Now it's time to put that sucker on the truck. Here is the Camaro wheel we got at the swap meet. Functional? Yes. Cool? Not so much.
1. After popping off the factory...
1. After popping off the factory horn button, loosen the nut. We say loosen, because if you don't have the proper puller, then you are going to have to muscle it off-and you want to leave the nut on so you don't end up smacking yourself in the face with the wheel. That is something we have learned the hard way.
2. So, once the nut is loose,...
2. So, once the nut is loose, smack it with a hammer. This should pop the wheel free.
3. If it doesn't come free,...
3. If it doesn't come free, then grab hold and muscle it off. A side-to-side pulling motion was what worked for us.
4. For the horn, on these...
4. For the horn, on these classic Chevys, the current is transferred through this little aluminum protrusion sticking out of the plastic housing. We found the best way to hook up the wiring for an aftermarket wheel is to drill a small hole right in the end of the protrusion.
5. Then, we fed the wire in...
5. Then, we fed the wire in the hole and crimped the end. Now, it could be slid back on the column under the new wheel. The new wheel has a large hole in the center that will allow the wire to pass through.
6. Once we had the wheel on,...
6. Once we had the wheel on, all we had to do was plug in the other end and we were honking. There is a large O-ring that runs around the perimeter of the horn button to hold it in the wheel, so all we had to do was make sure it was straight before pushing it in.
The Final Word
How's that for bitchen? The wheel matches the interior, perfectly, and because of the black powdercoating it doesn't look out of place. The 13-3/4-inch diameter is small enough to give us ample legroom in our non-tilt truck, and because the steering wheel connects us to the truck we think this was totally necessary. One perk of the powdercoating is the maintenance: No more polishing the wheel for a show.