Steering wheel for TR6

[Alastair]

I've just acquired a TR6, but being just under 6'2" it's not the most comfortable seating position in the world for journeys over 1 hour.. . I've had the drivers seat moved back but I'm still struggling for comfort room to fit my left leg between the wheel and the centre console. Are there any tall TR6 owners/drivers out there that can recommend a steering wheel replacement?

TIA, Alastair

[specialev]

You can order any size of Moto-lita, Lecarra, Nardi, etc. wheel you want.  Being just under 6ft, I can't really call myself tall, but I can say that you can easily go down 2-4 inches from the stock wheel diameter and gain 1-2 inches for your legs and more of a work out for your arms. 

[Alastair]

Thanks for the assistance, I'll look at the wheels you suggest.

Alastair

[Alastair]

Got my hands on a nice new Mota-lita whell that looks like it will give me the leg room I need - the only snag is the old wheel is reluctant to come off.. . does anyone have any tips or a wheel puller suitable for a TR6 that they would be prepared to sell, rent, lend.. .?

Thanks, Alastair

[Tim Bancroft]

Use a rubber mallet.

[DaveKent]

pull the steering wheel towards you, and with the retaining nut in place to protect the threads tap the end of the column with a hammer, or a hammer and a punch located in the dimple in the end of the column. this was the way we were taught to remove steering wheels when i worked at an austin rover dealearship in the early eighties, it does work!

[Alastair]

xyv - Great tip, worked a treat, needs to go into a FAQ somwhere.. .

New wheel on, no problems, until I push it, the whole wheel is acting as a horn! Looks like I need to get hold of mota-lita in the morning and check the hub the sent (B20H) is correct (for a '73 TR6), as far as I can see it's the outer rim on the back of the boss shorting with the contacter ring around the wheel. The rim on the new boss is wider than on the original.

Old wheel back on for the time being.

[tombruton]

On my MKIV Spit i've also had a few problems with a Motalita, basically because the metal boss can hit the end of the pencil/brush (whatever you want to call it) therefore operating the horn. I also had a problem with connecting the steering wheel to the pencil. This might not apply to you but this is what I ended up doing:
I had to attach a wire from the small nut at the back of the wheel to the horn pencil/brush, so when you press the centre button it operates the horn.  I did this by drilling a small hole in the pencil and then using a small self tapping screw, with the wire on an o-ring connector, then soldered the end of the wire to the nut on the back of the steering wheel.
I solved the earthing problem with copius amounts of electrical tape around any potential points of contact, round the bottom of the boss, the locking nut, the column inside the boss, around the hole on the boss which the pencil goes through, and also on the back of the slip ring where there are three small brass lugs which can get pushed against other metal parts.
Like I said maybe none of this applys to you, but if it does then I hope you get it working! It took me a while to work out how to stop it going off round every corner or not at all.... Sounds simple now though... ??)

[Alastair]

The horn connector pencil doesn't even have a chance to get involved in the problem!. . it suffers this even before I put the pencil back in - if the wheel is pushed the back of the boss is contacting the o-ring connector and completing the circuit.. . but I think you're right in that solving the problem will require insulating the back of the boss from the o-ring, I'll try insulating tape but this will rub on the o-ring connector as the wheel turns. The permanent solution, as I see it, is to turn the back of the boss to remove the offending extra millimetre on the inside of the outer rim - not within the capabilities of my workshop.

An alternative idea suggests itself, acc'ing a thin ring of plasticard (unless I can find a sheet of thin nylon) to the back of the boss with a hole for the pencil.

To connect the pencil to the horn push I rotated the metal tag connected to the nut in the centre of the back of the horn push through 180 degrees so that it aligned with the pencil (why the boss is 180-degrees out on the pencil position I don't know, and given this why the hornpush is designed for the original position.. .). Hopefully if I can stop the short from the boss, this will then give normal horn operation.

[Alastair]

Spoke with Mota-lita, they were helpful and ofered to swap the boss if it was a manufacturing defect. They say the TR4-6 series usually represents an easy sale for them as the boss fits without problem, if anything the most common fauly being the horn not working at all if the original pencil fails to make contact.

I cut a ring of plasticard and tacked this to the back of the boss outer rim with acc and this has cured the problem. I don't know if it's the boss or if a previous owner has worked on the steering and fitted a non-standard conducter ring of the wrong diameter. For now though the horn is working correctly and I've gained plenty of left leg room.