheel though
Well done! I bought the same steering wheel for my 89 Bird. I had the rubbery 4 spoke wheel and although not a fugly as the airbag wheel, it's pretty bad. Huge difference with a real leather covered wheel.
Sure it’s a terrible wheel had the same one in my Saturn. However it was also used in the Lotus of the era! So much cooler than a Toyota wheel, your Formula is now 5% less Lotus. Found your channel because of my 1978 T/A looking forward to seeing more of your Birds!
Steering wheel can sometimes be removed by hitting under the outside rim repeatedly on opposite sides. The splines are tapered. My Jeep had the same Saginaw column, and I had to replace the turn signal switch assembly. Speaking of Jeeps, the 90s Cherokee had a mechanically actuated airbag(no electrical syatem,) to remove it safely was like putting the pin back in a land mine.
In a lot of countries, including my own, if you remove the airbag the car would be rendered instantly illegal, it would fail its state mandated check every year, and be ordered off the road and you would be fined, it would also invalidate your insurance.
@@kjevers1 With cars specifically I'd say that's true, but in other property rights I think regulations in USA are overall more restrictive, for things like houses and land use. But car laws are less enforced here as cars are needed for everyone to move here, due to poor public transportation.
Yes....I wanted the original non cruise wheel in my 86 Mustang. Took me 18 months to find one decent for a reasonable price. Massive improvement, just like yours.
The third gen Firebird wheels were pretty much abortions from the factory. But the Gen 1 & 2 Formula wheels were amazing! The look was patterned after a Lamborghini wheel from the Miura. Over the years the wheels came in steel or aluminum, 3 different finishes on the spokes, thickly or thinly padded, & leather or vinyl (in many colors). Camaro steering wheels never quite measured up. I had my thin, vinyl one, transformed into a thick, leather one (with red stitching). Feels soo much better! Since you are always in contact with your steering wheel, I completely agree that it's very important, & you went in the right direction!
All cars about that age had similar steering wheels, because they hadn't quite worked out how to have stylish steering wheels with functional airbags. They just designed them with a big box in the middle, a rectangular outline, with a seam down the middle, and if you were lucky, they'd emboss the brand logo in one of the corners. I kinda prefer the 80's models. They didn't have the huge, packed, wheel, and they didn't have the huge beak on the front bumper.
Got myself one of these, it's not as bad as yours when nm I got it mechanically speaking. It was in a front end fender bender to where the front frame is in the way of the pasanger side headlight so it doesn't go down anymore. Only payed 2300 though. I'm learning quite a bit from this about the car though so thankyou for making these
The only thing worse than that wheel was the lighting of the your video. It Seemed like you Bank Vault scene in a Heist movie. Great content, keep them coming.
Same thing happened to all cars steering wheels that year. The 89 BMW 3 Series wheel was far superior looking to the 90 airbag wheel for example. Good thing disconnection of the airbag didn’t generate an engine light or something.
Certainly did on my E36! And then it wouldn't go away, even when everything was reconnected! (I took the bulb out of the dash for about a year until I got the fault code cleared by a friend with the necessary tools).
I just remember the inertia of the wheel spinning round as it spins back to straight ahead position feels way different compared to an original style vs the later air bag ones. Agreed on the driving visibility and experience difference. Given the nature of how these cars are driven, I'd say it's a proper change out. I've had both a 91 Firebird and 83 Trans Am for comparison if that helps. Both had my favorite hood :-)
Ha, a man after my own heart. I did the same, I removed a dumb Chevy steering wheel I didn’t like and replaced it with a cool Pontiac steering wheel that worked much better. And that air bag is worth some money if you want to sell it.
Job well done, indeed! That is a gorgeous steering wheel. And the firebird sound effects were awesome--too bad you can't make that your horn sound after you get it working. :D
I just went back and watched the past 3 or 4 of your Firebird videos and that steering wheel has been replaced this whole time lol and I've never noticed it.
I had a brand new 92 v6 Firebird when I was in High School and the horn buttons stuck out some when new. But that exact steering wheel was also used on the Lotus' at the same time also. They just said Lotus instead of Pontiac.
I had a red mid 80s Firebird in the 80s and loved it. I never saw one with that crazy lame steering wheel though. Mine looked like a racing steering wheel without a air bag. It must be when the air bag law came in they tossed on some other model's steering wheel.
I love the look of this car. I saw one again for the first time in many years, and was struck by how sleek and light footed it looks amongst today's sea of SUVs, and even modern sports cars that have become massive and bulbous.
I'm now 75 years old and remember when Hondas and Toyotas started coming over to the States , they were cheap junk . Car dealers kept them hidden in the back rows at their lots . I used to to tell my boys that by the time they were as old as me nearly EVERYONE would be buying these cheap cars . What I failed to realize is that many American brands would go by the wayside as a result and the surviving brands would copy that import appearance and now nearly all brands look as if they came from the same cookie cutter .
I peeped that as well. It's not just any old - old mouse as you (and Winston too) already know. Works with either original Macintosh 128k or Macintosh Plus. I think the Mac SE was released after the Plus and with that they changed to ADB interfaces for keyboard & mouse. I might have missed one in there somewhere but that's my recollection.
The worst part of the later third gens were those steering wheels with airbags IMO, great upgrade! Best steering wheel I’ve ever used was the second gen Trans Am wheel, just about perfect.
High light the engraved Firebird on the wheel centre with red paint. Then it will really pop and make you enjoy your 3rd gen even more. I used to have a 1986 Camaro and did more things to it than I can shake a stick at. A by product of that is your bank account is empty. ;(
Yes, the driving experience WOULD be greatly enhanced, it's the one main area you're actually touching the car. Good move. Now, every time you drive the car, you'll reflect on replacing it and how nice it is. Airbags are overrated anyway - they kill people! And I realize it's L.A. and you may think you can't DRIVE without a HORN, but for my wife's sake, I disconnected the horn and now her driving experience is MUCH FRIENDLIER haha. Also the AutoReilly mix is HILARIOUS.
Winston your Wedding ring is looking very tight on your finger since you moved to America (if you know what I mean). Also I will go with Japanese over American when it comes to cars all day every day. Where I come from Honda has a huge cult following , saying that Ford does too but me personally I will pick Honda over Ford every time.
when you disable the SRS, was there any warning lights on the dash? When I removed the SRS on my old Miata, SRS Warning light came on. So I removed the bulb. Mazda thought of that ahead as soon as light bulb was removed, this very annoying buzzer came oh as soon as ignition was turned on. I guess to warn the driver that Your SRS warning light bulb is out, and that SRS was malfunctioning(or lack of airbag I guess). I had to tore my dash to get to the buzzer to totally kill it
I am just curious how did you sort out the cable of the air bag? Did you cut it? or had other option? By the way the wheel definitely improved the look of the car.
Horn is essential and it won't matter how the steering wheel looks when a minor accident that would be avoided with the horn renders the old car totalled.
Fun fact; many truckers do not drive in california due to how strict they are with everything. So they drive to the state line and transfer cargo to trucks that do operate in california.
1:47 Who did the recovering? My Fiero came with the same wheel, my favorite feeling steering wheel ever. The originals have an issue where the foam breaks down and turns into a goo and makes your hands sticky. Those super-early airbags are probably more dangerous than life-saving at this point anyway (especially after the Takata debacle), and the Third Gen was designed without airbags.
Where I live, if it has an airbag at must stay having an airbag. If you get pulled over for any other reason they notice your airbag is no longer an airbag they can force you to go get an airbag and then get inspected. And when it’s inspected everything must ask inspection not just the airbag
By '92 they were still using a similar (if not identical) wheel in...the Bonneville. Anyway, out of curiosity--question: how did you prevent the AIRBAG light from coming on when you no longer had one? (Is that not a problem in that car?) I would think that would be a major annoyance. And if the cars are still subject to safety inspections at that age, aren't all factory-installed safety features expected to be there and working?
I have pulled hundreds of those steering wheel off you don't need the puller. You leave the nut on a couple turns brace your feet solidly on the floor pull first with one hand then the other with pressure on both and it will pop right off every time. No problem.
My old classic Ford falcon does not have a working either on the wheel. It has a button on the dashboard that I have to hit to hear the horn. Which is kind of annoying to have to lean over to get to it. Which also keeps me from honking at people that upset me rather than people who don’t know what they’re doing on the road. I’m too lazy to reach forward when I’m upset but not when I’m instructing others :-)
At 30 years old, you can use the term "protection" lightly. I have a 20 year old car that has the airbag systems disabled because airbags have a limited lifespan. Yes, they will still fire, but chances are high that the systems will not work as the design dictated. Airbags deploying too slow or too fast is just as much if not more a hazard as not having airbags in general.
I have a 1989 and it is a non airbag model. The steering wheel does look similar but it just has the center provision for the radio controls no airbag and no radio controls. I purchased a 1987 trans am 3 spoke to replace my "Toyota Camry" steering wheel. I'm thinking my swap should be more straightforward because there is no airbag. When I went to my local AutoZone to borrow the steering wheel puller they told me I also needed a tool to pull off a lock ring doesn't seem you had to remove any kind of a lock ring on yours it seemed pretty much you pulled the wheel and swapped on the other wheel, why is this the case was only the steering wheel puller necessary or did you have to have some kind of a lock ring removal tool also in the process? I didn't see it but just asking. Thanks.
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What is the Macintosh mouse for?
@@novoiperkele An old Macintosh SE
Next time just get the pre-airbag clockspring. The airbag clockspring is probably wider/thicker because there's at least 2 more wires on the ribbon cable inside... probably more because Pontiac had optional steering wheels with a crapton of other buttons. Each has to run parallel, so the more accessories, the more parallel tracks... to a point... until things go digital. My Jeep clockspring had 8 parallel lines on the old one, when I upgraded to add factory cruise control buttons. It probably only used 3 or 4 of those, horn, airbag. The horn is usually chassis ground at the wheel.
The steering wheel change is cool, but I want to know more about the old Mac. What’s up with that?
Also what’s the keychain light you are using? Wanna get one for my parents.
Wait a second. Just realized that the steering wheel was already this new one in a video from September :D
the beauty of this channel is its basically a kid playing with new toys in a way
In before Scotty Kilmer shows up and compares it with his Celica.
Bruh
And displays a photo of a laughing mule or sheep 😂
I’m with you, that old wheel was terrible, the new one looks fantastic 👍👍. Now it looks like a real firebird.
100% agree, the steering wheel is the ugliest thing on my '91.
Man, I have great admiration for your ability not to let anything stop you. That new wheel looks FINE! 👍🌟🌟🌟👍
Amazing upgrade indeed. I agree this looks much better ☺️👍
Toyotas at that time had 2 spoke steering wheels and they sure wouldn't fall apart like that. My 85 Supra steering wheel still looks fine minus some wear.
When I had my 85 Supra, the steering wheel still looked practically like new, which was pretty surprising. Exterior of my car was white with a blue interior. Loved the seats in that car with the hand pump bolsters.
Just want to shout out a HUGE THANK YOU for doing these videos. I wrecked my 90 Firebird Formula head on into a Mustang and have been working on it myself all year. They told me to junk it, but I couldn't do it. I'm stoked to find these videos because they cover most info I've been looking for and have not been able to find! Like how to remove my deployed airbag. (I didn't like the steering wheel at first, but I'm really glad it was there!) Hope you keep making these, definately not enough videos out there on how to work on firebirds!
No puller technique- Leave the nut on halfway or less, Place hands at 9 and 3 o'clock positions, pull side to side (be strong, pull hard) and the steering wheel will pop right off. The nut on partially will prevent a broken nose. Works well for me every time. I've never had to use a puller. An old timer showed me this
I did the exact same thing for my friend, got him a damn proper steering wheel for his firebird! 🔥 🐦
I've a friend who built a '54 ford pickup street rod (with a Chevy crate motor, I know, pure Heresy), who made his own steering wheel out of wood, I know it sounds funky but it's actually really nice and works very well. Don't know how California is going to take what you did but you can do that sort of thing here in Kentucky. P.S., just contributed to the channel via paypal, I've always been a car guy since youth (grew up in the'60's), I'm glad you're now in a place where you can follow your passions.
I wish we had Autoreillys here. We only have plain O'Reillys.
im jealous, i just have a reilly... not even O'Reillys
I’m even more jealous, we don’t even have a Reilly, just illy
@@hippycow1006 i got a ly down the street
We have a Napavanced
Got an O’s ova here
Looks killer man!! Awesome job!! I have really been enjoying watching your build on this motor. 😁👍🏻👍🏻
I don't want to be a bigger buzkill here, but at least in USA you can have some insurance issues if you remove an airbag from an airbag equipped car. Obviously they'll only care if you crash, but just an FYI. I don't know how helpful the airbag would be on a 1991 car like that anyway, so I'm not saying you were wrong to remove it, but there is a small element of legal risk involved.
Yes, you eat the steering wheel you dont get paid I assume. I wonder if you indicate to insurance no drivers airbag(even though aftermarket wheel) you get paid?
@@wildandwonderful7069 On my car, a 1994 model, I believe it was sold with and without an airbag and with and without ABS. Mine is non-airbag and non-ABS equipped, so I just checked off "airbags - no" and "ABS - no." Some companies deal with it differently, though this could have been my agent scamming me, with Progressive my two cars went from $130-180 with no airbags (car before was a similar age car with an airbag) but then Geico was only $80 for both even checking off no airbags and no ABS. I don't know Camaros/Firebirds well, but there might have been non-airbag equipped ones sold in different states or in Canada or similar.
I think the bigger issue is less that you'd not get paid if you wrapped it around a tree by yourself, but if someone slams into you, and you have medical bills, their lawyer would say you were negligent by removing the airbags and thus they are less culpable. At least this is my understanding of how the system works. Keep in mind, not a lawyer (a lawyer probably would write some even bigger warnings than me) just pretending to be one on the internet. I think another legal issue reading about it again is supposedly by federal law technically removing the airbag makes it a salvage title vehicle if he were to sell it, though he could just throw the old wheel back on.
Also I think with classic or modified car policies, it's probably OK to remove the airbag on those policies more than on a normal driver insurance policy, as someone would appraise the car in person, see it doesn't have it, and then you'd have the argument someone appraised it in person and OK'd it. But with a classic policy, though they're generally way cheaper (usually $100-$400 a year) and you do get paid if it's crashed or stolen, the car must be garaged, can't be driven to work, and you have a mileage cap of generally under 5000 miles a year.
More than likely nothing at all will happen and thousands of riced out Civics drive around with no airbags and a flimsy $50 ebay steering wheel, but USA is a wonderful land of legal technicalities. If I were him I'd probably Patreon this video and not have it documented freely online. The car just magically changed steering wheels one day and he *cannot recall* how it occurred.
It's not illegal for the owner of the car to remove the airbag wheel. It just has to be equipped with one when sold new. Federal DOT regulations. Don't worry and be happy with the mod. Ps.disconnect the warning light.
I agree ... Removing a safety feature can cancel any ability to collect insurance for an accident.
There are no legal risks for a project car like this.
There could be liability only IF they kept a staring wheel that said airbag on it and disabled the airbag warning light so another driver would not be aware there is no airbag. But completely changing the wheel makes it obvious there is no airbag in the car.
Actual words spoken by my father in 1994 while shopping for a sports car. He owned a 69,71 and a 78. Have a great day thumbs up stay awesome.
the wheel looks great. you need to get a gm horn contact kit to make the horn work and you probably have to remove the air bag clock spring
What a surprise, a 80s-90s American sports car feeling cheap to the touch?
Hey now you kiss your mom with that mouth
Have you felt how cheap a mr2 or 240 or eclipse felt at that point in time? Lol they felt cheap!
AND THERE IT IS!
So we get it in the comments instead of the video?
Actually, maybe that's better.
And now, I'll tell you...I drove a late '70s Porsche once. It felt pretty damned cheap to me. As did the mid-'90s Porsche I took a spin in. So let's stop the BS.
let me see you drop the clutch above redline while racing in a European or Japanese sports car and still have a good transmissions and clutch a year later
Those 1st generation Air bag steering wheels on any car where fugley as hell for sure. Looks 100% better now. I had an 89 Formula 350 I bought in 93 and modified, while keeping the stock look of the car was important to me. I will give 2 important things IMO. 1 free mod (labor only) Cut 1/2 of a coil off the front coil springs. This will drop the front end about 3/8 of an inch at the fender gap, and the nose/front air dam 1/2 an inch. Also any time you shorten a spring, you stiffen it, in this case it it slight but welcome. Some may argue that you will ruin the springs temper by cutting it, but that is not even an issue, if you use a cutoff wheel the heat will not even transfer 1 inch from the cut. 2 cost $ but is worth every penny, SUB FRAME CONNECTORS. These have a wonderful positive affect on the whole car. Love your passion for the car. I miss mine, this body style has aged well. Peace
With a Miata, when you replace the stock wheel with a wood steering wheel, you have to install a special resistor onto the airbag wire, or you’ll get a warning light on the dash
I just removed the bulb in the dash
@@WorthlessWhips bahahahaha
1:39 damn, that sounded like a freaking spaceship door opening, they sure nailed the "looking futuristic" part there :)
You used to be able to get a Toyota emblem cheaper at a Chevy dealer than at a Toyota dealer, if you knew the right part number and the dealer was compliant. The specific reason was the Chevy Cavalier was marketed as the Toyota Cavalier in Japan (didn't sell well.)
One thing I hated in my 88 was the horrible wheel, swapped out with one from an 82 and love it!
Some people with the last generation Firebirds did the Grand Am steering wheel swap, because those Firebirds had the same "meh" pillow steering wheel as GM's minivans. That way you'd get something a lot more pleasing to the eye while having common Pontiac design themes and still have an airbag, horn, and cruise-control buttons.
Ahhhh the old screaming chicken lol 😆
I've done the same change like you with the Steeringwheel and I am totally with you.
Your cuts are amazing 😂 My husband and I died laughing at the O'reilly's cut!
Love the use of the "screaming chicken" sound effect! Congrats!
Some might think that changing out the steering wheel is a trivial matter. One, that concerns only aesthetics, but so much of the driving experience is tactile in nature; you hold the wheel the entire time you are in motion and so much of what the car is doing is transmitted through the wheel to your hands. That said, the new wheel is so much better looking and truer to the car's initial styling. Are you going to locate a horn button under the center hub?
Yes, working on it
@@WorthlessWhips Ah, good. A car horn is an antidote for the chronically unconscious and distracted.
That steering wheel looks way better!
I feel ya. I have a 92, did the exact same swap, though it was partially because I was scared that the airbag would go off randomly 😂 still gotta get around to rewrapping my wheel though
My MR2 Turbo still looks amazing inside. Toyotas as quality made. I have zero idea what you’re talking about.
Toyota styling, American build quality.
Well done! I bought the same steering wheel for my 89 Bird. I had the rubbery 4 spoke wheel and although not a fugly as the airbag wheel, it's pretty bad. Huge difference with a real leather covered wheel.
Sure it’s a terrible wheel had the same one in my Saturn. However it was also used in the Lotus of the era! So much cooler than a Toyota wheel, your Formula is now 5% less Lotus. Found your channel because of my 1978 T/A looking forward to seeing more of your Birds!
Thanks mate, updates on the 78 soon!
Steering wheel can sometimes be removed by hitting under the outside rim repeatedly on opposite sides. The splines are tapered. My Jeep had the same Saginaw column, and I had to replace the turn signal switch assembly.
Speaking of Jeeps, the 90s Cherokee had a mechanically actuated airbag(no electrical syatem,) to remove it safely was like putting the pin back in a land mine.
In a lot of countries, including my own, if you remove the airbag the car would be rendered instantly illegal, it would fail its state mandated check every year, and be ordered off the road and you would be fined, it would also invalidate your insurance.
@@plowe6751 Sounds like UK with MOT.
@@plowe6751 New Zealand
@@plowe6751 UK mandatory yearly inspection for cars.
This is America, land of the free and home of the psychotic. Actually, we have a lot looser regulations than the EU or Japan.
@@kjevers1 With cars specifically I'd say that's true, but in other property rights I think regulations in USA are overall more restrictive, for things like houses and land use. But car laws are less enforced here as cars are needed for everyone to move here, due to poor public transportation.
Your so OLD school, I love it.
Yes....I wanted the original non cruise wheel in my 86 Mustang. Took me 18 months to find one decent for a reasonable price. Massive improvement, just like yours.
Gotta love the flipflops and jeans.
Your editing and unique style of dry comedy is the shit. Been watching since “China: how it is”
WOW! is THAT better, looks great. The OEM wheels always look best.
I love the dorky firebird sound effect!
Super clean car! I had a 91 350 WS6 Formula. I wish I kept it!
Winston, great choice that looks great. Just looks perfect . Nice video
The third gen Firebird wheels were pretty much abortions from the factory. But the Gen 1 & 2 Formula wheels were amazing! The look was patterned after a Lamborghini wheel from the Miura. Over the years the wheels came in steel or aluminum, 3 different finishes on the spokes, thickly or thinly padded, & leather or vinyl (in many colors). Camaro steering wheels never quite measured up. I had my thin, vinyl one, transformed into a thick, leather one (with red stitching). Feels soo much better! Since you are always in contact with your steering wheel, I completely agree that it's very important, & you went in the right direction!
All cars about that age had similar steering wheels, because they hadn't quite worked out how to have stylish steering wheels with functional airbags. They just designed them with a big box in the middle, a rectangular outline, with a seam down the middle, and if you were lucky, they'd emboss the brand logo in one of the corners. I kinda prefer the 80's models. They didn't have the huge, packed, wheel, and they didn't have the huge beak on the front bumper.
Got myself one of these, it's not as bad as yours when nm I got it mechanically speaking. It was in a front end fender bender to where the front frame is in the way of the pasanger side headlight so it doesn't go down anymore. Only payed 2300 though.
I'm learning quite a bit from this about the car though so thankyou for making these
The only thing worse than that wheel was the lighting of the your video.
It Seemed like you Bank Vault scene in a Heist movie.
Great content, keep them coming.
Wise decision. I replaced my rubber 4 spoke stock Firebird wheel with this same Trans Am leather wheel. And yes, major improvement in the senses.
Same thing happened to all cars steering wheels that year. The 89 BMW 3 Series wheel was far superior looking to the 90 airbag wheel for example. Good thing disconnection of the airbag didn’t generate an engine light or something.
Certainly did on my E36! And then it wouldn't go away, even when everything was reconnected!
(I took the bulb out of the dash for about a year until I got the fault code cleared by a friend with the necessary tools).
I just remember the inertia of the wheel spinning round as it spins back to straight ahead position feels way different compared to an original style vs the later air bag ones.
Agreed on the driving visibility and experience difference.
Given the nature of how these cars are driven, I'd say it's a proper change out.
I've had both a 91 Firebird and 83 Trans Am for comparison if that helps. Both had my favorite hood :-)
Love the duralast tools lol. Same ones I have, cheap stuff but slightly better than harbor freight. Haven't let me down yet.
I also replaced my steering wheel its what you touch 100% of the time might as well be nice
Looks better. No airbag in my 83 . No airbags, we diee like men 🏎😜
Nice sound effect with the eagle haha
Ha, a man after my own heart. I did the same, I removed a dumb Chevy steering wheel I didn’t like and replaced it with a cool Pontiac steering wheel that worked much better. And that air bag is worth some money if you want to sell it.
Nice, yeah that airbag steering wheel looks horrendous
Thats a neat handy dandy torch👍
Job well done, indeed! That is a gorgeous steering wheel. And the firebird sound effects were awesome--too bad you can't make that your horn sound after you get it working. :D
Have the 3 spoke leather wrapped on my 86! Love it! Best steering wheel on 3rd gens
Good call replacing that ugly thing. It looks perfect now.
The new wheel looks like the one that was in my 84 Fiero. Looks good.
I just went back and watched the past 3 or 4 of your Firebird videos and that steering wheel has been replaced this whole time lol and I've never noticed it.
All the early airbag cars had ugly and bulky steering wheels. I hate those things. Your conversion looks great.
I had a brand new 92 v6 Firebird when I was in High School and the horn buttons stuck out some when new. But that exact steering wheel was also used on the Lotus' at the same time also. They just said Lotus instead of Pontiac.
I had a red mid 80s Firebird in the 80s and loved it. I never saw one with that crazy lame steering wheel though. Mine looked like a racing steering wheel without a air bag. It must be when the air bag law came in they tossed on some other model's steering wheel.
Wheel looks great. Good move.
I love the 78 TA....I had a 77 400 4 speed in high school....I thought it was the fastest car in 3 counties till I raced a 89 mustang gt 5 speed
Yeah, they're all show and no go... But we love them anyway
I have a 1984 Camaro I'm restoring from front to back I'm definitely keeping the original steering wheel.
I don't think the original steering wheel was terribly ugly; but I do agree your replacement is leaps and bounds better!
I love the look of this car. I saw one again for the first time in many years, and was struck by how sleek and light footed it looks amongst today's sea of SUVs, and even modern sports cars that have become massive and bulbous.
Look at the 1995 z28 compared to cars now, it looks like a fighter jet
I'm now 75 years old and remember when Hondas and Toyotas started coming over to the States , they were cheap junk . Car dealers kept them hidden in the back rows at their lots . I used to to tell my boys that by the time they were as old as me nearly EVERYONE would be buying these cheap cars . What I failed to realize is that many American brands would go by the wayside as a result and the surviving brands would copy that import appearance and now nearly all brands look as if they came from the same cookie cutter .
Holy crap, I would've never thought GM would have put in the "general car" steering wheel in the firebird. Budget cuts I guess, huge improvement.
I want to know more about that original Apple Macintosh mouse.
I peeped that as well. It's not just any old - old mouse as you (and Winston too) already know. Works with either original Macintosh 128k or Macintosh Plus. I think the Mac SE was released after the Plus and with that they changed to ADB interfaces for keyboard & mouse. I might have missed one in there somewhere but that's my recollection.
That's way better looking than the stock steering wheel was 👍👍
That steering wheel was used in the Lotus Esprit Turbo for a while too. 😉
The worst part of the later third gens were those steering wheels with airbags IMO, great upgrade! Best steering wheel I’ve ever used was the second gen Trans Am wheel, just about perfect.
Yeah, I have a 78 trans am and I love the wheel
High light the engraved Firebird on the wheel centre with red paint. Then it will really pop and make you enjoy your 3rd gen even more. I used to have a 1986 Camaro and did more things to it than I can shake a stick at. A by product of that is your bank account is empty. ;(
Yes, the driving experience WOULD be greatly enhanced, it's the one main area you're actually touching the car. Good move. Now, every time you drive the car, you'll reflect on replacing it and how nice it is. Airbags are overrated anyway - they kill people! And I realize it's L.A. and you may think you can't DRIVE without a HORN, but for my wife's sake, I disconnected the horn and now her driving experience is MUCH FRIENDLIER haha. Also the AutoReilly mix is HILARIOUS.
Winston your Wedding ring is looking very tight on your finger since you moved to America (if you know what I mean). Also I will go with Japanese over American when it comes to cars all day every day. Where I come from Honda has a huge cult following , saying that Ford does too but me personally I will pick Honda over Ford every time.
RS2000 ! 😎
@@DrOtto-sx7cp Fair enough mate, and the escort RS Turbo's are class too.
when you disable the SRS, was there any warning lights on the dash?
When I removed the SRS on my old Miata, SRS Warning light came on. So I removed the bulb. Mazda thought of that ahead as soon as light bulb was removed, this very annoying buzzer came oh as soon as ignition was turned on. I guess to warn the driver that Your SRS warning light bulb is out, and that SRS was malfunctioning(or lack of airbag I guess).
I had to tore my dash to get to the buzzer to totally kill it
Cool styling!
To discharge the caps remove the positive side of the battery and ground the positive cable.
I am just curious how did you sort out the cable of the air bag? Did you cut it? or had other option? By the way the wheel definitely improved the look of the car.
I undid the connector and insulated it so if I need to I can just reconnect it
Horn is essential and it won't matter how the steering wheel looks when a minor accident that would be avoided with the horn renders the old car totalled.
Fun fact; many truckers do not drive in california due to how strict they are with everything. So they drive to the state line and transfer cargo to trucks that do operate in california.
1:47 Who did the recovering? My Fiero came with the same wheel, my favorite feeling steering wheel ever. The originals have an issue where the foam breaks down and turns into a goo and makes your hands sticky.
Those super-early airbags are probably more dangerous than life-saving at this point anyway (especially after the Takata debacle), and the Third Gen was designed without airbags.
looks awesome dude!
My 1993 Saturn sw2 has that steering wheel and so does one of the 90s lotuses does
Precisely why I did the exact same thing when I owned a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire.
Where I live, if it has an airbag at must stay having an airbag. If you get pulled over for any other reason they notice your airbag is no longer an airbag they can force you to go get an airbag and then get inspected. And when it’s inspected everything must ask inspection not just the airbag
By '92 they were still using a similar (if not identical) wheel in...the Bonneville.
Anyway, out of curiosity--question: how did you prevent the AIRBAG light from coming on when you no longer had one? (Is that not a problem in that car?) I would think that would be a major annoyance. And if the cars are still subject to safety inspections at that age, aren't all factory-installed safety features expected to be there and working?
I have pulled hundreds of those steering wheel off you don't need the puller. You leave the nut on a couple turns brace your feet solidly on the floor pull first with one hand then the other with pressure on both and it will pop right off every time. No problem.
I'm agreeing with C-Milk, these older cars are nice, but they definitely lack safety features
My old classic Ford falcon does not have a working either on the wheel. It has a button on the dashboard that I have to hit to hear the horn. Which is kind of annoying to have to lean over to get to it. Which also keeps me from honking at people that upset me rather than people who don’t know what they’re doing on the road. I’m too lazy to reach forward when I’m upset but not when I’m instructing others :-)
I wonder if you could take a tiny paintbrush and paint the bird logo red down in the crevice's? Car is still looking good btw!
The three spoke steering wheels was awesome even before the airbag starting in 1988 they put an ugly generic Pontiac steering wheel in the firebird
My 1993 Saturn had an airbag that looked just like that!
Downside is you no longer have the protection of the SRS system...
At 30 years old, you can use the term "protection" lightly. I have a 20 year old car that has the airbag systems disabled because airbags have a limited lifespan. Yes, they will still fire, but chances are high that the systems will not work as the design dictated. Airbags deploying too slow or too fast is just as much if not more a hazard as not having airbags in general.
I have a 1989 and it is a non airbag model. The steering wheel does look similar but it just has the center provision for the radio controls no airbag and no radio controls. I purchased a 1987 trans am 3 spoke to replace my "Toyota Camry" steering wheel. I'm thinking my swap should be more straightforward because there is no airbag. When I went to my local AutoZone to borrow the steering wheel puller they told me I also needed a tool to pull off a lock ring doesn't seem you had to remove any kind of a lock ring on yours it seemed pretty much you pulled the wheel and swapped on the other wheel, why is this the case was only the steering wheel puller necessary or did you have to have some kind of a lock ring removal tool also in the process? I didn't see it but just asking. Thanks.
Were you able to get the horn to work?