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MG MGA - How could it happen?

A friend (I use the term loosely) has just fitted a new Moto-lita steering wheel to his coupe and during the process found the steering column adjustable shaft was twisted (see photo attached). How could this happen? The shaft has only the slightest bend. It is hard to believe any load on the steering system either from the road wheels or steering wheel could cause this? Perhaps it was a manufacturing fault? Has anyone ever seen similar?
Mike


Mike Ellsmore

Haven't seen it on an A before but have seen it on later cars where would be thieves have tried to sheer off the steering column lock---don't know how that could happen to an A
William Revit

I had one just like that Mike. On one of the cars I restored many years ago. It may still be in the collection! Maybe it's an outback, rough road Aussie thing!
Barry.
Barry Gannon

Had the same with a TD one years ago.
Car had no signs of accident but shaft was removed immediately
Dirk Van Ussel

Well I always thought that my steering was a bit heavy, but even when I have eaten a whole tin full of spinach, I don't think I would ever have had enough arm strength to twist a steering column like that!

So, either the ambient temperature in Oz is a few thousand degrees higher than they tell us, or Aussie steel has a 90% lead content! :^)

Would be interesting though to find out what caused the twisting.

What do you reckon Gary Lock?

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

I'd venture to guess that a previous owner had removed the shaft, perhaps to repair some damage or to separate the shaft, placed it in a vice, and either failed in the repair or actually caused the damage. Regardless of reason, do replace it.
Nick Kopernik

Colyn...must be an ex race car, with it's track history on tracks with all left hand turns! Mind you, I did think of you with having the same problem, what with all those tight twisty lanes in Yorkshire and Scotland, but at least they are both left and right turns, so status qou.
Gary Lock

Nick, I might test your theory and find out how much torque it needs to straighten the key way - my mate has a 3/4" drive torque wrench.

Cheers
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Interestingly I put something just less than 180 ft lbs torque on the nut and it stripped the thread without the twist moving. Just the nut alone is no where near as strong with the boss when tightened up on the taper. I'll weld the nut to the shaft and try again!
The shaft is hollow with a step in it, larger bore in the area of the long keyway (~15mm) as compared to the taper, spline, nut section (~12mm).
It is a slow day in Melbourne - wet, cold and some Covid restrictions!
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Be careful Mike,
you might just end up ruining that steering column :^)

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Hi Mike, My unrestored MGA MkII has the same twisted shaft. When I purchased the car back in 1974 it had recently lost a front wheel whilst driving and the steering wheel had quite a few broken spokes, so I just assumed that the damage to the steering shaft was caused by the driver wrenching on the steering wheel to avoid loosing control.
Garry


Garry Kemm

I reckon if that car lost a front wheel there could have been an almighty shock sent through the steering column. This sudden spinning of the steering wheel could have been like a hammer blow causing that twisting especially in the weakened area of the keyway. The shock may well have broken those steering wheel spokes too.
Pete T
PeteT

Interesting that the twist in both pictures looks very very similar at least in the same location. I had thought that hitting a kerb might have been the cause. It would put a mighty shock into the steering system and with the big diameter wheel the driver might have resisted the torque initially or sufficiently to twist the shaft. I thought about doing some calculations to see what torque the shaft would need to go beyond its elastic limit. However.....
John Francis

I think its a machining error!
Art Pearse

When I was a teenage school bus driver back in the 60's my 75 passenger Chevy bus would develop a violent chatter in the steering if I hit a pothole. The only way to calm the chatter was to come to a complete stop. I reported this to maintenance several times but was told "nothing is wrong." So, one day while driving at the end of my route to drop off my last four students I hit a pothole, the chatter started and THEN THE STEERING WHEEL CAME OFF INTO MY LAP. With no steering wheel to hold onto and no seatbelt to keep me in the driver seat, I could not keep my feet on the pedals so we went off the road, up an embankment and in to a stand of pine saplings which brought us to a halt. Fortunately no one was hurt. The steering shaft showed serious stress cracks. Because of my maintenance tickets I was not accused of being at fault for the accident.

This probably doesn't have anything to do with the topic of this thread but it came to mind while reading these comments.

Jud
J K Chapin

Forget the 'machining error', it's a very clever engineer who can broach a bend in a spline!
Pete T
PeteT

Also one is twisted left and the other to the right in the photos shown, doubt dual machining errors. Also the one I inspected has a slight bend in the shaft when rotated. If we have three of these shafts with a twist in Melbourne there is sure to be more cases around as we aren’t the only drivers to have front end bingles!
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Maybe too many motorkhanas Mike-------------lol
William Revit

This thread was discussed between 13/01/2021 and 25/01/2021

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