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MG MGB Technical - Steering wheel removal

I have to replace the signal assembly on my car and i am having problems removing the steering wheel does anyone have any ideas about pullers or what works
Thanks
Allan
Allan Eldridge

Hi Allen.

What type of wheel is it, is it original, and if so, what year is the car ?.

A three leg puller will do the job on wheels that have a hub that can be 'hooked' on to.

Don
Don

On my '79 I loosened the bolt on the steering column and then braced my knee behind the wheel to provide pressure while an assistant pulled back from the passenger side. With two hammers I placed one against the top of the column and hit it with the other. The hard tap combined with the two people providing push was all it took.

Hope this helps.

Jim
Jim McHugh

Allan,
Pullers are great and probably the socially acceptable approach. However, you can run the nut out to cover the ends of the threads on the steering column and smack the nut with a brass hammer. (or use a block of wood and a regular hammer. A spare nut might not be a bad idea.Iits only purpose is to protect the threads while you hit it. This has always helped me get the stuborn wheel off. Good luck
Nat Massey

Do not hit collapsible steering columns if your car has one!
Try some penetrating oil down the splines and then leave for a few minutes before attempting to pull with the nut still in place to avoid bruised nose!
Martin
Martin

Two person technique is to apply pressure on either side of the wheel and a gentle tap on the partially undone nut. Works a treat every time. (Oh and a tap means just that... that way you don't collapse the steering column.
John

Martin's right, under no circumstances should you hit the nut or tap the back of the wheel for fear of shearing the nylon inserts in the collapsible column. Back the nut off and rock the wheel very firmly in the up & down direction, i.e not rotational. This will break the taper. Alternatively use a puller
Iain MacKintosh

Allan, If by 'signal assembly' you mean the indicator switch then you can change this without taking the steering wheel off. Two bolts and the switch / fixing bracket split in two !!!

Andrew

Jim Hugh's method is fine for collapsible columns as well. Yes, belting an unbraced column nut with a sledge-hammer may well shear the pegs, but bracing the back of the wheel with the knees and starting off with smaller hammers won't damage them. But as Andrew has said all the switches I have seen come off without removing the wheel.
Paul Hunt

Not all indicator switches can be replaced without taking the steering wheel off. The earlier ones could but the later ones could not.

I had great difficulty removing my steering wheel (tried most of the mthods above).

The method which finally worked was the careful application of some heat, using a hot air gun. My steering wheel is rubber so it did not melt, although I did make a heat shield using tin foil, just in case!

Once hot I managed to pull the wheel off by hand (having undone but not removed the nut first). I had also applied some WD40 earlier, which probably also helped.

Once the steering wheel was off I was able to undo the three steering column bolts, which allowed the whole assembly to drop down, allowing removal of the plastic cowl and then the indicator switch unit.

Hope this helps.

Chris G
CJ Guile

How late? My 73 and 75 (V8 with the 76 and later dash and column) can.
Paul Hunt

Gentlemen- Assuming Allan pulls his wheel and replaces the turn indicator switch on his 77-80 MGB-- and myself not wanting to start a separate thread while this one is available for flailing-- is it at all possible to adjust the auto-flick off? I have a completely stock 79 LE that needs to turn about 90 plus 30 degrees to activate the flick-off. Needless to say, that makes for a tough corner. Any experience to share here?
vem myers

I believe the early cancelling was managed by a peg screwed into the column whereas the later was a much wider clip on the column. Whereas the peg was fixed so the column had to be in the right place for cancelling, the clip can be moved round the column as an adjustment. But that is a bit by-the-by ... unless your is 180 degrees out? My 75 V8 (i.e. it has the later column and switches) turns less then 90 degrees (see below) for the finger on the switch to click over the clip, and only a gnat's gambol back again to restore the switch. I.e. the indicator cancels as the steering is being *straightened*, not while it is being turned. The 'less than 90 degrees' is almost exactly when the appropriate 3-spoke steering wheel spoke is pointing straight up, which may be quite close to the upper spoke on the other side of the later 4-spoke wheel pointing straight down.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 03/11/2003 and 07/11/2003

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