Ok I have an alterior motive here...Its called a Momo steering wheel, smaller diameter, fatter rim and in sweade leather too! As I undeerstand it, pulling the airbag fuze won't do the job... I need to go to dealer and have then alter the software to not see a fault if the bag system is removed??? Do tuner shops have access to this part of the computer program, obviously not part of the Engine Management System. I know some of you guys run SCCA and ICSCC track days with no air bags allowed, so the answer must be close at hand. Any tips on the entire process will be appreciated. We have pullers and can probably remove the wheel itself, but need help with how to cut power to the bag system, fuze removal? dis-assemble the cosmetic front of the wheel to gain access to the main mounting nut...Please help me with links to 'how to' or tell me how right here. Thanking you fast ones in advance.....For legal purposes, this will be for 'racing purposes only' on specific track day weekends and be 'returned to normal' for everyday public road use.

 

Interesting. I'm in the process of installing a Trek R on mine, but I hit a snag I manage to retain the clock spring and make it work with the Momo adaptor but some machining needed on the adaptor to clear the clock spring and the steering shaft covers.

I read on Z06vette.com post that you can use a 2 ohm, 1 watt resistor to "fool" the airbag ECU. This way, your passenger-side still works and there is no SRS light.

You may want to have an FSM handy when doing this. Regular steering wheel remover doesn't work on the stock steering wheel, you will need certain adapters you can buy at NAPA.

BTW, watch out for the "it's dangerous!" people They will start posting about their disapproval of what you are about to do. They will also use psychological tricks to make you change your mind

Thread like this usually turn into a spitting match of the "it's dangerous!" people and the original poster.

 

I bought a Snao-On steering wheel puller this morning, specific to the C5 Corvette. I'm ordering a four point weld in roll bar setup tomorrow. After its in, I will be installing Schroth Bofi3 5 point racing harness, FIA approved for use in F1, LeMans endurace cars, Euro Supercar series, etc, and SCCA approved for all events all classes. It's not factory, but its MUCH safer. Along with Sparco, and perhaps one or two other makers, its the safest harness system on the planet. I already have the harness for the Vette, and I already have them installed in 2 other vehicles.

I would agree that in a DOT stock 3 point harness, you need an explosive detonation in front of you to make it 'safe' because of the extremely poor body holding of the retracting 3 point harness. However, in a proper harness the explosive in front of you becomes a libility.

Do you have any info on what wires get the resistor? Color code? Is there a fuze I can pull to disarm the bags during the removal process? I really need a service manual, or advice from someone who has a manual.

I'll pick up the resistor tomorrow. Being in the electronics business helps here!

 

I received the following information on another section of the forum. I am copy/paste it here for the benefit of anyone following the thread.........Also, from c5forum I leaned that at 2 ohm, 5 watt resistor will fool the BCM into thinking an airbag is still in place. I assume this goes into the yellow wires???? Still need clarification on this.

Removing the wheel copied here.........

No need to disconnect the battery.
Make sure the wheels are straight ahead.
Turn the ignition switch to the OFF position.
Remove the key from the ignition.
Remove the front floor kick-up panel to access the fuses.
Remove the SDM Fuse from the I/P fuse block.
Remove the left sound insulator; the one under the steering wheel.
Remove the connector position assurance (CPA) from the inflatable restraint steering wheel module coil connector located at the base of the steering column. This is a sliding device that keeps the YELLOW connector with wires that feed up in to the steering column, from accidently coming apart.
Then disconnect the YELLOW connector. This step is important, since the connector on the bag side has a shorting bar, that shorts the contacts the minute the connector halves are disconnected. Shorting the connector contacts prevents any chance of accidently blowing the bag.
Remove the screws retaining the inflatable restraint module to the steering wheel.
Remove the inflatable restraint module from the steering wheel.
Disconnect the connector position assurance (CPA) from the electrical connector on the module coil.
Disconnect the electrical connector from the back of the steering wheel module.
Disconnect the horn wiring harness from the steering column.
Disconnect the ground wire from the steering column.
Remove the steering wheel module from the vehicle. (For safety, place the bag on the floor with the bag facing upwards. Do not lay the bag on the floor with the bag facing down. If it ever blew, and the bag was facing down, it can fly a pretty good distance before stopping on someone's head. If it goes off with the bag facing up, it makes a loud noise, omits a white vapor...cornstarch for lubrication...but does not fly around. I have never seen a bag accidently go off, but I have set off about 100 bags in the last eight years, that are used for training purposes.)
Remove the steering wheel nut and throw it away, a new one is required.
Set up the pulley and remove the steering wheel. Most universal pulley removers will work, be careful not to damage the wheel if you are going to reuse.
To install, reverse the procedure.
Steering wheel nut torque: 41 N·m (30 lb ft).
Air bag screws' torque: 6 N·m (54 lb in).
Make sure to install all connector position assurance devices into all the connectors that have been disconnected; especially the YELLOW air bag system connectors.
Install the fuse and both kick panels.
Turn the ignition switch to ON, and a good suggestion is to keep away from either of the bags...just in case.
If everything is ok, the air bag indicator will flash seven times, then go off. If you do not get seven flashes, or if the light does not go off, something is wrong.
However, there really is not much that can go wrong, provided you follow the steps.

 

I would imagine that you place the resistor across the electrical connector. It's the only one there beside the horn wires (red with white stripe and black). You'll know once you look at it.

Let me ask you a question. I picked up two 1-ohm, 10w resistors in order to get 2 ohm of resistance. Now, it was said to get 1w resistor. Would the difference in power rating make it unsafe/too hot somehow ? If you think that I should use 1W, can you spare me one ? Thanks.

The FSM really mentions only taking off the horizontal plastic panel that also holds the interior light. I found that this panel did not obstruct the connector that you need to get to. Instead, the knee panel under the steering shaft (behind the horizontal plastic panel) is the one that obstruct the connector. Maybe some cars are different, but I can't imagine why.

 

About the resistors....Using 2 resistors of 1 ohm each, daisey chained in series will give you 2 ohms resistance. The extra wattage is of no consequence. If you used 10 watt resistors you would now have a compound wattage of 20. All this means is that the resistors can get rid of more energy without getting so hot that they change value and eventually blow up. If a 1 watt resistor is fine, more wattage is insurance against failure. Of course they will weigh a few grams more, and consume .oooooooooooo4 HP more to move down the road. I'll pick up 3 or 5 watt resistors tomorrow depending on what they have in stock in 2 ohm value. Your 1+1=2 ohm resistors at 20 watts will work just fine.

 

Just be carefull you don't pull the wrong yellow airbag plug.

On my 2000 the passanger side plug is under the drivers knee panel. I confirmed this from Ken Fitchner's parts department, when I installed the Airbag cut off switch.

Just make sure you pull the right airbag clip.

 

I would love to put in a nice "real" wheel... thicker, smaller diameter, suede, and w/ thumb grip thingys... just apprehensive about loosing the bags! I don't want to buckle up my harnesses every time I go somewhere.

 

I started using 4 and 5 point harnesses back in about 1971, and walked away from a bad accident that totaled my Lotus. Had I been in a conventional 3 point I would likely have been killed or maimed. about 8 years ago I was driving an Aerostar that got rear ended...Stock seats and stock 3 point. ended up with 2 cushed discs, 2 years of physical therapy, permanent nerve damage to my left leg with pain and or numbness that comes and goes, and a limp that is with me forever. Had I been in a 4 or 5 point harness I would have been unhurt. These things really work. After loosing 2 years of my life due to stock harness, I have become rather **** about installing and using 'real' safety harness. I would suggest you think twice about the minute or so it takes to really strap into a 4 or 5 point harness VS the huge loss you 'could' suffer in a collision with just the factory retracting 3 point.

 

Air bags alone without seat belts is not a good idea

 

^ Huh... never said anything about not wearing my belts... I want to have it setup so I have both in my car. I have Sparco Roadster seats and a BK harness bar w/ two sets of 5-pt camlock harnesses. Just haven't gotten the sparco's in yet.

 

Additional info...Over on www.Zo6forum.com I just learned that the T1 racer guys just yank the whole steering wheel mess and do nothing to the remaining harness. The car runs just fine with the bag disconnected and removed. However, you do get a small warning indicator that glows.

Perhaps Wah wil try out the resistor this weekend and let us know how it works. Lets hope for no warning indicator!

 

Jen,

lol, no need to wait for me. Besides, my horn wire is shipped today, which means I won't get it until Wednesday or so. I probably won't get the project finished until after next week. Oh well, the car isn't going anywhere anyway since it's in hibernation.

Here is the thread where I got my information from. Skip to page 2 or you will have to read all the "It's Dangerous!" people trying to talk the guy down

The other should-remain-nameless forum

You can always "yank" the whole thing, but mine is also a street car, so I want to keep the clock spring/horn function. If you are going the "yank" route, you can still use the resistor to keep the SRS light turned off.

BTW, since you are an electronic whizz and you have T84 headlights on yours, how about helping me get the 9005/9006-to-H4 harness adapters ? Please ? Pretty please ?

 

I installed a sparco wheel in my car,
I simply removed the bulbs in the instument cluster. Problem solved,
I retained the clock spring for proper horn function.

 

Doug,

Did you need to machine the adaptor so that it clears the steering column covers ? Or did you trim the covers instead ?

 

"BTW, since you are an electronic whizz and you have T84 headlights on yours, how about helping me get the 9005/9006-to-H4 harness adapters ? Please ? Pretty please ?"

H4 bulb wiring.....I bought my Euro lamps from the guy at www.cibieusa.com and purchased new bulb connectors at the same time, with about 8 inch wire 'pigtails' . On the stock setup, each seperate bulb for the HI and LO has 2 connections, ground --and Plus at battery voltage, total 4 connections, but 2 are the same elctrically, the grounds. The H4 has 3 connections, ground, Plus for HI and Plus for LO. First you need to get a connecotor that fits on the H4 bulb. Assuming you are going to use 'normal' wattage H4s, you can hard wire the new connector by just splicing the appropriate wires from the original harness onto the pigtails of the new H4 connector. Of course you have to cut off the original bulb connectors. I did this 'temporarely', to get my lights running. I did not keep track of what color wires went where, I just used an ohm- meter in the bulb to find the HI and LO filaments and common-ground, and just spliced away not keeping any notes...Sorry!! I plan on removing the wiring when the weather gets better and I have more time and comfort to work on it. I will be adding heavy wires direct from the battery AUX and GND to feed power out to a set of relays, and from the relays on out to the lamp sockets. The original headlight wires will then be cut short and used to operate the activation coils of the relays. You must do this if you are going to use the really hi wattage H4s, because they draw so much current they will cause premature burnout of stock headlight switches. Even with the lower wattage H4 bulbs, relay operation with fat wire is a good thing because the fat wire has less voltage drop than the stock wire and switches, and they will be a little bit brighter. I would advide you to get in contact with www.cibieusa.com and ask about adapters. He is a fellow C5 owner driver, very familiar with the model. I think he might make a plug-in setup that eliminates DIY splicing, and would make retrofitting to stock for resale time a snap. Another good resourse is Daniel Stern lighting. www.danielsternlighting.com There is also a nice tutorial at ....http://www.c5forum.com/diy/eurolights.php
Hope this helps....

I was going to go back to Race Central today and actually order my wheel and hub, but got sick over the weekend and am in bed with really sore throat and fever. Hopefuly later in the week..........
Jennifer

 

Jen,

Thanks. I already have an "upgraded" headlight wiring harness for the H4 side (all soldered connectors, three relays - Bosch only, fat wires, three fuses, individual ground wire for each headlight connector, etc.).

I was trying to see if I can get the hard-to-obtain H4 bulb-side (that will plug into the "upgraded" harness) and 9005/9006 bulb-side connectors (that will plug into the OEM harness). This way I don't have to splice/cut anything I believe GM has this type of adapter (three connectors and three wires) but they want around $40 for each.

 

Just a little trim, then filed the edge clean.

 

Well, you know what. That 2-ohm resistor trick works. The SRS light flashed 7x and it turned off. Yay !

And the Trek R looks very nice.

 

Great news on the resistor! Perhaps in a week or so I'll get around to the process too. I am behind schedule on this project, and everthing else in my life to due being sick with a flu like illness that has had me in bed since last Saturday, 8 days ago. I'm on the mend, but so far behind in work obligations that I won't have a lot of time to play with the Vette until I get caught up. I still need to drive over to Race Central to order the wheel and hub, that I was planning on doing last Monday......hopefully later this week I'll make it.