camarosource

iTrader: (1)

Some assistance would be appreciated on this confusion. It has come to be attention that all my research so far is indicating that the 1990 - 1992 Camaro Z28's came STANDARD with LEATHER steering wheels. This leaves me confused because there is no mention of any other steering wheel as optional. However I find nearly every 1990 - 1992 Camaro I come across have the SIMULATED leather steering wheels (no leather wrapping under it).

I was always under the impression that the SIMULATED "leather" (vinyl?) steering wheel and the LEATHER was OPTIONAL. However I've yet been able to locate the RPO codes for any of them.

88gta6spdvert

all I can say is damn nice z ,I just got 92 25th myself needs lota work but been there ,mine is a factory sunroof blk/ blk pwr seat cloth 1 le rear posi dont know gear yet. 5.7 auto . factory cd . I have a super rare cluster out of a canadian 145 car registers the km/hr in big numbers 240 km/hr

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

Thank you very much.. Since you have a 92 z28 now.. which steering wheel do you have? Is it entirely smooth or has the leather (stitching under it)

irock88

My 90 Iroc has the leather steering wheel. It was my understanding that the Irocs and z28 had the leather steering wheels and the RS had the vinyl.
I believe some steering wheels have been changed due to wear and tear of the leather wheel and vinyl ones installed.

Dante93GTZ

iTrader: (5)

All of my 90-92 Z's have been the most basemodel cars performance wise, and all 3 still had the leather wheels.

1990 IROC (305/auto/drum/15" wheels)
1991 Z28 (305/auto/drum)
1991 Z28 (305/auto/drum)

scottmoyer

Paul, all Z28s come standard with the leather wheel, no options.

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

I must have the oddest luck since I've never seen a 91/92 IN PERSON with the leather steering wheel. They have always been smooth version.

I find it hard to possibly believe all these owners changed their steering wheels for cheap smooth shiny vinyl? And where did these other ones come from?

Here are some that I've been able to find online.

Fake Smooth version

The_Wraith

I have a leather wheel in mine. My old RS had a non-leather wheel.

scottmoyer

Those are all leather. GM didn't use the greatest leather in the 80s and the texture wore off with use. They selected a low texture leather to begin with. The oils in your hands are like hand rubbing leather to a smooth finish.

Here is a picture where you can see the leather texture on my wheel at only 8900 miles. It still looks like this today!!

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

Do you mean you had a Non-factory, non-leather steering wheel in your RS? What year was the RS? and any pictures?

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

Scott, that's an 87 steering wheel. We're referring to the 4-spoke 90-92 steering wheels with the airbags. :-)

Dante93GTZ

iTrader: (5)

AKA - The Breadbox!

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CAMAR...Q5fAccessories

There is one for sale yet if you zoom in can see it's not the leather one as there is no stitching on the inner part of the wheel as you can see in these:

LEATHER

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

Here is yet another that is even clear it's a one piece without any stitching. I have this at home that I was scammed into buying years ago and need to sell. But that in another story..

Drew

iTrader: (58)

The leather wheel is easy to spot... It's got stitching. The standard RS vinyl wheel has simulated leather texture molded in.

Scott is right on the money... Z28 = leather steering wheel, shifter ****, and e-brake handle. It doesn't matter if it's a 1982 Z28, or a 1985 Iroc, 1989 Iroc, or 1992 Z28, it came with a leather wheel ORIGINALLY. Of course since people rarely did anything to preserve their steering wheels, the leather was one of the first things to rot and get swapped out. RPO NP5 is for the leather, every Z28 has it.

irock88

These pictures I believe are RS camaros look at dash emblems and their speedometers(110mph) as well as the tachs (5000 red line)

Dante93GTZ

iTrader: (5)

Note the incorrect "Z28" badge - Possible clone??

Chevy8588

iTrader: (1)

most likely, it says "Iroc-Z" on it

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

I love the 90-92 wheel, but if there's one thing I hate it's how above the horn, the material is raised up, exposing white innards of the wheel. Presumably this is to allow it to blow open easier to let the airbag blow, but god is it ugly when you are sitting in the passenger seat and look at the steering wheel, looks like it's coming apart.

(I'm assuming it is supposed to look this way from the factory but not 100% sure, I've just never ever seen a Camaro without it)

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

Seems not all do.. My Z28 leather one in my car, and the 90-92 RS (Non-Leather) one that I am selling doesn't have that. While it is raised, it's not showing anything underneath.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

The air bag covers shrink with age. When they get really bad you can see the plastic under the vinyl and/or the air bag. The lower the mileage, and the better preserved the car is, the nicer the air bag cover usually matches the steering wheel.

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

I assume this can not be reconditioned?

Mine isn't tooo bad, but there's a hint of white showing through and it's annoying to look at from the passenger side...would be a lot more tolerable if the plastic underneath was black.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Not really... The part was flexible originally, so even if you could stretch the vinyl back to shape, it wouldn't hold that shape.

If the white showing is all you're worried about, just put a dab of black paint on it and call it a day.

Knowing the problems with first generation air bags, I'm leaning towards preferring a nice aftermarket wheel to the potentially dangerous stock air bag, with it's tendency to warp and look bad.

Dante93GTZ

iTrader: (5)

I dig the bread box wheel - always have. Sure, its not super 'performance' looking, but I think it fits well with the 90-92 dashes to give the aged interior an updated look.

I plan on removing my airbag from the wheel. We took the airbags out of my boss's 97 Suburban and it looks 100% factory, but without the "death balloon".

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

What problems did they have? I've heard this mentioned from time to time but have not been able to corroborate it. I would LOVE a good excuse to ditch my stock airbag wheel... but I do worry about getting in an accident too. I'd rather not do something irresponsible.


And as to that badge being incorrect, it could have been a 1990 Iroc with the airbag, yes?

Drew

iTrader: (58)

All the cars pictured in post #7 are Rally Sports. The 90 Iroc had a yellow Z28/Irocz badge to match the rest of the yellow lettering.

Specifically I couldn't tell you why early air bags are unsafe, but from talking to people who have been in accidents with the early air bags, I'd rather take my chances without one.

Mitch91Z28

1991 z28 vert here... leather wheel, shifter, and e-brake handle

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

IIRC it' because they blow open at 286 mph, whereas gen 2 airbags blow at 186 mph.

I'm only 5'5" too, so I'm dead.

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

Only thing I've heard about airbags (on any make, model) is due to the drivers themselves and not the airbags. In the olden' days you were told and trained to hold in the steering wheel at 10 & 2 however this is no longer so. Putting your hand at 10 & 2 puts your thumbs, and arms in direct line with the airbags and thumbs are known to be blown clean off (pardon the pun; not so clean) as a result of the airbag inflating. Most schools and books now teach 9 & 3.

90tararebird

iTrader: (4)

I have had my Trans Am since it was new. It is a 1990 and does not have the leather wheel, shifter, or parking brake handle. It was supposed to have the leather appointment group, all Trans Ams were supposed to get this. It says right on the window sticker that it is supposed to get this but yet it does not. I later after relising this went to the dealer and talked to my salesman about this. The line i recieved was that the leather wheels with the airbag were not ready and they had to rush the airbag into production. Also on another note i had the airbag blow in 1992 and it worked just fine.

Dartht33bagger

My 91 Z28 has a leather steering wheel.

navy02ws6

Another thing to note for any cars that are supposed to have the leather-wrapped wheel and don't -- I want to say that the two wheels are identical at the start, other than the fact that the leather-wrapped wheel had the leather wrap on top of the standard rubber. When I bought my 91 T/A, the previous owner had worn/peeled and tore off the leather cover entirely on the upper half of the steering wheel, exposing the cheap standard wheel underneath. I ended up replacing the wheel because of this.

Knowing that, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the cars out there now that are supposed to have the leather wheel and don't actually USED to have the leather covering, and a previous owner wore/completely peeled it off like my car, leaving the only the standard covering.

camarosource

iTrader: (1)

I didn;t realize that it was covered on top of the old. That is very interesting. Especially if you notice that the rubber slides around. If you grasp the top of the steering wheel, you can, carefully, twist the rubber around on the steering wheel.

hardon85

They did a thing about this on mythbusters and if I remember correctly it was busted and maybe they were able to get it done but they had to do ridiculous things to actually make it happen. I also have a hard time believing that you could actually hang onto something that hard and strong to make your thumbs come completely off. I used to race go-karts where we weren't strapped in and one time I asked a veteran racer "I don't know what to do if I'm ever in a wreck. Should I hang on and as the kart is doing kart wheels down the track I will be stuck with it? Or should I just let go and break my arms when the Kart rolls over and twists my arms whichever direction?" And his response was "Just hang on to that wheel you will know very well when it's time to let go." So I really think this would transfer over to this as well. And if I remember correctly from mythbusters there has never been a reported case of this actually happening. I believe it was more of the airbag actually smacking you in the face than actually cushioning the blow like they were designed to do.

hardon85

Sorry I know this is getting off subject but I thought some of you might be interested in this http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...humbs-off.html