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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - midget 1500 steering column

My sons 1500 midget has a collapsible sliding section in the steering column which has a little play in it. This allows about 3/4 inch radial play at the steering wheel as well as about 1/8 inch fore and aft play. There are two pegs about 1/4 inch dia through the column where the sliding part is and play can be seen at these pegs and at the inner/outer join. I was told that the inside of the joint is lined with nylon. Anybody know for sure and know of any good fixes. Are the pegs standard and can they be drilled out oversize?

Thanks in advance

Roger Plant
R L Plant

I've seen the pegs wear loose and allow fore-and-aft play but certainly not that amount of radial play. It is possible to knock out the pegs and refit, using something like pieces of sprue from an Airfix kit, or golf tees. Then again it might be quicker and easier to just swap the column, there's any amount of 1500s being broken for spares ATM.
David (davidDOTsmithAT stonesDOTcom)

High Roger

The columns I have seen do not have a peg as such, The inner shaft has a wasted section with concave annular rings. I think the two shafts where then slid together and then the nylon was injected.I have taken mine apart and then removed the broken nylon part. I then waxed the inner shaft,slid the two together and then poured a resin in to the void between the two parts. The wax will mean that the resin will not stick to the inner shaft enabling it to slide if forced. Another option would be to drill through the two parts having first set it to the right length and then use a couple of plastic bolts to secure it.

Good luck Carl
C Bintcliffe

Thanks Dave & Carl, food for thought.

I'll let you kow how I get on

Bear regards

Roger
R L Plant

I have used shim stock between the hollow and solid flat sections of the shaft to eliminate play. I haven't tried replacing the pegs but shimming has worked well enough.

Take a .10" feeler gauge (or thicker) and try forcing the blade in as far as the first nylon peg. If the fit is tight and you can insert an inch or so, break it off and you are done.
Glenn Mallory

You might also loosen the pinch bolt at the rack and tap the female column piece down a bit lower over the rack spline. This will also remove some play. Be careful not to over do it but you will probably find that you can remove some column slack this way.
Glenn Mallory

originally these collumns were manufactured in a process simmilar to what C Bintcliffe describes. Normally I would advise extreeme care when removing and refitting because it is very easy to break the resin inside. Tapping it one way or other with a hammer might not be the best idea. I have collapsed and messed up a few collumns by forcing the female end one way or other. Still haven't quite figured out the best way to repair them. Thing is that they are quite cheep at swap meets, and it might be easier to get one used that would be in better shape than what you would get if you repaired this one.
S.A. Jones

I knew I had seen an article somewhere before. I've never tried it myself but the following from Bob Mason gives one method for repairing a steering column.

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/news/news380.html

Regards

Steve
S Sloan

I suppose that would work. You just have to make sure that whatever material you use will shear in a collision. That means no steel, tungsten, etc (obviously). Might be interesting to find out what the factory specks were. If we knew how much force would have been needed to collapse that joint, we could then figure out what solution works best.

I also heard once that you can use hot glue (if you heat up the column a bit to ensure that it flows through the joint evenly)
S.A. Jones

Thanks for your continued interest and the ideas, much appreciated.

Wishing you all a very happy New Year

Roger Plant
R L Plant

This thread was discussed between 12/12/2009 and 02/01/2010

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