• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Steering Wheel choice

Share this page

C

Cutlass

Jedi Warrior
Offline
Time for a steering wheel for the BJ8. The original is tired and a bit too skinny for my hands. I like the look of walnut and slotted spokes, and there are quite a few choices. This certainly is a matter of taste and pocketbook, but I'm curious about your ideas.
 
I did that early this summer. I went went smaller diameter for more leg room and the bonus was better, easier steering. Its a Moto-Lita. I love it and it is period looking.
 
I have a Moto-Lita on both my '57 racer and my '65 street car, very happy with both. I did have to get some replacement parts and it was through Lempart Wheels. Wonderful quality and service, he's a Healey guy.

https://www.lempertgroup.com/info.html
 
You can't do much better than what Mike Lempert has to offer, and he's great to work with. Check out his web site. :savewave:
 
I have checked out Mike Lempert's site. His products do look great. Dougie's wheel looks just like what I had in mind.
 
As you said Jim, personal taste has a lot to do with the choice. I like the original spokes and the slight back-set of the grip. I agree about it being too skinny. I did a dash-wheel-gearshift combo of matching wood.
 

Attachments

  • 14148.jpg
    14148.jpg
    54.5 KB · Views: 283
Saw that earlier, Greg. Very nice work. Fine woodworking is another of those pursuits with which my day job interferes with, so I can appreciate your work. I built a new dash for my BJ8, using burl walnut veneer, rosewood gel stain, spar varnish, etc. Looks very good. Of course, I know where the flaws are. It's a burden.
 
Drat! I hate being repetitive. Have you posted a shot of your dash? Besides repeating myself, my memory fails. :blush:
 
Haven't posted any photos, because I haven't taken the time to learn how. As I'm finishing up now, however, I'm going to have to learn. Stay tuned.
 
Using the original 100-6 hub and spokes, I reduced the diameter of my
Healey steering wheel from 17" down to 13.5".

I finished off the re-do with a stitch-on leather steering wheel cover.

If anyone wants the details, please contact me through the Email button
at the bottom of the www.ntahc.org web site.

Tim

Dash1.JPG
 
Greg,

What are the two gauges where the speaker grill used to be.
One looks like an amp gauge. +30 to -30?

Nice inlay around the gear shift too.
Ok, you're my new best friend now.
Roger
 
GregW said:
Hi Roger,
Volt meter and vacuum gauge. Maybe someday I'll put a turbo in. :cooler:
Click to expand...

Next to the espresso machine?
Hey, my new best friend, show us again a photo of your espresso machine.

Ok, I'll come clean, I want to capture a photo of it and put it in my restoration photo album.

I show some progress photos of how to include a hidden cup holder and hidden Navigation system. When people see that they say, wow, that's incredible.

Then I can come back with, oh you think that's cool, take a look at what Greg did. An espresso machine!

Cheers Greg,
Roger
 
Cutlass said:
... Fine woodworking is another of those pursuits with which my day job interferes with..... I built a new dash for my BJ8, using burl walnut veneer, rosewood gel stain, spar varnish, etc. Looks very good. Of course, I know where the flaws are. It's a burden.
Click to expand...

Lemme see if I got this right: you have the old wheel, you are a woodworker, you even made your own dash. Why, you are one step ahead of where I started!

IMG_7768.jpg


my wheel project

Lempert's wheels are gorgeous. If you are going to buy, look no further. But if you can find some crotch walnut, then your course is equally clear.
 
Tom. Your work is superb. I've been at this restoration for almost five years now, and I'm ready to get this puppy on the road. When I first saw your wheel project, I was inspired to emulate your work. And it may be that I will do just that as a side project after I get on the road with a new wheel. For now, I'm ready for a ride.
 
Back
Top