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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Moss Brooklands Steering Wheels

Anyone have experience with the Brooklands steering wheels available from Moss? Are they susceptible to cracking? What about overall quality? I bought a Moto Lita 4-spoke for my '54 TF from Moss but have no adapter. Moss billed me for both the wheel and adapter immediately, but the adapter has been on back order for over 3 months.
Mike Moryl

Mike,

No, I can't say that I have experience with the Brooklands steering wheel, though, unfortunately, I can share your frustration with Moss. A while ago, I ordered a half tonneau and tonneau bar, was billed immediately, received the tonneau quickly, but, after 4 months without the tonneau bar, finally went to another source (I did get my money back from Moss). I also just ordered the Brooklands windscreen from Moss(a sale item)and was told that I would't see it until May, but had to pay for it now if I wanted the sale price.

Seems to be a disturbing trend. Let us know re: the Brooklands wheel, I have been aching to switch to one (they look very cool).

Larry Thompson
'51TD
Larry Thompson

These steering wheels are still made in Birmingham, England from the original mould tooling, by Kimble Engineering Limited. John Kimble now runs his business from Unit 5, Old Mill Creek, Dartmouth, Devon,TQ6 0HN, England. Phone +44 (0)1803 835757 fax 834 567.
John is a real nice guy and TF owner, if you contact him, please give him my regards
Steve Taylor
Steve Taylor

I've had a Moss Brooklands wheel on my TD for about 15 years now. I recently took it apart to add one of those cool little blue cloisonne Blumel's spoke separators, and I did notice some minor cracking on the backside where the spokes enter the wheel. I assume there's a metal ring to which the spokes are welded under the plastic rim--at least I hope so. I guess if the rim came off in your hands you could still steer the car by the spokes; they're retained pretty positively by the hub. That'd wake you up.

The only other problem I've noticed is that the chrome plated screws on the hub tend to corrode, so I replaced them with polished stainless. Wax or polish the big aluminum hub too, it will turn dull over time if you don't. The same is true of MG medallion in the middle of the wheel.

The wheel I bought was for a TC, and the splined shaft on my steering column had had its tapered head lopped off, so that made for some head scratching. But it all worked out.

Before you make the switch, there's one more thing you might want to consider. The look can't be beat, but these wheels are BIG--don't expect a lot of space between the wheel and your legs. Like flying on Continental.
Jack Williamson

Jack,

I would assume that the construction of the Brooklands wheel is similar to the original. My original wheel was in pretty bad shape, lots of cracking where the wires meet the rim, even some of the plastic missing. I removed as much of the loose stuff as I could, and found that there is in fact a piece of metal inside the rim where the wires enter. I didn't delve any further than that to seem how the rim is ultimately attached. Anyhow, even with alot of the plastic from around the wires removed, the rim seemed pretty well attached, albeit there was a bit more flex.

I have since repaired the damage with a marine-type two part epoxy - filled all the gaps in and then sanded to the orginal (or close to original) shape. I repainted with black lacquer paint (I know its not original, but it was the color when I got the car). I haven't tried it on the road since the repairs, but it seems to be pretty sturdy. Time will tell.

Larry Thompson

John Kimble is indeed an nice guy. He also does Brooklands screens. Try him for those instead of Moss.
Dave Osborn

I just received a stock type TD wheel from Moss. I would give the part a "C-" at best. The spokes are poorly chromed and the plastic has rough edges from the mold. The color of the plastic is solid tan.

I should have spent the money on restoring my original....

Good luck,

Evan
53 TD
Evan Ford

The steering wheel on my 50 TD completely fell apart. I think the cover was holding the plastic together. Rather than purchase a replica, I rebuilt from walnut the original (rim). The spokes attach to a 3/8" +/- wire around which the plastic was poured. The spokes attach by means of a flat heavy gauge piece of sheet metal about one inch wide and two inches long that wraps around the steering wheel and terminates on either side of the spokes. I did not examine the actual connection method, whether spot welds or the plastice holding it together, but when all the plastic was off the spokes did not move on the wheel. Now that the wheel is back together, the spokes are still tight.
Michael

Michael, I read with interest your post on how you used walnut to re-make the steering wheel rim. I think that there are a large number of TD/F steering wheels that are in need of refurbishing and your use of walnut (or other types of wood) seems like a good idea. Can you enlarge on the method you used? I am sure it would be of interest to others on the list.
Best Regards, Hugh Pite
Hugh Pite

Mike Moryl, When I purchased my TC, a Moto Lita wheel(Moss part No. 454-190) was installed. The adaptor hub for this steering wheel is Moss part No. 454-317, which might fit your TF. You might check with Moss to see if these hubs would interchange with each other, or contact Larry Thompson(see this thread 2/22) who might have knowledge of this. I think I have sold the steering wheel to someone in our club, but the adaptor hub is for sale at half the price in the Moss catalog plus ups shipping.E-mail me if interested.Ben Cordsen
Ben Cordsen

Mike, I posted some steering wheel info today and suggested you check with Larry Thompson for his experience in TC/TF steering wheel hub interchange info. That should have been Jack Williamson(see this thread, 2/22.) My apologies to both Jack and Larry for mixing your names. I guess I should have stuck with chasing oil leaks on the TC instead of trying to type on this computer! Ben
Ben Cordsen

Hugh,
I did the same thing as Michael in rebuilding the steering wheel rim with walnut, although I have no idea how he did his. I simply bandsawed some 1/2" stock I had into 120 degree arcs with "lips" at the ends to cover the straps Michael mentioned. I doubled the stock when it was sawed to get identical pieces, giving me two oversize circles when the pieces were fit together and glued (I used epoxy). Lay the wire rim over one, and mark its location all the way around. Repeat with the second set, turning everything over, to keep the parts matched. Then route out a rounded slot along the markings, half the depth of the 3/8" wire rim. Next glue the two halves together (epoxy again), sandwiching the wire rim between. From then on it's just a elbow grease exercise with wood rasp and varied grades of sandpaper to shape this circular block you have created into the proper cross-section. A drum sander will make the job a lot shorter if you have one--I didn't. I made finger indentations on the back side to provide a more solid hand hold.
You can cut the stock in 4, or 6, or 8 sections, if you desire instead of thirds. You just have more joints to carefully fit and glue. I used thirds because the spokes are arranged at 120 degrees.




Phil Gross

I would be happy to describe how my wheel was built. E-mail me at seamud@juno.com and I'll send a Word or WordPerfect text. Describing the process would take up a great deal of space here.
Michael

Check the following for how-to instructions on transforming an MGB wheel. I'll be trying this on one of my MGA wheels.
Derek Nicholson

Oops! Silly me. I forgot to paste the site before clicking "Submit".

Try"- http://tor-pw1.netcom.ca/~hinges/mgb/wheel.htm
Derek Nicholson

This thread was discussed between 21/02/2000 and 05/03/2000

MG TD TF 1500 index

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