After the recent audio and interior upgrades I did to Mrs. Patches coupe, I was still waiting on the return of her modified airbag and steering wheel as well as the tweeters I had custom-molded into the A-pillar trim to improve the audio performance.

The recovered steering wheel and the custom A-pillars both arrived last week while I was out in SoCal so I finally got the chance to install them the last couple of days to complete this round of mods.

Here's the Vette Essentials-recovered wheel with the CarskinZ leather-covered airbag module.



I had VE add an extra layer of padding to the wheel rim to make it thicker/more substantial.


The stock wheel


I pulled the stock airbag and wheel.


The new airbag and wheel installed. Although the change in appearance is somewhat subtle, the feel of this new setup is so awesome.


I had posted in a few threads about moving the tweeters to what's considered the optimum position in the A-pillars. I couldn't find anyone who does this type of work. Then, luckily I saw Rick's (Gitusum) thread where he posted pics of his. He gave me contact info and I sent off an extra set of A-pillar trim pieces along with an extra set of tweeters I ordered to the Richmond VA shop, Audio One, to do mine.

The shop did a first-class molding and recovering job at a great price and the system sounds absolutely terrific!

Thanks, Rick!

 

Looks good

 

Looks good! Any tips on removing the airbag and swapping out the steering wheel? Will be doing one soon myself.

 

Pretty straightforward - just be careful disabling/enabling the airbag. Take your time and slowly crank on the steering wheel removal tool screw to make sure it doesn't crack the wheel. You do have to take several trim pieces out to do it right but that doesn't take long.

Here's a how-to for the whole process.

 

Appreciate it thanks. Yes, that's the same PDF I have as well.

 

I'm interested in doing the tweet mod. If you have the contact info I'd appreciate that.

ty!

 

Me too! My next mod is to upgrade my stereo to DD and this looks like a nice addition to that mod!

 

very clean looking

 

Looks Great Ed
I love the steering wheel

My tweeter A Pillars are almost done.
I have had these done for a couple weeks now I just need to wrap them

 

Dennis, the improvement in the audio setup was dramatic. I had some tweeters temporarily mounted a bit lower but these positioned where they are sound even better.

 

Thanks for the info Ed
I am also working on a makeover on my rear speaker covers to allow for me to put some ED components in them too. I want to see if i can angle the tweeters on them to the front. Dont know how this will work out but give me something to work on for my car

 

Post the results when done.

 

Sweet looking steering wheel, I wouldn't mind having that in my car!

 

Tweets are awsome !!!

 

 

Hey Patches, both of those changes look very good. Nice to see something different being done.

 

Thanks, Jack. The added padding to the steering wheel rim makes it feel so much better, more substantial, and gives you better control of the wheel. It's about the same thickness as the wheel on my Hummer H3 which I have always really liked. Grabbing the vette steering wheel after a week of driving my dd H3 always made it feel a little dated and "scrawny". Feels completely differnt now.

The change to the tweeter location really moved the sound stage forward and up and makes the new sound system I installed sound like it should. You'd never think such a subtle change could do so much.

Now I need to do these same mods to my C5 - Everything I've done over the last couple of years has been to improve Mrs. Patches' ride.

 

I was doing a search for removing the steering wheel and ran across this thread. Those A pillers with the tweeters are impressive. I plan on doing a stereo system in my car and think I will copy that idea!

 

Great stuff Ed! Now tell us you were a little freaked out about fooling with the airbag, right? Funny story, I had a conversation with a GM tech instrructor who trains dealership mechanics. His advice was to "always sit sideways when removing the airbag"

 

It's all good!