steering wheels

[markplucenik]

Steering wheel question. My car is a 66 Corsa conv. I do have a factory "sport" wheel from a 64 Spyder. The imitation wood steering wheel. I have the wheel and the "hub" the wheel is screwed to.
Is this optional steering wheel for the 64 the same as what would have been offered for the 66 model year? Thanks again for the help, Mark

[gbullman]

Take a look at Seth Emerson’s site; https://www.perfvair.com/steering-wheel-adapters/ and potentially reach out to him for guidance. I’m pretty confident your 64 wheel won’t work without some sort of adapter on your 66 but don’t know the specifics. This topic (differences in steering columns / wheel mounting) comes up a lot.

[66vairguy]

Take a look at Seth Emerson’s site; https://www.perfvair.com/steering-wheel-adapters/ and potentially reach out to him for guidance. I’m pretty confident your 64 wheel won’t work without some sort of adapter on your 66 but don’t know the specifics. This topic (differences in steering columns / wheel mounting) comes up a lot.

Seth Emerson has done good research on the steering wheels and he sells adapters for the oddball steering shaft size used in 1964, 65, 66. I'll only address the standard steering shaft, NOT the telescopic.

Model years 1964, 65, 66 used an oddball diameter for the splined shaft the steering wheel adapter hub mounts on. Apparently this shaft diameter was not used on any other GM vehicle or the era. Why? It seems someone decided a few cents could be shaved by using a solid shaft from the steering box to the steering wheel. Since the Corvair steering box was unique, it was decided to use a smaller shaft (saved another few cents). The Corvair required a non-standard hub to fit the new shaft. (NOTE: earlier Corvairs used a two piece shaft and the upper shaft was a standard diameter).

In 1964 the intent was to use the same "Sport" steering wheel from the Chevelle, but of course the Corvair needed a different hub. Since it was an "option" GM just raised the price a little for the "Sport" steering wheel to cover the cost of a unique Corvair steering wheel hub. It's claimed the Chevelle "Sport" steering wheel is the same as the Corvair, but the hub is NOT. WARNING: The Chevelle "Sport" wheel is reproduced, I've seen three versions. One looks like original, but I could not verify diameter and dish depth. One has no stainless ring around the outside. One has an incorrect diameter. These observations were made years ago!

The 1965 model year had the same basic steering box and shaft design as the 64 for a few months, THEN IT WAS CHANGED. The late 1965 model year was revised to a two piece steering shaft with a joint that had a bulkhead plate to minimize intrusion into the passenger compartment. While NO documentation is available to explain this mid-year change, the consensus is GM became aware of independent testing showing were in severe crashes of 1964 models the steering wheel does considerable damage to the drivers chest and head!!!!! BTW - Somewhere I have the photo of the test crash showing the dummy getting mangled.

It would have been a good time to get rid of the oddball upper steering shaft size, but NO! Since Corvair steering wheels (and other parts) were already in the manufacturing pipeline, the revised late 65 two piece steering column still used the "oddball" steering shaft size for the upper shaft. This was continued through the 1966 model year. To install a "Sport" steering wheel you need one of Seth's adapters for the oddball upper steering shaft size. BTW -- I slightly modified Seth's adapter to use the later GM three spoke sport steering wheel.

The 1967 model year was the first were GM addressed the upcoming "safety" requirements. With many GM cars getting the new collapsible steering column, the Corvair was revised to use it -- AND once again the Corvair steering wheel shaft was back to the standard GM size!

If your thinking of installing the 1967 style collapsible steering column in your Corvair, I'd suggest some serious due diligence. A lot was changed including the pedal assembly.

[66vairguy]

Steering wheel question. My car is a 66 Corsa conv. I do have a factory "sport" wheel from a 64 Spyder. The imitation wood steering wheel. I have the wheel and the "hub" the wheel is screwed to.
Is this optional steering wheel for the 64 the same as what would have been offered for the 66 model year? Thanks again for the help, Mark

A I mentioned above, the 1964 and 1966 upper steering wheel shaft diameters are the same. HOWEVER - the 1964 and 1966 turn signal switches are different so the 1964 steering wheel hub might not match up with the 1966 turn signal cup and cancelling mechanism. Seth Emerson may know.

[markplucenik]

Thank you for the info. I should have known this would be much more complicated.

[66vairguy]

Thank you for the info. I should have known this would be much more complicated.

Keep in mind the steering wheels were attached to the mounting hub with rivets or screws. If the 64 hub won't work with the 66, then you could remove the steering wheel from the 64 hub and get an adapter hub from Seth Emerson to mount the steering wheel on.

OR, you could sell the 64 Sport wheel complete (they are hard to find as a complete unit now) as is and buy something else to go on the 66. I modified Seth's adapter hub to mount a 69 Camaro faux rosewood sport steering wheel on my convertible. The center pattern was the same on the 64 two spoke, and the three spoke sport wheels.