Putting a 200sx/Silvia/R33 steering wheel in an s14 240sx

[superficialfilter]

I had installed the steering wheel before I wrote this so I might be missing some pictures of a few steps. I'm posting this at the request of a few people that saw pictures of my interior and had some questions.

I own a 97 240sx and I love my car but I always thought that the stock 3 spoke steeing wheel was a little ugly. I looked around at some after market steering wheels but none of them appealed to me either. I considered the s15 steering wheel. I thought it looked good but I also thought that it clashed with the s14 interior. Kinda like a K's spoiler on a zenki. Something just looks a little off when you mix them IMO.Then I found a picture of a 97 silvia interior.I thought it looked pretty good plus it was designed to match my interior so I found one and purchased it.I once again had made the mistake of assuming that it should be an easy swap.Heres how it went.

I first had to remove my old steering wheel. I disconnected my battery and waited about 30 minutes before attempting to remove the airbag. The people here on Nico seem to be pretty knowledgable and thats what they recommended you do unless you like suprises that may include bloody noses, getting knocked out or both. Or if your really lucky just getting the **** scared out of you.Anyway after the wait I removed the left cover and the cruise control cover to find this.You will need a Torx T-50 tamper prove bit or wrench to remove the airbag module. I had a wrench and it looks like this. I dont like suprises that can cause bodily harm so I sat in the passenger seat when I removed the right one and outside the car when I removed the left one, just to be sure, I'm paranoid like that.Once you dissconnect and remove the airbag you'll need a 19mm socket to lossen the steering wheel nut. When you get that off you need to remove the steering wheel. Sometimes you can get a steering wheel off by hitting it simultaneously in the 3 and 9 o'clock positions with palm of your hands(dont let them rest on the wheel, let them bounce off). Use some force and most of the time it will pop loose. If it doesnt after 3-4 attempts go get the puller. Once you've done that you can compare.

240sxSilvia/200sxYou can see in the pictures that the two werent designed to use the same clock spring. The 200sx steering wheel harness comes through at the 6 o'clock position and the nipple comes through in the not quite 9 o'clock position. On the 240sx steering wheel the harness comes through at the 3 o'clock position and the nipple is in the 6 o'clock position. Hmm that sucks. Also the 200sx wheel didnt come with cruise control so there is no bracket to hold the switch but first things first. How to make it fit with the 240sx clock spring so I could retain the use of my cruise control and horn. What I did was I cut the 200sx steering wheel out so that the 240sx clock spring wiring harness could come through it at the 3 o'clock position. The 200sx wheel is made out of aluminum so it wasnt that hard.I caught a break with the nipple. It fit right in at the base of the two bottom forks. All I had to do was make its diameter bigger to get rid of about a 1/4" of play. Solution, electrical tape. Now on to the fun part.Mounting a cruise control switch on a steering wheel that wasnt ment to have it and making it look stock.I didnt use the 240sx cruise switch for this because #1. The cover plate on the back of the it is too small and wont completly hide the back of the switch when mounted to the 200sx wheel.#2. Better chance of getting rid of the stock steering wheel if it has the cruise switch with it. I went to the junkyard and got a 95 Altima cruise switch with a mounting bracket. Finding the right place to mount the switch is the tricky part. It cant sit too far foward or else it will look weird and you'll be stretching your thumb out everytime you want to turn on the cruise. It cant sit too far back otherwise it will be in the way of the airbag module when you press it down to use your horn. Then you've got to find the right place between the spokes. I cut part of the bracket off, bent part of it and fabricated the rest of it. Then I drilled and tapped a couple of holes on the steering wheel and made some mounting points. Alot of test fitting to make sure its in the right spot. Heres some pictures of the finished product.Once I got that out of the way it was on to the matter with the cruise switch connector clearing the horn button. I carefully cut away at the connector as much as I could making sure not to cut into the wires. Its ugly but it works.Now the hard part. I used a dremel tool to cut out the back cover of the steering wheel to accommodate the cruise switch. Lots and lots of test fitting. It needed to match the contours of the cruise switch cover plate. This was the hardest part of the whole deal. I wanted it to look nice and clean so I really took my time with it.The switch was the last thing I needed to modify.I had to extend the cover plate on the front of the switch to the left about 3/8" so it would cover the internals of the steering wheel. For the visible part I cut a piece of black plastic off a jeep console I had laying around and superglued the corners of some empty primer trays to the back of it for brackets. Then I superglued that to the switch.I assembled it all and put the steering wheel on the car and presto, its a SUPER JDM TYTE MOD YO! With functioning cruise switch and horn.Its been on there almost a year with no problems. So far so good.My advice to anyone else with an s14 who wishes to tackle this is to use a maxima clock spring and cruise switch from the same year. The maxima steering wheel is basically the same as the 200sx steering wheel. They seem to use the same clock spring. Look.

97 maxima steering wheel97 200sx wheelA maxima switch would probably look better and you may be able to use the switch mount as well without so much rigging.Anyway I hope somebody finds this helpful.

Modified by superficialfilter at 2:55 PM 5/28/2008
Modified by superficialfilter at 2:57 PM 5/28/2008

[srpowered240sx]

good write up. compelling and rich.

[CRIPES]

i'm just waiting on the maxima clock spring and i'll be putting mine in. i've got the r33 wheel, so hopefully it works the same.

i called nissan to see how much they charged for the max clock spring and they sais $245 or some ungodly amt... i laughed at the guy and said nvrmd. found it on ebay for $45. SUCK IT!

[cdhtang]

i'm just waiting on the maxima clock spring and i'll be putting mine in. i've got the r33 wheel, so hopefully it works the same.

i called nissan to see how much they charged for the max clock spring and they sais $245 or some ungodly amt... i laughed at the guy and said nvrmd. found it on ebay for $45. SUCK IT!

Do a write up after you install the r33 steering wheel with the max clock spring. My brother bought a r33 steering wheel for almost a year, but we want to find the easiest way to install it, so we never got it installed.

[CRIPES]

i'll let you know how it works out and if it's not exactly like superficialfilter's write-up then i'll add on to it... but it should be a little easier than using the 240 spring.

[i4jdm]

hey bro im doing the 180 wheel into my s14 and broke the plastic on top of the clock spring and it moved the ribbon inside...so my question is, is it safe to put on the steering wheel like that or should i buy a new one? and if i get a new clock spring should i get the maxima one instead of the 240sx clock spring?pls get back to me

[superficialfilter]

Um I'm not sure I completely understand your problem but if the ribbon moved I'd be a little skeptical of it. It's hard to say without looking at it. It may be ok, it may not. I'd probably replace it if it makes you question whether or not it will function properly. As far as which clock spring to use I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with the 180sx wheel. I looked at some pictures and if what I looked at is correct I would go with the 240sx clock spring because of the center spoke at the 6 o'clock. But once again I'm not 100%. Sorry, I wish I could be more help.

[i4jdm]

it looks to be the exact same as the silvia steering wheel....(mine came off a 97 180sz) as it can be the exact same....ill post a pic of the steering wheel if that makes it easier to tell, thanks by the way for the help

[enkei2k]

I caught a break with the nipple. It fit right in at the base of the two bottom forks. All I had to do was make its diameter bigger to get rid of about a 1/4" of play. Solution, electrical tape.

Modified by superficialfilter at 2:55 PM 5/28/2008

Modified by superficialfilter at 2:57 PM 5/28/2008

What do you mean by 'caught a break with the nipple'? Can you explain that more please as to what you did with the electric tape. I tried that, but it doesn't quite work. My steering wheel has quite a bit of play, and I'm not sure how to install it properly... I've tightened it the best I could and if i try to tighten it more, the steering wheel turns with it, and when I pull on the steering wheel, it pops out a bit. I have a youtube vid showing the problem...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlhoTTEWE-w

sorry, no flash...

[superficialfilter]

I watched your video. Can't see much, some light would be most helpful but I think I understand your problem. It's been a while since I messed with mine so bare with me. I'm assuming its the same steering wheel as mine and that you know you have to line up the splines on the shaft with the grooves on the steering wheel? Sorry if that insulted you, if it didn't and you actually didn't know that you may want to work on honing your mechanical inclinations. If I remember right there is a punch mark on the end of the steering column spline shaft that should line up with a punch mark on the steering wheel itself. If you have already tried that, check the threads on the end of the spline shaft. Maybe they've somehow been damaged and are limiting the nuts travel so it can't be tightened all the way. Beyond that I see no reason why you would have a 1/4"-1/2" of play up and down the shaft like that. As for the "caught a break with the nipple" I was referring to the nipple on the clock spring fitting in the fork of the bottom two spokes on the steering wheel. It fit between them, but not snug. Like putting an 1/8" O.D. object into a 1/4"I.D. hole. So I wrapped electrical tape around the nipple to increase its diameter and remove any play it may have had when the wheel was turned. This has nothing to do with the play you are experiencing in the video. I hope this helped you and good luck.


Modified by superficialfilter at 9:48 PM 3/3/2010

[jessetang]

What do you mean by 'caught a break with the nipple'? Can you explain that more please as to what you did with the electric tape. I tried that, but it doesn't quite work. My steering wheel has quite a bit of play, and I'm not sure how to install it properly... I've tightened it the best I could and if i try to tighten it more, the steering wheel turns with it, and when I pull on the steering wheel, it pops out a bit. I have a youtube vid showing the problem...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlhoTTEWE-w

sorry, no flash...

The nipple's function is to make the ring terminal moves with the steering.

[obg3506]

im having the same problem! clicking and the wheel not correcting itself! so will a 95 maxima clock spring work? will a maxima steering wheel work?

[LoSt180]

I hate when I find an awesome thread with a great write up, only to find the pictures have been moved or deleted from photobucket

I'm curious about the bracket fabrication you had to do. I just got my steering wheel back from getting the leather replaced and am too afraid to start cutting anything until I have a better idea of what fits.

I notice the Maxima steering wheel looks very similar, I'm going to a junk yard this afternoon to take some measurements. What I'm hoping is that the rear cover is the same size & shape and I can just swap it onto the Silvia wheel without having to cut anything.

[LoSt180]

No luck on using the back cover of the Maxima steering wheel. They are both shaped the same, however the gap between the spokes is about 1/2" larger and the whole thing is about an inch taller than the S14 wheel. Grabbed the clockspring, CC switch, and the bracket for the switch, hope it fits.