slowthing Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Looking at getting a moto-lita steering wheel for my vitesse 6. Do I need to get the dished type to give stalk clearance etc or would a flat one be ok?Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktheherald Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I had dished in mine... It's still there 15 years after I sold it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Is that a vitesse dash? The one I have has two apertures for large clocks, rev counter and speedo. It looks more like the dash I had in my 13/60 Herald 35 yrs ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hammond Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 That is an early Vitesse dash. Up to about September 1963 the Vitesse had a large single dial dash as per the Herald but with a 110 mph speedo. This changed to a 4 dial dash which was a smaller speedo and matching rev counter with fuel and temperature gauges either side. The 13/60 had a twin dial dash, speedo and a combination dial comprising of fuel and temperature gauge. The 13/60 had its switches in a straight line but recessed in a separate unit whereas 1600/MKl Vitesses and earlier Heralds had them in a scattered arc around the centre of the dash, like the photo.Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billus99 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 You can see that, dished or flat, it's hardly going to hinder access to the stalks. Unless you got a deep dish one and put it on backwards.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Quoted from Billus99 You can see that, dished or flat, it's hardly going to hinder access to the stalks. Unless you got a deep dish one and put it on backwards.... Not the stalks, but your knees. I needed a dished one so as to able to get my legs into the car and still operate the pedals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu 1986 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I have a 13in, dished, wooden Mountney steering wheel to fit to my car. It is smaller than original and will no doubt require more effort to turn the wheels, but I like it. I also required clearance for my legs.The other thing I will need to do when I fit this wheel, which will be one the the final jobs I do before I declare it finished, is to work out how to make the horn work in conjunction with the Mountney boss and Herald horn equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody47uk Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Quoted from Stu 1986 I have a 13in, dished, wooden Mountney steering wheel to fit to my car. It is smaller than original and will no doubt require more effort to turn the wheels, but I like it. I also required clearance for my legs.The other thing I will need to do when I fit this wheel, which will be one the the final jobs I do before I declare it finished, is to work out how to make the horn work in conjunction with the Mountney boss and Herald horn equipment. Fit a separate switch... the purists will hate it, but it is a lot easier and (almost) foolproof. Saves the embarrassment of the horn blaring out when it feels like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu 1986 Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 In all honesty I'd rather it work from the middle of the wheel, it won't take much working out to get it to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody47uk Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Quoted from Stu 1986 In all honesty I'd rather it work from the middle of the wheel, it won't take much working out to get it to work. That's what I used to think. Bitter experience has convinced me otherwise! Such as, horn sounding when jacking front offside of car; carrying out emergency wiring 30 minutes before an Mot test bcause it suddenly wouldn't work at all.. I did think that I'd solved the problem when fitting an aftermarket steering wheel... but no. So, good luck, and if you find a foolproof way, please let me know, because in principle I agree with you. Cheers, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu 1986 Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 I've had this wheel well over 7 years now and have read various posts on various forums about the best way to wire them, I think it may be a case of trial & error to get the standard horns to work off the wheel. However, I also have some air horns wired to a separate switch, so if the main one let me down at MOT, I have a back up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herald948 Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Quoted from Mark Hammond That is an early Vitesse dash. Up to about September 1963 the Vitesse had a large single dial dash as per the Herald but with a 110 mph speedo.... I agree, Mark, but I would add that this must be a very late (mid-1963-ish?) dash before that change to the small tach and speedo dash. I say that because of the "flush-mounted" switches and controls, as opposed to the earliest of the Vitesse 6 dashes, which featured the "overlay" dash with its beveled apertures for those switches and controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heraldcoupe Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Horn sounding randomly is nearly always caused by play in the steering column bushes, in cases where an original wheel is fitted. Where an aftermarket wheel is fitted, that in itself is often the cause, clearances can be very poor.I've made Mountney wheels work by making a larger contact plate from brass shim and attaching it to the underside of the horn push. The contact brush is rarely a good match in terms of length, so I've made custom versions using original contacts assembled into Evergreen Plastic tubes (modellers supplies), the braid being s piece of desoldering wick. You still need to set all the distances between inner and outer column carefully and ensure bushes are in good order. Mountney wheels are the worst offenders though and take some effort to work properly in the first place,Cheers,Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Moore Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Quoted from Dogsbody47uk That's what I used to think. Bitter experience has convinced me otherwise! Such as, horn sounding when jacking front offside of car I'm guessing that when it tooted while jacked up, you were using the jacking points under the sills? My Herald's done that, and I later figured out that the front of the chassis was sagging downwards from the jacking points due to the weight of the engine. That movement was enough to pull the inner steering column down, and make the switch contacts close intermittently as Mr Tester pushed and pulled on the road wheels.As the car tooted and parped he looked at me. I just shrugged and asked "well, would you like it?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu 1986 Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Quoted from Nick Moore As the car tooted and parped he looked at me. I just shrugged and asked "well, would you like it?" I keep telling people these cars have feelings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktheherald Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Quoted from herald948 I agree, Mark, but I would add that this must be a very late (mid-1963-ish?) dash before that change to the small tach and speedo dash. I say that because of the "flush-mounted" switches and controls, as opposed to the earliest of the Vitesse 6 dashes, which featured the "overlay" dash with its beveled apertures for those switches and controls. 1st registered 10th April 1963.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hammond Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Quoted from marktheherald 1st registered 10th April 1963.... All of the recessed switched 1200s that I've seen have had the non padded dash top, all of the 12/50s that I've seen have had the non recessed switches so I'm guessing that the recessed switch dash design would've been phased out by late 1962/early 1963, well before the introduction of the 12/50 in March 1963. Only Bill Davies would know this, where are you Bill?Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Costigan gives August 63 (GA130264) as the introduction of the new (non recessed) dash and states that the (early) Vitesse dash was the same, but with the padded top. As often, not totally reliable.The change date for the fascia light to the type fitted is also given as 1963 (body GAT 124349) and the metal column switch surrounds were changed to plastic in September 1963.C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heraldcoupe Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Based on my own observations and as far as 1200s are concerned, the recessed dashboard was obsolete at the very end of 1962 or early in 1963. The padded dashboard was introduced on 1200s by early 1964, though it was one of the standard refinements on the very first 12/50s and Vitesses.Making assumptions of some logic being applied (not always a safe bet), I would expect all except possibly the very first the very first Vitesses to have the flat dash. I don't ever remember seeing a padded surround which lacked the large cutouts for the capping mounted switches,Cheers,Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hammond Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 And how unobtainable would a large 110mph (Herald style) Vitesse speedometer be?Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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