Sparco/Momo Steering Wheel in 90-93 Airbag Mustang

[robertlyons]

Good Morning Everyone,

I got a Sparco RIng steering wheel I want to install in my Solo I 93 Cobra. I have the hub that both Sparco & Momo says is correct for 84-04 Mustangs. I get around to doing it last night, and find that the hub will work on non-airbag cars perfectly, but will eliminate the horn on airbag cars as the clock spring is incompatible with the hub.

Looking at the whole setup, the answer is extremely obvious. The hub adapter needs to be cut down to fit inside the clock spring, as the 90-93 steering wheel does. Then the installation becomes easy, and retains the horn.

Has anyone found the correct adapter? I can't be the first person doing this. I can get the local "one-off" place to do the mods on the adapter, but there has got to be something out there that will work. The market is too big and it's just too easy to make one up.

So, can anyone help?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[1BAD93SVT]

try MM, they sell momo wheel and hub. if not, switch to a tilt steering, just a couple wires to splice to get horn working and you get tilt steering. will feel like a different car. i did it on my 91 a few years back. oh, and don't post about it being illegal.

 

[93Cobra#2771]

Send a PM to "Goodson" on this board - if there is a solution for that, he would be the one to know it. He's like a walking 5.0 encyclopedia when it comes to what fits where between what years.

Good to see a post again, Bob.

 

[robertlyons]

Hey 1Bad93SVT,

That was the first thing I thought of as it slowly dawned on me that it was not going to be a no-brainer modification. Especially since I looked over to my 1988 ASC McLaren Mustang and saw how easy it would be with a pre-90 column. But, I hate swapping out perfectly good parts (it killed me to put in an SN95 rack when I swapped to SN95 control arms, but I really didn't want to change the inner tie rods). And besides, I am one of the few who actually like where the 90-93 Mustang steering wheel is positioned.

I spoke with a couple of Sparco dealers & installers, and all said that to make it as clean and professional looking as I want, I'll need to be creating something on my own.

Tonight, I'm stopping off at my local "one-off" place. The adapter needed is so simple and straight-forward I can't believe someone isn't already making one. Must be the fear of being sued because you sell a part that does away with a "safety" device (when I hit the tire wall at Watkins Glen, the harnesses kept me far away from the air bag, but it's deployment added an extra "flair" to the in-car video).

Richard,

If I get any reluctance on my fabricator's part, I'll PM your guy. Yeah, I've been away for a while. Remember when I had the little touch with death over an intestine puncture 3 years ago (this week, actually)? Well, I had another emergency in March, which led to losing 30 inches of intestine. Just starting to get back into the swing of things. But I doubt I'll be making any track appearances this year. I'm just getting too old for this s**t!

Bob Lyons
Life is too short to let bad intestines make it shorter.

 

[93Cobra#2771]

I can see where that would be no fun - hope you get to feeling better! I remember when you were one of the first guys modifying a 93 cobra and I was watching every step you made.

 

[1BAD93SVT]

Bob, i can understang not wanting to swap out good parts. I love the 90 up interior except the non tilt steering. 30lbs of intestine is alot to overcome. hope you recover soon.

 

[robertlyons]

WHoa, that was 30 inches, not pounds. Although I lost a good 25 pounds during my week in the hospital and 3 weeks of recovery. Now, combine that with the 10" I lost in 2005, that leaves me with a very short large intestine. At least my wife won't have to beg me to stop every 150 miles or so when we're on the road!

A guy from Maximum Motorsports on the Corral told me I could just ditch the clock spring and transplant the old fashioned contacts from a 87-89 column into my 93 and be done with it. An interesting idea, one I may try if my guy can't make up the adapter I want.

Bob Lyons
"Life is too short...period"

 

[tjs98gt]

i have a sparco wheel in my car with the momo hub from MM. no horn here, would love to figure out a way to get it to work though

 

[Goodson]

A guy from Maximum Motorsports on the Corral told me I could just ditch the clock spring and transplant the old fashioned contacts from a 87-89 column into my 93 and be done with it. An interesting idea, one I may try if my guy can't make up the adapter I want.

Bob Lyons
"Life is too short...period"

Must have been Jack. That's probably the easiest thing to do next to pulling out the column and swapping in the 87-89 piece. If you've got someone that can make something for you, go for it.

Good to see you hanging around again Bob. I've chatted with you before about 10-11 years ago via e mail. I know you probably don't remember. There's a lot of road traveled in life since then for both of us.

 

[robertlyons]

A lot of road traveled...yes. I guy in Long Island I used to go to HPDE's with just married off his daughter. She's 25 now, I remember her when she was 11. His son works with Ferrari during the week, and travels with their US race team on weekends as part of their pit crew.

I stopped at the local one-off place last night. After 20 minutes of show-n-tell, I think they know what I'm striving for. I left them the Momo hub, an old 93 Mustang LX wheel to cut up and the clock spring. They said give it a week for them to try out a bunch of things. I'll keep the list updated, and post pictures when we start trial fitting.

 

[cobra-bit]

I know I’m resurrecting an old thread but is there anyone else with an aftermarket steering wheel using our 93 columns.

What did you do with the clock spring and how did you retain the horn?

 

[robertlyons]

Well, I finally said "Bleep this" and swapped in a tilt column from a 87-89 Mustang. It was pretty much an in-and-out R&R. All the switches transferred with no problems. I'd just say do the swap to an earlier column.

Now, that being said, I see exactly what needs to be done to adapt the kit to work with an airbag column. But my local "one-off" place got real busy and my job kept getting put off. However, even with the modified adapter, I would have still had to fab up some type of cover for the gap between the wheel and the air bag column cover.

It's just plain easier to swap than fight.

 

[cobra-bit]

Hey Bob,

Thanks for the quick reply. Switching to an ’89 column is my ultimate goal but I was hoping to get by without doing that for now. Although a used column is cheap enough so I guess I may as well just do it and call it a winter mod.

So what type of wheel and hub combo did you go with and do you have any pictures or advice before I dive into the swap?

I’m using a MOMO wheel and an NRG quick release locking hub adapter, both pulled from my SS Camaro I just sold. I just needed to purchase a hub to join the NRG stuff to the cobra but the one I ordered didn’t fit the steering column shaft so I’m sending it back.

Thanks again,
Mike

 

[robertlyons]

Mike,

Used a Sparco Ring steering wheel (smaller diameter, flat spot on bottom for a little extra knee room, but still retains a horn button), and a Momo hub kit. ABsolutely no problems making it completely functional on a pre-airbag column.

Bob Lyons
I got a vintage Mustang for my wife. Best trade I ever made.

 

[bad93svt]

got a pick of the final installed product?

 

[cobra-bit]

If Bob doesnt then i will soon. I'm about to pull the trigger on a used column this week but it'll probably be a couple of weeks before i can do the install. I have several little projects I'm already working on now and I'd like to finish what i've started so far. If you're interested let me know and i will post some pictures and maybe a little write-up too.

 

[robertlyons]

Guys,

I'd love to post a picture, but I can't do a simple paste and I'm way too tired right now to figure out how this software wants me to paste a picture. If someone wants to instruct the old guy, I'm all ears.

Bob Lyons
Life is too short to fight it out with software

 

[cobra-bit]

you could email them to me and I'll upload them for you if you'd like. [email protected]

thx

 

[cobra-bit]

Hey Bob: thanks again for sending me a photo to upload.

**Click here for Larger Picture**

Your car looks really nice, it’s the same color combo I originally wanted before settling on my Black/opal cobra.

I have my column on order and should get it by Friday and hope to have it installed by the end of the month. I just have a few questions for you though.

It looks like it’s gonna to be a pretty tight squeeze between my brake booster and headers to access the bolt connecting my steering column, did you remove your booster or anything else under the hood to access the bolt?

Also, did you have to change the gauge bezel to an earlier model as well to get the plastic column cover to fit correctly?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[bad93svt]

wow, I want to do this to mine.. how much trouble & what did it cost you in parts?

Thanks Jeff