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Steering wheels,

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jlaird

jlaird

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For those intrested the Bugeye wheel in the Horler book is called a Derrington Style Wheel and is available in several sizes as well, but very very expensive as they now seem to be custom made.

Google "Derrington Wheels" for an education.

Guess one of those is way way bottom of my list.
 
Been doing some dective work on the Bugeye stearing wheel, the derrington Style one in the Horler book. If you look closely it looks like it is wraped in real leather, just like a boat wheel, the kits are not expensive and come in all sizes. Check the boat stores.

Now that said I bet the price of stearing wheels for sprigets would come right down if we could get hubs, and wheels. Factory reject wheels with bad rims, after all they will be covered in leather. Hmmmm. Or even ones that are special built to be covered, the rim and finishing has to be the expensive part. Heck the wheels can be cut with a lazer cutter all day out of flat stock any diameter you wished.

Now if I just had access to one of those cutters.

Leather can be dyed or tinted to match what ever you wish. Hmmmm.
 
jlaird,

The original steering wheels offered by DMH company were wood not leather. Don't have my OS&M handy to look for the picture you referenced. If it has leather on it, it is probably for more grip or because the wood needs refinishing. Otherwise why cover an original wheel?
 
There is a guy on the TD list of the BBS that made his own wheel. Looks amazing. I think he even listed it for sale on ebay. Looks like a tempting project for me when I get to that point of my project car.
I cannot find the link right now but he details every step. He even machined the hub himself. I can make a stainless blank for it as I have a waterjet at work. The rest is wood, rivets & patience.
 
Bet those blanks would sell well, along with hubs. Especialy if the price was reasonable.
 
just so happens i could probaly make adapter hubs.....

mark
 
You could? Mark, I'd really like an adapter hub for a 12-13" wheel I've got, but I can't spline shafts. I have the dimensions for the wheel, and could probably make an adapter to the stock hub, but then i'm losing at least an inch of space. A purpose built hub adapter would be much more desireable.

Matt
 
i would need to get my spare steering column apart and take a look, shouldnt be a problem tho. getting the wheel off the column ,out of the car might be a pain. i/ll take a look tomorrow. I too would like a nice new motolita wheel. but the boss kit aint cheap.

mark
 
I carefully positioned my gear puller on the shaft, with the jaws on the steering wheel. This allowed me to pop it off (it was stuck on pretty good--rust, I guess). You could probably do it that way.
 
Matt, took a look at it tonight, mine is out of a 79. it has a large plastic center section. i tried a few quick things to pop it off, no luck as of yet. But i think the earlier ones are a bit different. Good news is i did get a look at the splines, and it looks like a doable deal, especially out of something like 6061.

mark
 
I'm slowly exchanging all my steering wheels for Moto-Lita's...one at a time
 
Hmm, mine comes off with a 27mm socket, then it can be pulled off it won't yield by yanking on it. Otherwise, I'd imagine the steering wheels are basically the same.
 
Matt
Got it off, no biggie. I hardly ever fail to get somthing apart.
Mine was an inch socket(79). so maybe there is a difference? did a 27mm fit kinda sloppy?

i figure since i want to make one for mine (75). Doing two or three won't be a big deal. I guess what i need to know is how your is. Or if someone out there knows if there is a difference? I will B/P mine, and if you want we can compare. I attchd a rough quick sketch of what i see here and what i recall mine to be.


mark
 
Hmm, will it fit a bugeye do you supose, if so I want one.
 
dunno, might.

here is a pic of my 79 wheel.
 
What is the spline size / count on your ’79 Mark? It looks like there was a change between ’77 and ’78. Moss lists the adapter hub as being the same for ’71 to ’77. I know my ’73 has the turn signal cancel tab on the column, not the adapter as Mark’s sketch of his ’79 shows. I have adapters off a ’70 and a ’73 that I can compare this weekend. I’ll try to get the wheel off one of the Bugeye columns as well and see what it looks like. Stay tuned.
 
Mark,

My wheel has no vinyl/plastic on it. I'll take some measurements and such this weekend when I'm home. The 27mm socket is the correct size for the rear hubs on my BMW, and just happens to fit nicely on the Midget. Not sure what the actual size is. I know the equivalent size on the rear hubs for the midget is like 1-1/8th or so ... (which I also have in a 1/2" drive socket)
 
basicily what i sketched is what i think will work. The blank would be the same for most. the only variables would be spline size/diameter and length. i would be happy to pull the wheel off my 75 off, if it was here. But it is in storage at the moment. now all i need is one of those Moto-lita wheels /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Chris, i will check the spline tomorrow evening.

Matt, a 27 would work on a 1 inch nut, it would just be a bit sloppy 1.06=27mm

mark
 
Yeah. I've got an APC wheel which actually looks decent, it just doesn't come with a hub adapter. I don't care for the emblem on the horn button, but hey, we can't have it all, right?

It should be a large improvement in driver space and quickness of steering. My main goal is to get as much space as possible and quicken the steering a bit to compete with those darned Sciroccos! I hate those things.
 
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