[stevieray]

Decided that I wanted to have a leather steering wheel for my EX Coupe so rather than install the leather steering wheel cover (which looks like shit IMO), I decided to see how much the Si steering wheel would cost. Checked with JR at hondacuraworld.com and to my surprise, the entire wheel was only $157.50! The wheel arrived after about 2 weeks (special order, obviously) and I installed it yesterday in about 1 1/2 hours. The HELM manual says that you have to have a steering wheel puller for removal but once you remove the SW nut, a couple of swift whacks will loosen it enough to come off. Just swap all of the components from the EX wheel over, make sure all of the screws are tight, reinstall the new SW, torque the nut to 39 n/m (newton meters), reinstall the air bag and you are good to go. An experienced technician could definitely do this install quicker but I like to be extra careful when screwing around with airbags and clocksprings.

I would strongly recommend that for this install you have the HELM and make absolutely sure that you are in a work space big enough to ensure your front wheels are exactly straight. Also, after you remove the SW nut but before you pull the old SW off, make sure you mark its position so the new SW goes back on the correct spline. Enjoy---