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MG MGB Technical - Steering Wheel height

I have a 72 gt with the original steering wheel, however, i am a 6'3" and find the wheel is sitting on top of my legs which make steering difficult. I want to keep it original so can i raise the height of the wheel or column? i cant see any way but any ideas?

Or should i just go aftermarket?
whiskeyfrank

Frank, there's not a lot of adjustment here and if you are close to the top of the slot in the dash panel then that's about it. Both my cars are fitted with a motolita wheel 14" I believe and they are very good, makes the steering slightly heavier though. My son who is 6'4" has never complained about the wheel height even although I have packed the drivers seat about 1/2" under the runners and have new seat diaphragms and foams as I am a shorty at 5'8" He is also fine for headroom and forward vision.
Iain MacKintosh

I'm 6'-4" tall and went to a 13" wheel to give myself leg clearance. I couldn't see any other obvious way...
CD Dewey

CD, how's the steering effort using a 13 inch wheel?

Wayne
Wayne Pearson

Lower the seat, via rail restructuring or (what is more commonly done) cutting out a chunck of foam (you can always glue it back if you change your mind). Or unhooking the seat web. All these things will get your backside closer to the road. Mind you no short people will be able to drive it, but do you care? its your car.
British sports car-definition, officially sanctioned go cart.
Peter

Perhaps the least ergonomic feature of most MGs is the steering wheel size in relation to the driver's legs. Aftermarket wheels are the way to go. Steering effort increase is mostly felt at very low speeds and parking manuevering. I'm also 6'4" in height and am trying to retain the original look on my MGA, so have cut down an old A wheel and welded on a smaller rim which I covered with leather. Still working on the lacing, but it looks fairly close to original and is 3" smaller in diameter. I suppose the same could be done with the later style wheel but blending the spokes into the rim in a 'smooth' way might be challenging.
Bill Young

Be careful with aftermarket wheels. I was at exactly this yesterday with mine but not to do with height, more to do with how close to the drive it was. On my 78B with collapsable column I found the Momo wheel I am using sticks out an extra inch and a half over the original wheel. I also found though the column was sticking out half an inch since the two halves of the shaft had bound up. I had to strip the whole thing (carefully since it is a collasping type) and clean it all up. Was a good chance to regrease the top and bottom bearing too. The wheel I have is a 14 inch one so a little smaller than stock.

You 6'-4" guys should be fine with smaller wheels. You've got longer arms, more leverage :)
Simon Jansen

I could find no difference with the effort to turn my 13" wheel. If I could have found a 12", I would have put that on.
CD Dewey

Hi...

My wife's 1968 MGB was fitted with a midget steering wheel ofthe same period...exactly the same style as the original spoked wheel but smaller in diameter. Looked perfect and gave more leg room.

Cheers
Mike
mike donaldson

Hello,

I also had that problem as i am 2.00m. I cut new holes in the seat sliding strips in order to slide these about 25mm backwards. I made a smaller steering wheel myself with walnut rim and made 5 spacers out of 5mm thick aluminium plate which i fitted with longer screws between the steering wheel and the steering wheel boss. Now the room is acceptabel.
Regards
Peter
Peter

cheers ill try a momo i think, oh and Peter how did you make your own wheel, love to do that if i could.
whiskeyfrank

If you do go for a Momo you might be able to get a Sportline hub adaptor to go with it. They might be easier and cheaper to find than a Momo hub and the mounting hole pattern should be the same. I used a Sportline hub with my Momo wheel.

Simon
Simon Jansen

This thread was discussed between 01/02/2006 and 03/02/2006

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