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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - racks and columns

are racks and columns interchangeable? would a later model (eg 1500) column fit into an early 1275 or late 1275 rack?
b wilson

yep, AFAIK all racks fit all columns as the splined and clamped joint did not change.
David Smith(davidDOTsmithATstonesDOTcom

but a late column will not fit an early car

Anyone have an early column going spare?
Will Munns

Is that because of the wheel spline being different in earlier cars?
b wilson

Column length is also slightly different, one is about 3/4 inch longer than the other, but I can't recall which.

dennis
D Stanfield

Other than the spline for the steering wheel being different one other problem changing early and late columns is that the later two piece safety column is about 50% larger in diameter than the early one piece column and the dash and firewall would need to be trimmed or reshaped.
Bill Young

thanks everybody for your advice - very helpful. Maybe i should try to find a different steering wheel hub (boss) - but i need one with a 5/8" spline
and without holes, so that i can drill to fit my wheel. Any ideas as to where i might be able to find something like this?
b wilson

If you can't find a hub, you may be able to modifiy yours to work similar to what I did for my car. I used the original hub from my '73 wheel, machined the surface flat and turned an aluminum ring on a lathe to fit. I then drilled the original 73 wheel bolt pattern in the aluminum ring and countersunk the holes. Then it was a simple matter to position the custom wheel on the ring and drill and tap it to fit. Here's the finished product, you can see the edge of the aluminum ring behind the wheel hub and then the black portion of the original hub.


Bill Young

thanks bill that's the way i should go. Nice looking dash there BTW.
b wilson

This thread was discussed between 24/02/2008 and 27/02/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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