My friend has a tilt column out of a 91 RS with an airbag. Can he put his 85 wheel on there and use the 91 tilt Column in his 85 Iroc?

 

99% sure

while it's apart 91 tilt columns have a couple problems

1) i don't think anybody's highbeam switch works right nows your chance to fix that

2) theres a techarticle about tightening you tilt column do that before you put it in the car even if it feels okay now once its in the car you'll feel the wobble its just a couple of screws that need itghtened but a bitch to take apart the column in the car

 

well ....

1) my high beams dont work so i was gonan wire in a old style floor button.

2) My tilt is all kinds of fubared. If i pull down it skipps the tilt. My highbeams used to work with the wheel allll the way down but not anymore.
Well, Ill get that fixed before inspection. I think its the plastic gears in my column that wore out. There was a post a bit ago with pics of what to look for, if i find it ill link it.

 

I believe all 82-92 Columns are identical. I do know of one difference, being the cruise control system, which could require you to reuse your old turn signal (the plug is different, but not sure when it was changed). The turn signal lever is easy to remove, though, just twist it CCW and pull gently.

I put a steering column from an 89 Camaro in my 83 Bird, and I put a steering wheel from a late 80s grand am on it (same steering wheel as 85+ Firebird, Pontiac put that steering wheel in everything). My old steering colum was loose as hell, and I had already tightened the tilt steering once.

If you do replace your column, here are a couple helpful tips. First of all, the shaft which comes out of it in the engine bay and bolts to the ragjoint is collapsible. Be careful not to accidentally push it up into the colum, its a nightmare to get back out (trust me, I did this...). Second, the bolt that holds this shaft to the ragjoint needs to be as tight as possible, in fact you might want to put some loctite on it. If that bolt falls out while you're driving, you lose steering. Third, disconnect the battery before you start taking it apart, because you will have tp unplug alot of things and you dont want to risk shorting something. Plus you will probably have your door open for a couple hours, so theres no sense in draining the battery. Hope this helps

 

Thanks guys!

 

I would say you're going to have problems with that swap. 84-89 columns carry the same part number but 90-92 columns are different. Outside of the differences in wiring the '91 column has a VATS key which I think could really make things difficult.

 

Even with VATS, you can just put your old lock cylinder in the new column. I had to do this anyways, since I did not have a key for the new column (came from junkyard).

 

If 84-89 are the same and 90-92 are the same, I'm guessing that 82-83 are unique from the other series? Anyone know what is different about them? I want to swap the non-tilt column out of my 83 and I have a mint 90 Camaro tilt column out of a 17K mi. car. I know it will bolt in, but what is involved in making the different wiring work (my car has no VATS, cruise or delay wipers and the 90 column has all three). Will it work or do I need to find an 82-83 column with the correct options?

Does anyone know if GM lock cylinders are interchangable at all? I am putting late model Grand Prix outside door handles on the car and wondered if I could put a GP ignition cylinder in the column and get the locks all keyed the same (the newer lock cylinders have the double-sided keys).

 

1 problem you may encounter is the fact that the 90-92 airbag steering columns have whats called a clockspring at the base . It's a Disc looking thing that rotates and is a means of connecting power to the airbag . What you " MAY " to do is use a conversion kit to install an older 3rd gen steering wheel . I know several 4th gen guys that have put on aftermarket non-airbag steering wheels and they have to use a 3rd gen conversion kit to accomplish that with that with the stock column . Even though your car is a 3rd gen , you may have to use the exact same conversion kit because of the airbag . Try places like Momo or Grant to see if they have the conversion kit . Not sure where to buy it ...sorry .

 

I am not exactly sure what year camaro my column came from, but I would guess it was around an 88 or 89 RS. And the column swapped right into my 83. The only difference I noticed was the little lever thing you have to push down to get the key out of the ignition. My 83 column didnt have this. At first, it bugged the hell out of me having to press it to get the ignition key out, but now i do it without even thinking about it.

Even with putting a column in that had an airbag steering wheel, I would think you could just remove the clockspring you are talking about, and put the old steering wheel on it. I have seen plenty of 90-92 camaros at the junk yard that have airbag steering wheels (of course the air bags are always gone, those are hot items :P ) and it has the same splined shaft that the steering wheel mounts to, and the columns look identical.