I am trying to replace the steering wheel on my 82 Firebird. The Haynes manual says to use a puller but I can't get one that suits. I live in Ireland so no GM dealers or parts here. I tried to make something to take off the wheel as there are two holes with treads each side of where the main bolt goes. I checked the sizes of these and they are some odd ball size like less than 5/16. So I can't get anything to thread into them. Is the steering wheel on tight?. Is it possible to get it off without a puller without doing any damage.

Any Help Appreciated.

 

In the past i have banged them off with a rubber mallet.

 

A harmonic balance puller will work. If you use a hammer you a liable to mushroom the end a little. I would say order one from a cat. or get a store to order one. The shaft is tapered so its hard to get it off without a puller. You can always re tap the holes wit a thread that you can find.

 

I have taken a few steering wheels off in my time. the first 2 came off after i sprayed it with some PB Blaster and pulled and tapped it a little with a rubber hammer. The 3rd one, i had 3 guys pulling on it and it wouldnt budge so i had to use a harmonic balancer puller. Even using the harmonic balance puller was a struggle. it was really pressed on there

 

I've made a little "puller" of sorts too. Just a bar with two holes spaced out to matched those threaded ones you mentioned. Place that across the center shaft and tighten bolts into the threaded holes. Have a lot of washers for between the heads of the bolts and the bar. As far as the bolt size goes, I'm pretty sure it is 5/16". It definately wasn't anything unusual. I just grabbed some bolts I had laying around. Probably a coarse thread, but don't hold me to that.

 

I got it off by tapping it with a Hammer and using lots of WD40. It took a bit of time but it eventually came free.

Thanks for you help guys.

 

just pulled off wheel myself . The two holes take a 1/4-20 screw.