Thread: Another Pontiac for the firebird

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Ok, so I picked up a horn button from O'Reilly $5. I put it on the box that holds the add-on turn signal switch, mounted on the column. Looks good and the horn works fine. Also the ebay hood pull cable installed very nicely. A tad too long but it tucked in ok. It's pretty interesting that this car was factory with that feature. No more poking the latch with a screwdriver!

Without going back multiple pages, when you pulled the steering wheel off the firebird using the hex-headed screws, did you not see the following below?

Steering.hub.78.jpg

If so, those two screw holes are what you need to screw the bolts into to remove the hub from the column. A typical auto parts store puller will not work, I'll check my back garage and see if I have the GM sourced puller for it.

Bill S.

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Without going back multiple pages, when you pulled the steering wheel off the firebird using the hex-headed screws, did you not see the following below?

Attachment 74331

If so, those two screw holes are what you need to screw the bolts into to remove the hub from the column. A typical auto parts store puller will not work, I'll check my back garage and see if I have the GM sourced puller for it.

Bill S.

No dice, struck out, sorry......

However, a quick call to a friend in NJ (he has a dozen such toys) came up with the following suggestion
Puller

Additional suggestion is to lightly spray (remove battery cable first) the splined hub with penetrating lubricant and let it sit for a few days.

Bill S.

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

This method would destroy my 73 year old banjo type wheel, but thanks for the input! My fault for not showing a picture, the "spokes" are very frail. The inside is plastic, it would never take the abuse.


Ok, so I picked up a horn button from O'Reilly $5. Looks good and the horn works fine.

I know that you're happy with the auxiliary horn button installation and no longer need to pull the wheel, but thinking about it and for future reference I really doubt that the splined center is just an insert floating in plastic. The plastic would never take the forces of steering & bumps, and would be dangerous at best. I suspect that there is a metal base with a plastic overlay surrounding the splined center and filling the hub assembly to provide electrical insulation for the horn. Granted, the spokes are somewhat "frail", but I expect they're mounted to metal in the center. Just my $0.02 after thinking about it too much.....