How to remove steering wheel and boss??

[Hawk289FIA]

This is probably a very ignorant question, but how do I remove my steering wheel and boss?

I have a leather-clad Mota-Lita affair screwed onto a matt black boss (origins unknown I'm afraid). I've removed the steering wheel centre centre cap to reveal the cross-head screws that secure the steering wheel and a large nut in the centre. Where do I go next?

The reason for wanting to remove both the wheel and the boss is that I've got about an eighth of an inch of play in the steering wheel if I pull / push hard on the wheel backwards and forwards. It's been picked up in the past by race scrutineers as a potential problem with the steering rack / box (??) but I've always assumed it's a nylon washer shot to pieces and want to check (before I do myself or any passengers an injury).

Any help and advice very gratefully received as always.

Marcus
xx

[kaiserbilly1]

Roger ???

[Karl]

Hi Marcus,
I don`t know if your car has something special, but normally the boss sits on the conical end of the upper steering shaft. When you torque the nut down there is i
normally no play. Check that your cardanic connectors (2) have no forward - backwards movement on their splines. They are seated by a bolt and self - locking nut in a half round groove of the shaft.

[Hawk289FIA]

Yes. Well. Roger??????

Cardanic connectors? And I thought it was only a car! Sounds like a nuclear submarine to me!!

Karl - would you mind explaining that step by step for me? You near enough lost me at "Hi Marcus". Thank you.

Marcus

[kaiserbilly1]

This is why this forum is so good, it's fully of jolly banter

Anyway, where are you Roger, most likely in the utility room washing all those anoraks

[Roger King]

Sorry guys, been fiddling with my new E-curve MSD distributor, new toy.

Steering wheel removal?
1) undo big nut in centre of steering wheel
2) pull hard on steering wheel
3) get out of back seat, where you landed when the splines let go

Seriously, it's very simple. If you have back and forwards movement in your steering wheel, it ain't going to be the steering wheel splines*. Look under the bonnet whilst someone else moves the wheel back and forth, you should be able to see where the play is. The MGB steering UJs are fairly flimsy, and maybe coupled with the extra strain imposed by the ridiculous 7° of positive caster built into MGB front suspension (and, bizarrely, Gerry's tubular kit), I've had to replace a couple already in only 8,000 miles.
Having said that, wear in the UJs is also unlikely to give you really noticeable fore and aft movement at the wheel. Check all rack mounting bolts, the splines themselves, and if all else fails the rack pinion itself. I think, on balance, my money's on either a loose pinchbolt on a spline (I think cardanic connectors is universal joints, if 'cardan shaft' is anything to go by - but Hey! Karl's English is a million times better than my German!) - or the rack pinion, which I think is favourite. Rebuilt rack time - if it's MGB it's pretty cheap. If we're talking Hawk, or anything similarly Brit, there are no nylon washers etc. to wear.

*It is always possible your wheel and column are mismatched, but highly unlikely. This would result in a wobble, not a back-and-forth movement. Been there, done that. I'm also assuming that you mean axial movement, along the length of the steering column, not up and down.

[clive]

3) get out of back seat, where you landed when the splines let go

Back seat in a 289?

[Roger King]

3) get out of back seat, where you landed when the splines let go

Back seat in a 289?

All right, pedant - get off the bootlid.

[Hawk289FIA]

Thanks Roger. Yes it is axial movement. I'm starting to feeling my classical education was inadequate!! I was going to make a joke about being married with three kids and not seeing any axial movement in a long
time but figured that might be rude! Just as well I didn't then.

How do I get at the steering rack or box if that's the problem? And will the splines be evident when I remove the boss?

Thank you all again for your continued help, education and witty (allegedly) banter!

Marcus "I've got axial movement" Price

[Roger King]

I doubt you need to remove the steering wheel at all.
Like I said, I'd get someone to move the wheel up and down in the offending manner while you stick your head under the bonnet and look carefully for which bits are moving. If it's standard Hawk, there are two small MGB universal joints in the steering shaft, one soon after the bulkhead and the other down near the steering rack (you do not have a steering box!). The play may be in these, in which case you undo the pinchbolts to remove them and get replacements from Moss Europe or Gerry. The steering rack is the hefty tube that bolts across the car, joining the front wheels together - this is held to the chassis by 4 bolts, and to the front wheels by two ball joints. Depending on your setup this should be straightforward to remove (an MGB Haynes book might help). I think Gerry may need to provide a replacement for this as it's slightly modified from stock MGB - I think the pinion shaft is longer for a Hawk, but never having owned an MGB I'm not sure.
I think you may need to undo the rack from the chassis to allow enough movement to change the UJs, if that's all you need to do. But the first job is to find out where the problem is!
1/8" isn't a huge amount... these are 'old' cars...