Replacing the Steering Wheel

[CivicSleeper]

I just bought my roommates 2000 Honda Civic EX, and it has 85k miles. There are a lot of things I would like to do and of course I don't want to make any mistakes.

The first thing I would like to do is replace the steering wheel.. since he has been the only owner and with the mileage, there is a worn place on the wheel. I was thinking about replacing it with a new factory wheel but now I am finding out I will need to take it somewhere because they have to disengage the air bag.. otherwise I would do it.(feel free to explain how to do this!)

Because of car insurance reasons(probably, still checking into it to see if it would be okay) I need an air bag in my steering wheel. But that doesn't make up my mind on whether or not I should just replace with another factory or buy something aftermarket like a MOMO, for example. What would you do? Any suggestions?

[eckoman_pdx]

Well, I don't have a 96-00 civic, but I replaced my wheel on my 92 civic. It has an airbag. A factory repair manual like a helms should cover the process. If I remember right, on my car (not sure about the 96-00) you first disconnect the battery, postive and negative. Then you wait at least 3 minutes. Then you disconnect the yellow airbag connector from whats it's connected to and install the red short connector to the airbag side. This disengagdes the airbag. Then you can remove the airbag, which has to be done to get the the steering wheel hub nut. A factory/helms manual can cover the process for you on your civic in more detail. It will give a few diagrams too. I used a factory repair manual when I replaced my bag and wheel and it helped a lot. Be careful removing the airbag, the screws can strip out easy (espeically with the incorrect bit, don't try it with the wrong bit). The screws on mine where stripped out (not by me), and I had to drill the screws out. No fun with an airbag right behind it.

[CivicSleeper]

That actually sounds risky, drilling out a stripped bolt with an air bag directly behind it. I would possibly too scared to attempt that... Did you replace with a stock wheel or aftermarket? I like some of the MOMO black leather steering wheels.. nothing fancy, just clean looking. Anyone have any good or bad comments about them? I noticed after looking at a few of them they come in mm diameter, guess I would have to read up on that to know which I would need. Thanks for your feedback ecko.

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by CivicSleeper

That actually sounds risky, drilling out a stripped bolt with an air bag directly behind it. I would possibly too scared to attempt that... Did you replace with a stock wheel or aftermarket? I like some of the MOMO black leather steering wheels.. nothing fancy, just clean looking. Anyone have any good or bad comments about them? I noticed after looking at a few of them they come in mm diameter, guess I would have to read up on that to know which I would need. Thanks for your feedback ecko.

Dangerous is a nice way to put it. I wasn't too sure but after a long while...it was coming out no other way than to drill the screw/bolt out. At that point I couldn't just leave it in either, so I was screwed if it that screw didn't come out.The whole dash was out though, so we were to the right of it. Way out of the way of the airbag. The dash was out, the seats were out. The whole interior was out while I was re-doing it. So we had plenty of room to be out of the way of it. If it had deployed it wouldn't have hit us. We had to be hella carful though, took it really slow. Some jerk off years ago had stripped the screws when putting them in. They over-torqued em and stripped them really bad. I got one of them out but the other, no way. It's pretty easy to do the whole thing, assuming the screws arn't stripped out.

I kept an airbag. I replace my grey OEM bag and wheel with a black OEM bag and wheel. Got the bag for $50 from a junkyard and the wheel for $25 from a junkyard.

The momo catalog I have lists the wheels in mm and inchs. That refers to the diameter of the steering wheel. You'd need the right hub and adapter to put the momo wheel onto your civic, but assuming you buy the right hub and adapter, any momo wheel should fit.

I don't remember the most commen mm wheel diameters off the top of my head, so I'll just like some For referance:
280mm = 11"
300mm =11.7"
305mm = 11.98"
330mm = 12.96"
350mm = 13.75"
355mm = 14"

I hope this will make it easier for you to translate the wheels mm diameter you read into inchs.

[CivicSleeper]

Well, except that dangerous part.. sounds like you were having fun redoing your car. I would love to replace my grey interior with black.. I will find a cheaper way to do it eventually. I will probably hold off on this steering wheel and do other things I know how to first. Like the sooner than needed full tune-up(but I want to so bad ), & intake. Next will probably be the manifold & exhaust.. I'll probably wait for a great deal off ebay or something, since it can be pricey. One of my friends know how to make custom intake and exhaust.. but I'm not sure how much I trust that. Since my intake has a sensor, I'm not sure I am comfortable with just trusting he won't screw it up.

Was your interior expensive? And do you have any pointers/tips for someone interested in doing it themself?

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by CivicSleeper

Well, except that dangerous part.. sounds like you were having fun redoing your car. I would love to replace my grey interior with black.. I will find a cheaper way to do it eventually. I will probably hold off on this steering wheel and do other things I know how to first. Like the sooner than needed full tune-up(but I want to so bad ), & intake. Next will probably be the manifold & exhaust.. I'll probably wait for a great deal off ebay or something, since it can be pricey. One of my friends know how to make custom intake and exhaust.. but I'm not sure how much I trust that. Since my intake has a sensor, I'm not sure I am comfortable with just trusting he won't screw it up.

Was your interior expensive? And do you have any pointers/tips for someone interested in doing it themself?

I worked at an uphostery shop and I do custom uphostery/interior. Darryl at the uphostery shop trained me, so I did it all myself on my car. It was fun, but tenuios. I just let it drag on too long, got sick of working on it, LOL. I just paid wholesale for all the martials (carpet kit, suede, vinyl, dye, contact cement, etc). I mean, it can add up even at wholesale with you as the free labor. It really depends on the material you choose. Novasuede runs $60 per roll yard wholesale (my cost) and Ultrasuede $78 per yard wholesale. Likewise some CF print vinyls run around 10.95 per roll yard. Big difference. It was certainly affordable for me spread out over the 1 year or so I worked on it. It would have been a heck of a lot more if it had been for a customer. The materials in uphostery typically are marked up close to 100%. So double the cost for materials. Then there the labor charge, and thats a big ass chunck. So knowing how to do the custom work myself saved a load and made it affordable.

Pointers, shoot. Don't be afraid to try stuff yourself. If you know how to sew, it's a big start in regards to seats. In not, if you have a mom or sister or grandmother that knows how, you might want to learn. You won't be doing seats if you can't sew. As for yanking interior panels and replacing them. A helms manual is your friend. It also comes in handy by letting you know the torque specs for all the nuts and bolts. I really wouldn't know where to start. If you tell me what you have in mind I can see if I can give you any pointers.

[CivicSleeper]

I've decided I'm going to leave the interior as it is.. the only things I may change are the seats and most likely the steering wheel. I'll just try to find something that matches, and of course I will have to like it enough to spend the money. Thanks for all your help ecko. I didn't realize how expensive it was going to be if I were to do all of that.

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by CivicSleeper

I've decided I'm going to leave the interior as it is.. the only things I may change are the seats and most likely the steering wheel. I'll just try to find something that matches, and of course I will have to like it enough to spend the money. Thanks for all your help ecko. I didn't realize how expensive it was going to be if I were to do all of that.

Hey, no problem. I am glad I could help. If you ever have any questions let me know.