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MG TD TF 1500 - MGTF steering assembly question

I just purchased a new steering wheel, a repro of the original, from Moss Motors. It's gorgeous, good product.

I thought installation would be a 10 minute job. It's not the case for my car, as it was not put together right at some point in its life. You cannot adjust the steering wheel as it mounts with a key, so any adjustment has to be done with the tie rod ends or disassembly of steering shaft pieces.

What I want to do is have the wheels be going straight when the steering wheel is at its proper position and the little medallion in the middle of the steering wheel is in its correct position. I tried adjusting the tie rod ends but the amount of adjustment would not allow me to attain this goal. So, the solution seems to be to take the steering shaft apart at the pinion shaft flange, rotate the flange slightly to center the steering wheel, and reassemble. The flange doesn't want to come off. I don't have a shop manual, have one on order though. Can someone tell me if the circlip No. 54 must come off in order to get flange No. 53 off? I can't tell by looking, and the flange appears to rest against the circlip rather than be held in place with it.

Anyone out there have taken this stuff apart and have any tips?

Here is the schematic:
http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=32785
D. Scott

If the steering wheel is off by 120° you can unbolt the coupling and turn it forward or back by one hole. If it is not offset by 120°, then the problem could be a misaligned front alignment or the pinion shaft flange (item 53) will need to be removed and rotated to correct the steering wheel alignment. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Dave,
I tried the 120 degree rotation, and I couldn't get it to align. So I need a minor move of the shaft to accomplish the adjustment which means moving the flange on the splines. Using a puller I borrowed, it just doesn't seem to budge and I am scared I will bust something! I have put penetrating oil on the splines for a couple of days hoping that would help too.
D. Scott

D. Does your steering wheel attach to an adjusting shaft (Moss #6)? If so, how is this shaft retained in thee inner column? Bud
Bud Krueger

I pulled that flange because I was missing some thrust washers in the rack and needed to drop the pinion to replace them. Plus... my aftermarket wheel requires the flange to be 180 degrees out of standard to have it be right side up (an odd number of bolts on the hub causes this!)

Anyway, I removed the inner nut and star washer on my car, and pulled the flange with a harmonic balancer puller. See my website http://www.dbraun99.com MGTD15470 » Steering » Steering Rack Refurbishment.

I don't remember a circlip, so either I removed it with a thin blade, or simply pulled the flange with it in place and allowed it to spread and pop on its own. But honestly, if there is a circlip, it is probably to keep the flange from being set too far down the pinion shaft, and to give the nut and star washer something to tighten against. So I imagine that the circlip came off after the flange was off to allow me to withdraw the pinion shaft.

Hope this helps,
dave
Dave Braun

May not make any difference Don but there should be a very tiny arrow cast into the side of the flange. There should also be an almost imperseptable mark on the shaft, These two need to be lined up with each other in order to center the wheel. If they are already lined up then you probably need to reposition the shaft with the rack.
LaVerne

Thanks for the postings with advice!

A friend recommended PB Blaster to try to loosen the flange, so that is the next thing I will try. If that doesn't work, will try heating it with a butane torch. I have had a torch work on loosening plumbing and auto pieces that would not come apart with penetrating oil.
The only way to get a proper alignment of the steering wheel with the wheels going straight ahead is to move the flange a few splines.
D. Scott

Don,

You may not want to do this, but a lot of owners, including me, remove the key at the top of the shaft, enabling you to adjust the steering wheel by the splines,(see Archives). By the time of the MGA, the steering wheel was also on splines, enabling final adjustment to be carried out, despite the key.

As far as I can see the key's main purpose was to stop the steering wheel coming upwards into the driver's hands, an almost impossible situation in a normal adjustment location. Even so, if the key is removed, the clamp should be checked on a regular basis.

If adjusting at the top of the column by the splines, you still need to make sure that the tie rods on the rack are at least very nearly equal. Don't laugh but I've seem them widely different, resulting in possible danger due to too few threads engaging, with different tuning circles left to right!

If you ever have to remove the rack, a job in itself, (and not possible as per WSM, see Archives again!), the perfect alignment, invoving the flange etc, can with care be achieved.

What do others think?

Cheers,

John
J C Mitchell

This thread was discussed between 12/11/2011 and 14/11/2011

MG TD TF 1500 index

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