Steering Wheel Removal - 4A

[Pipsqueak]

Does anyone know the procedure to remove the steering wheel on my Roadster 4A? I would like to restore it and don't want to do any damage to the threads/bakelite.
Thanks in advance.

[bitsobrits]

Pipsqueak,

The wheel is located by straight splines, and seated on a tapered section of the shaft, a pretty typical arrangement, so nothing special is required. If it's been many years since the wheel was off, you may want to remove the retaining nut and washer and apply some penetrating oil every day for several days before proceeding,

After loosening the nut until it's flush with the end of the steering shaft (this protects the threads on the end of the shaft), smack the nut squarely and carefully with a large hammer while pulling on the wheel hub (not the rim!). It can help to have a helper pulling on the hub while you do the smacking, and having a large drift helps to protect the wheel hub from an errant hammer blow.

Use a little ant-seize on reassembly to make it easier to remove next time.

[Phillip]

Hey Pipsqueak...

I think the advice you were given is for the 4AD steering wheel, which does not have a horn and trafficator switch in the center of the steering wheel! These horn and trafficator switches are now rare and very fragile.

The A and 4A steering wheels are on a tapered shaft with Wooddruff key and key-way, not splines. The 4AD steering wheel is on splines.

Removal of the A / 4A steering wheel first involves removing the horn / trafficator switch assembly.

This is done by:

- Disconnecting the wiring near the front wing/steering box area.

- Undoing the pinch bolt at the end of the steering box. This will allow you to remove the horn / trafficator assembly by pulling it up out of the steering column center tube.

The horn / trafficiator switch assembly is screwed to a disk mounted at the top of a long inner tube, which also carries the wires down the column and out the bottom.

Once removed, you should see a felt disk just under the disk that the horn / trafficator switch assembly is screwed onto. Make sure this is not lost or damaged.

You will now see the large, thin nut that holds the steering wheel in place. It should also have the trafficator cancelling lever under it. Make note, or take a photo of how this looks to ensure proper reassembly

Undo the nut and remove it, along with the trafficator cancelling lever.

You can now pull the steering wheel off its taper, but be careful not to lose the small Woodruff key!

You may need to lever the wheel up off its taper by levering with a large screwdriver between the upper part of the steering column and the base of the wheel. Be gentle, apply WD-40 or similar. The upper part of the column contains the loose ballrace and there are two thin nuts which are used, one to adjust backlash and one to act as a locking nut.

Hope that helps!

[Pipsqueak]

Thank you so much chaps! And particularly you Philip. The 4A IS a little different in its approach to steering wheel attachment and the main reason I asked the question was that the horn/trafficator switch is already slightly damaged and I didn't want to completely destroy the bakelite.
Thanks again.

[2001f4s]

In regards to the trafficator and bakelite surround, are there any viable options for repairing the bakelite, or is there a more common car that has a similar diameter trafficator switch that can be used as a replacement?

[kabu]

Hi,

If the bakelite is not badly broken, you can repair it with gluing the broken parts together with epoxy glue, sanding the excess glue from the seam and then painting the part(s) with bakelite color paint (spray). If there are some broken bits missing, you can fill the gaps with for instance with filled epoxy and finishing like the earlier option.

I am not that familiar with 4A as I have a 4AD. However when comparing images I found for 4A steering wheel center and some other British cars from the same era, I think Austin-Healey 100 might have similar steering wheel center.

Singer 4A steering wheel center http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/5 ... photo.aspx
A-H 100 steering wheel center https://www.google.fi/search?q=austin+h ... 81&bih=999

Similar steering wheel center seems to be used also on Austin-Healey 3000, although most A-H centers seem to have a logo, otherwise they look the same. The pushbutton with A-H logo could be painted solid.

Moss motors has some A-H steering wheel control heads available
http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProd ... ID=28888#8

Regards,
Pekka

[Phillip]

My pleasure Pipsqueak!

The Ford Prefect had the same trafficator assembly. I used one rescued from a wrecked Ford E93-A to rebuild one of my Roadster projects and it was perfect. The tube and mounting of the unit is the same on the Ford except the tube is shorter. because the column is not as long on the Ford.

I have an unbroken bakelite assembly for the steering center. It is brown, not black, but could be easily painted. If you are really stuck I might be willing to sell. I am strictly a pre-warrior and slowly selling off all my remaining Roadster spares.

Cheers,
Phillip

[Pipsqueak]

Hi Phillip,

Sorry its been so long as I've been busy sorting out track rod and drag link problems.

Do you by any chance still have the "unbroken bakelite assembly for the steering center" that you would be prepared to sell?

On removing the steering wheel on my 4A, I discovered that the internal workings are completely scrambled.

Regards,
Pip

[Phillip]

Hey Pip,

LOL...a bit ironic...I have a brand new set of Q-H track rod ends and a brand new drag link in my spares for sale.

The Bakelite center I have is the top half including the horn button and chrome retainer. I may have more bits kicking around.

Horn Center Switch Assembly for sale.jpg (112.57 KiB) Viewed 5944 times

Contact me off-line at phillip.avis(at)sympatico.ca. Replace the (at) with @...

Cheers,
Phillip