REPOSTED FROM CLUBPROTEGE. ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 4/21/2005.
Thanks to cablemirc for returning me some favors, he had a OEM Nardi Torino steering wheel sent to me from Japan. It is the same one used on the Sport20 sedan, 323F sportive, and of course the NB Miatas.
The steering wheel itself is a "bolt on" affair, but it was NEVER meant to have cruise control buttons mounted on it (which the P5 wheel has). I chose the Nardi wheel over the P5 s*** because the leather is MUCH higher quality and I could stick closely to the sport20 sedan authenticness. While that was a good idea, thinking of how to mount the cruise control buttons that I jacked off of a P5 steering wheel became a nightmare.
The Nardi's steering wheel hub is "T" shaped compared to the more-or-less triangle shaped one the P5 has. The shape of the P5 steering wheel's hub is what allows the cruise control buttons to be mounted on securely. In order for me to replicate that, I had to fabricate a bracket that was strong enough yet thin enough to clear the clock spring, the horn pad, and the airbag that sits on top of that rat's nest. I got a piece of ~1.75mm thick aluminum and trimed it to the exact size I needed. I also copied the hole that's on the P5's steering wheel trim that the control control buttons mount through. I did not have to cut the hole as large as the P5 one though. I then measured and drilled the holes I needed to install nuts and bolts to secure the buttons onto my bracket. Since there was already a small hole on the steering wheel hub and a small pin stud (that I have no idea why it's there), I made use of them and drilled appropriate holes that lined up to those exact locations. The stud would be used for anti-rotation purposes and the small hole would be used for a self-tapping screw to directly secure the bracket onto the steering wheel hub. Because of the different securing locations for the horn pad, those support locations got in the way of the cruise control button's bracket. That had to be cut off in order for the tight clearance to be possible. The bracket was then JB welded onto the steering wheel. Installing the #10 self tapping screw onto the steering wheel was a nightmare itself. The screw was too big for the hole, and #8 was barely bigger than the hole. I ended up having to ream the hole bigger and then brute forcing the screw in. At the end, I stripped like 4 screws and twisted one of the screw heads off before I managed to get one in all the way (after multiple tries of making the hole bigger each time a screw was changed). Thanks to the ****** up s*** with the screw, it managed to push the bracket off the JB weld. So I gave up on that weak s*** and just installed the screw anyway (the caked on JB weld makes for a good surface imperfection shim. With just that one screw in place, the bracket itself was utterly brute force. Unfortunately, because of that one cut off corner of the cruise control button's bracket, I had to zip tie that part of it, but it's all ok anyway. It's hard explaining all this s***, but once you see the pics, you'll understand the crazy fabrication I just wrote about.
The end result was perfect and SECURE fitment of the cruise control buttons, you can't even tell it's not supposed to be there!
EDIT: I made a good cutting template and attached the template here for you to use.
Thanks to cablemirc for returning me some favors, he had a OEM Nardi Torino steering wheel sent to me from Japan. It is the same one used on the Sport20 sedan, 323F sportive, and of course the NB Miatas.
The steering wheel itself is a "bolt on" affair, but it was NEVER meant to have cruise control buttons mounted on it (which the P5 wheel has). I chose the Nardi wheel over the P5 s*** because the leather is MUCH higher quality and I could stick closely to the sport20 sedan authenticness. While that was a good idea, thinking of how to mount the cruise control buttons that I jacked off of a P5 steering wheel became a nightmare.
The Nardi's steering wheel hub is "T" shaped compared to the more-or-less triangle shaped one the P5 has. The shape of the P5 steering wheel's hub is what allows the cruise control buttons to be mounted on securely. In order for me to replicate that, I had to fabricate a bracket that was strong enough yet thin enough to clear the clock spring, the horn pad, and the airbag that sits on top of that rat's nest. I got a piece of ~1.75mm thick aluminum and trimed it to the exact size I needed. I also copied the hole that's on the P5's steering wheel trim that the control control buttons mount through. I did not have to cut the hole as large as the P5 one though. I then measured and drilled the holes I needed to install nuts and bolts to secure the buttons onto my bracket. Since there was already a small hole on the steering wheel hub and a small pin stud (that I have no idea why it's there), I made use of them and drilled appropriate holes that lined up to those exact locations. The stud would be used for anti-rotation purposes and the small hole would be used for a self-tapping screw to directly secure the bracket onto the steering wheel hub. Because of the different securing locations for the horn pad, those support locations got in the way of the cruise control button's bracket. That had to be cut off in order for the tight clearance to be possible. The bracket was then JB welded onto the steering wheel. Installing the #10 self tapping screw onto the steering wheel was a nightmare itself. The screw was too big for the hole, and #8 was barely bigger than the hole. I ended up having to ream the hole bigger and then brute forcing the screw in. At the end, I stripped like 4 screws and twisted one of the screw heads off before I managed to get one in all the way (after multiple tries of making the hole bigger each time a screw was changed). Thanks to the ****** up s*** with the screw, it managed to push the bracket off the JB weld. So I gave up on that weak s*** and just installed the screw anyway (the caked on JB weld makes for a good surface imperfection shim. With just that one screw in place, the bracket itself was utterly brute force. Unfortunately, because of that one cut off corner of the cruise control button's bracket, I had to zip tie that part of it, but it's all ok anyway. It's hard explaining all this s***, but once you see the pics, you'll understand the crazy fabrication I just wrote about.
The end result was perfect and SECURE fitment of the cruise control buttons, you can't even tell it's not supposed to be there!
EDIT: I made a good cutting template and attached the template here for you to use.
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