Write Up: C6 Steering Wheel in an F-body
02-05-2013, 05:44 PM
#1
Write Up: C6 Steering Wheel in an F-body Ok guys, bear with me. I wanted to go ahead and get started on this thread. I probably wont be able to finish this before motorama but I wanted to share what I have so far. I'll be finishing the write up after the show.
So for the last year I became obsessed with making it possible to swap the c6 corvette style wheels into a 4th gen F-body. After alot of dead ends and hours of research I kept coming up blank. I finally bit the bullet and bought a wheel to see if I could make it happen. Ofcourse the splines are different.
The next logical step was to buy a Vette steering shaft... This is where I messed up initially. I was told by a GM tech the vette uses the same type universal joint that our cars do in the column. Well I assumed that ment all the cars that use the "Corporate Wheel" were the same and went and found a gutted Cobalt and ripped the shaft and wheel out of it.
Upon taking the cobalt column appart I saw it was very diffrent from the u joint style. Discouraged I gave up for a bit... at this point I was 2 steering wheels and a shaft into this and still no results. I contimpated machining the two shafts and finding a way to bond them together but my fear or unreliability prevented me from following through.
Fast forward too about 2 weeks ago. A thread popped up on here asking if it could be done. I rattled off what I knew up to that point and it got me looking into it again. By either dumb luck or fate I stumbled acrossed and ebay listing for this:
GM part number 26074286
A quick call to my local dealer parts department confirmed this was indeed the correct part for the Vette steering column and even though I didnt have the stock F-body shaft to compare dimensional I could confirm visually it looks like the same shaft with the right splines. I ordered the part and recieved it yesterday. It fits! or atleast it fits the wheel.
So in 2 weeks ill take the column appart and see if i can make it all work. So far it looks like its going to go off without a hitch. Stay tuned here for results.
Heres a few pics of what I have so far
Now theres one other issue that has to be addressed... the airbag... Heres what I got so far. Upon talking to a pretty well knowledged GM tech he informed me that he didnt think our f-car airbag module would blow a newer style bag since the newer electronics are all can-bus and different info received by the bag as far as impact speed and angle. I just assumed it want doable and figured if i could get the wheel to work, "ef it cause racecar"
Well last week when I figured out I may be potentially able to make the wheel work still I called a few airbag company's searching for the cover (which is pretty much impossible to get without the bag unless you dumb luck into it) Well in the process I talked to a gentleman who seemed to really know what he was talking about on the subject who informed me even though the newer bags are designed to function that way it will still blow if it sees a signal from the module and my retrofit should work. He again couldnt confirm this but it seems like he knew what he was talking about. I went ahead and ordered an airbag out of the Pontiac G5 for the corporate wheel. Unfortunatly (unless it blows up as soon as i hook it up) i wont be able to confirm if this will work unless the worst case scenario happens and I wreck the car but I dont think im gonna take that one for the team if i can avoid it
So stay tuned guys and maybe I can finally put an end to this long asked question.
So for the last year I became obsessed with making it possible to swap the c6 corvette style wheels into a 4th gen F-body. After alot of dead ends and hours of research I kept coming up blank. I finally bit the bullet and bought a wheel to see if I could make it happen. Ofcourse the splines are different.
The next logical step was to buy a Vette steering shaft... This is where I messed up initially. I was told by a GM tech the vette uses the same type universal joint that our cars do in the column. Well I assumed that ment all the cars that use the "Corporate Wheel" were the same and went and found a gutted Cobalt and ripped the shaft and wheel out of it.
Upon taking the cobalt column appart I saw it was very diffrent from the u joint style. Discouraged I gave up for a bit... at this point I was 2 steering wheels and a shaft into this and still no results. I contimpated machining the two shafts and finding a way to bond them together but my fear or unreliability prevented me from following through.
Fast forward too about 2 weeks ago. A thread popped up on here asking if it could be done. I rattled off what I knew up to that point and it got me looking into it again. By either dumb luck or fate I stumbled acrossed and ebay listing for this:
GM part number 26074286
A quick call to my local dealer parts department confirmed this was indeed the correct part for the Vette steering column and even though I didnt have the stock F-body shaft to compare dimensional I could confirm visually it looks like the same shaft with the right splines. I ordered the part and recieved it yesterday. It fits! or atleast it fits the wheel.
So in 2 weeks ill take the column appart and see if i can make it all work. So far it looks like its going to go off without a hitch. Stay tuned here for results.
Heres a few pics of what I have so far
Now theres one other issue that has to be addressed... the airbag... Heres what I got so far. Upon talking to a pretty well knowledged GM tech he informed me that he didnt think our f-car airbag module would blow a newer style bag since the newer electronics are all can-bus and different info received by the bag as far as impact speed and angle. I just assumed it want doable and figured if i could get the wheel to work, "ef it cause racecar"
Well last week when I figured out I may be potentially able to make the wheel work still I called a few airbag company's searching for the cover (which is pretty much impossible to get without the bag unless you dumb luck into it) Well in the process I talked to a gentleman who seemed to really know what he was talking about on the subject who informed me even though the newer bags are designed to function that way it will still blow if it sees a signal from the module and my retrofit should work. He again couldnt confirm this but it seems like he knew what he was talking about. I went ahead and ordered an airbag out of the Pontiac G5 for the corporate wheel. Unfortunatly (unless it blows up as soon as i hook it up) i wont be able to confirm if this will work unless the worst case scenario happens and I wreck the car but I dont think im gonna take that one for the team if i can avoid it
So stay tuned guys and maybe I can finally put an end to this long asked question.
Last edited by maxplusten; 03-15-2013 at 07:19 AM.
02-05-2013, 07:33 PM
#5
ill warn you guys, i dumb lucked into one going cheap on ebay and got it for 70 bucks... for some reason the auction page now says the sale price was 254 bucks... gm parts direct had it for 160 i think... but someone might have caught on and is gonna try to get rich quick.
Trending Topics
02-05-2013, 07:41 PM
#8
i got the steering wheel for 80 at a swap meet but they range anywhere between 100-1200 on ebay depending on how fancy you wanna go. Airbags are ranging around 200-350... ive seen covers before but currently i cant find any without the bag.
I also had the plastics and the caps sent of for hydrodipping to match my dash so thatll be another 50-60 bucks... id say right now im in it for about 500 bucks which in the grand scheme of things is probably in no way worth it but... ittl look cool lol. Eventually id like to upgrade to one of the d-shaped alacatara wheels
I also had the plastics and the caps sent of for hydrodipping to match my dash so thatll be another 50-60 bucks... id say right now im in it for about 500 bucks which in the grand scheme of things is probably in no way worth it but... ittl look cool lol. Eventually id like to upgrade to one of the d-shaped alacatara wheels
02-05-2013, 07:58 PM
#9
anybody have a junk v6 they could hook this up to and see if it blows lol, but you'd be out of $$$ for the airbag, thats the only way I can see of confirming this without a real accident, just an idea.
02-05-2013, 10:39 PM
#10
Props to you but without knowing for sure if the air bag will deploy correctly is a big risk.
Do the GM air bags have the dual stage air bags? I know the Fords do.
I am assuming GM has something similar to Fords HSCAN. Everything has to be right for the SRS to work correctly, mainly resistance within the system. Good luck.
If you do decide to go through with it please don't be in front of the wheel when you prove out the SRS.
Do the GM air bags have the dual stage air bags? I know the Fords do.
I am assuming GM has something similar to Fords HSCAN. Everything has to be right for the SRS to work correctly, mainly resistance within the system. Good luck.
If you do decide to go through with it please don't be in front of the wheel when you prove out the SRS.
02-05-2013, 10:49 PM
#11
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: clementon, nj
Posts: 661
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Curious if this will make way to using 5th gen, or other late model wheels. What is the diameter of the c6 wheel? I want a smaller wheel without getting away from an OE look
02-06-2013, 01:28 AM
#13
I don't know how the Vette air bags deploy, but I can tell you the F-body deployment method is incredibly simple. There are only 2 wires going to the bag itself, and all that does is supply 12v. This voltage is supplied by the module in the console when it senses a crash. You can easily deploy an air bag yourself by hooking up a 12v battery to it across the pins.
The other thing you'll need to check is the resistance of the Vette bag. The air bag module looks for a specific resistance in the bag circuit, otherwise it will illuminate the air bag light. On my 97, that is between 1.4 and 3 ohms.
The other thing you'll need to check is the resistance of the Vette bag. The air bag module looks for a specific resistance in the bag circuit, otherwise it will illuminate the air bag light. On my 97, that is between 1.4 and 3 ohms.
02-06-2013, 02:04 AM
#14
Should go hook up the newer airbag to a junkyard fbody that hasn't had its bags blown and see if you can get it to trigger. No risk to your own car that way. Plus it could be fun 
This does greatly interest me as one of the many interior mods/upgrades I want to do includes doing something about the steering wheel. (Another is change the entire signal stalk to a newer, nicer design).
This does greatly interest me as one of the many interior mods/upgrades I want to do includes doing something about the steering wheel. (Another is change the entire signal stalk to a newer, nicer design).
02-06-2013, 03:31 AM
#15
Personally im good on the airbag,in some cases they do way more harm than good,i sometimes use to stare at my wheel just waiting for it to go off lol,have seen people get majorly injured from the smallest fender bender,they do save lives yes,but ill take my chances
02-06-2013, 05:33 AM
#18
I don't know how the Vette air bags deploy, but I can tell you the F-body deployment method is incredibly simple. There are only 2 wires going to the bag itself, and all that does is supply 12v. This voltage is supplied by the module in the console when it senses a crash. You can easily deploy an air bag yourself by hooking up a 12v battery to it across the pins.
The other thing you'll need to check is the resistance of the Vette bag. The air bag module looks for a specific resistance in the bag circuit, otherwise it will illuminate the air bag light. On my 97, that is between 1.4 and 3 ohms.
The other thing you'll need to check is the resistance of the Vette bag. The air bag module looks for a specific resistance in the bag circuit, otherwise it will illuminate the air bag light. On my 97, that is between 1.4 and 3 ohms.
Thats kinda where im at with it... its a showcar/toy... if the good lord decides its time for me to go no airbags gonna stop it anyway lol. Its more curiosity to see if it could work.
02-06-2013, 05:43 AM
#20
Props to you but without knowing for sure if the air bag will deploy correctly is a big risk.
Do the GM air bags have the dual stage air bags? I know the Fords do.
I am assuming GM has something similar to Fords HSCAN. Everything has to be right for the SRS to work correctly, mainly resistance within the system. Good luck.
If you do decide to go through with it please don't be in front of the wheel when you prove out the SRS.
Do the GM air bags have the dual stage air bags? I know the Fords do.
I am assuming GM has something similar to Fords HSCAN. Everything has to be right for the SRS to work correctly, mainly resistance within the system. Good luck.
If you do decide to go through with it please don't be in front of the wheel when you prove out the SRS.
