Probably one of my favorite things with
Bumblestook is the Alcantara Mugen steering wheel. It gives excellent feel and grip and just looks great but it's not legal in STR (well not easily made legal at least). What is legal though is replacing your steering wheel as long as the total weight is no lighter than stock. To get the best of both worlds, I went ahead and ordered an Alcantara wrap with red stitching for the S2000 OEM steering wheel from
redlinegoods.com and used their professional installation option. Rather than sending my original wheel in, I opted to just buy a used steering wheel and send that instead so I can keep the original one unmolested.
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Alcantara wrapped S2000 OEM steering wheel
with red stitching - 5/10/2017 |
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Alcantara wrapped S2000 OEM steering wheel
with red stitching - 5/10/2017 |
The ordering process was very smooth. The wrap itself is made in Europe (Poland I believe) and sent to you via regular mail. If you choose to use their professional installation service, you then send the wrap along with the steering wheel to their professional installer in North Carolina where it gets put together and sent back to you. In addition to the Alcantara wrap I also added the option to thicken the steering wheel slightly. The material they use is nice and dense and feel incredible, not spongy at all.
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Airbag disconnected, steering wheel ready to be removed
5/14/2017 |
To swap steering wheels, you disconnect the battery so the airbags don't go off. Remove the covers on each side of the steering wheel. Using a Torx T30 bit, remove the bolts holding the airbag in place and pull it away from the wheel and then disconnect the cables connecting the airbag and the cruise control switch. Using a 14mm socket, loosen the center bolt but don't remove it all the way. Tug on the wheel firmly towards you free the wheel from the hub then remove the bolt all the way. Reverse this process to install the new wheel.
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| Alcantara wrapped OEM steering wheel installed - 5/14/2017 |
Since I had to disconnect the battery to install the steering wheel, I figured now would also be a good time to replace the OEM sized battery with a lightweight one. I opted to get a Deka ext14 which is a 12lb battery. This is a solid 14lb reduction in weight from the OEM sized 26lb battery. In order to install it, I got 8" J-hooks since the battery is smaller and replaced the steel OEM battery tie down with an aluminum one for extra weight savings and a cleaner install. Also, since you have to install automotive battery terminals on the Deka in order to use it in a car, I hardwired the battery tender quick connect so it'll be much easier for me to hook Lupa up to the battery tender without using alligator clips.
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| Deka ext14 battery installed - 5/14/2017 |
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| Deka ext14 battery installed - 5/14/2017 |
Lupa is mostly done with her 2017 modifications. I'm just waiting on one more part that's currently on it's way from Japan :D
