This week I learned the hard way about clock springs. I had to put mine back together and it is not a fun process. Posting this so others don’t make the same mistake as me.
I saw another person here suggest removing the steering wheel when threading a leather steering wheel cover. I remember doing a similar wheel wrap on my 100 series out in the sun and it took me hours over a few days with the thread getting caught on everything in the cabin. It was hell. So I thought what the heck, I’ll give it a shot and do it in the comfort of my AC this time and put it back on once finished.
The removal process is pretty straight forward:
1. Pop off square side panels on column, undo airbag torx 30 on each side
2. Remove airbag wires/plugs. Set airbag aside face up
3. Remove the 19mm center nut
4. Use a marker to line up splines for re-install
5. Remove steering wheel
Mine was really stuck on there, so I took a rubber mallet and tapped it around the wheel gently. When I pulled, the wheel it came off but so did a bunch of this white ribbon from behind it. Apparently, the clock spring had stuck to the back of the steering wheel and the front half came off with it upon removal.
View attachment 3402652
I had the put this back together and rewind all the ribbons back inside. This process took hours to get right as the ribbons are different lengths and it’s very awkward to get it all to fit the way it’s supposed to. The next fun part was figuring out dead center of the spring once assembled and to match it with my steering wheel. Once centered it will turn almost 4 full turns in either direction.
The moral of the story is be more careful than I was.
jowettperformance.com
forum.ih8mud.com
