Hi Everyone,

Were the stock pebble-grain rimmed steering wheels found in 69 Camaros also used in 69 Chevelles and Novas or did the Chevelles and Novas have the smooth outer rim?

I'm referring to the standard factory plastic steering wheel that had the pebble grain finish on the outer rim. Here's a pic to show what I mean.


http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOHDZy3bs2bDyA

Thanks for any help, Paul

http://img226.exs.cx/img226/615/cars0105kf.th.jpg (http://img226.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img226&image=cars0105kf.jpg) http://img209.exs.cx/img209/341/cars0081ds.th.jpg (http://img209.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img209&image=cars0081ds.jpg) http://img238.exs.cx/img238/5774/cars0243bw.th.jpg (http://img238.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img238&image=cars0243bw.jpg) Here are a few pics of my 69 Camaro steering wheel.

Hi Heff,

Thanks for the pics. I'm still having a bit of a problem though. I need to know if the pebble-grained finish on the outer rim of the steering wheel was found on factory Chevelle steering wheels. From what I've heard in the past, the pebble grain finish was on the 1969 Camaro steering wheels only, but I'd like to know if that's a true statement or not from the Chevelle guys and gals. I have this question posted on the Camaros.net site, but I haven't had any real answers to the question yet. It looks like you have the steering wheel with the smooth outer rim. I have a 69 SS Camaro with the pebble-grain finish which I believe to be the original as well as the red wheel in the pic which came from a low mileage 69 plain Jane Camaro which I also believe to be the original. I appreciate the pics and the help. By the way, you have a beautiful 69. Love the color combo.
Thanks again, Paul

Paul,

I looked at your pic of the red wheel and I can't say I've ever seen one on a stock-looking Chevelle or Camaro. All I've ever seen are the "smooth" style wheels you speak of. The plastic centers may vary with different cars and the '70's and '69's will interchange but are not the same type "graining". This style wheel is available now as a repro. but good used ones show up now and then.

As far as I know, all car lines used the same standard wheel design (except Corvair & Corvette). I have never seen the grained edge on the steering wheel on any ’69 or ’70 Chevelle, Nova or Big Car. I guess I never really paid that much attention to that detail on Camaros. I do know that the ’69 Camaro had an extra-long production run that ran beyond the 1970 model introduction. The ’69 Camaros have lots of little changes throughout the run (I’m no expert, but 327 dropped & 307 became base V8, LM1 dropped & L65 replaced it, 396s became 402s but still referred to as 396s, headrest became mandatory 1/1/69…). The center shroud was different between the ’69 & ’70 models, with a sort of satin finish on the ’69 vs. a pebble grain on the ’70. The woodgrain applique was just a vinyl stick-on applied over the standard shroud.

We had a ’70 Biscayne from new, while our neighbor had a ’69 Bel Air from new; his new bride had a ’69 Chevelle she bought in ’71, my uncle had a ’69 Impala from new. I’m sure I could list about 60+ ’69 Chevies from my childhood.

Hi Duke and Cam and Heff,

Thanks for the replies. I really never paid that much attention to the steering wheels either, but due to restorations becoming so detailed and the cost of repairing and buying originals, it was a question that I found that needed to be answered. I've been in a few Chevelles myself, but not any 69's so I really had no reference point. I talked to a gentleman last night who was nice enough to go into his garage and look at the steering wheel in his original 69 Camaro Z-28 and sure enough, the steering wheel was the same as the red one. It had the grained outer rim. I guess it was original for the 69 Camaros only, until I hear something different. I want to thank all of you for the help with this question.

My sincerest thanks,

Paul

My 21,000 original mile 69 Chevelle also has that texture on the face of the steering wheel rim. No question that it is the original steering wheel. I was just recently told by a very knowledgeable person (who is also a frequent contributor to this site) that most original standard steering wheels did not have that texture, so it is no wonder that some confusion exists.