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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 - Steering Wheel

Hello All. How can I repair or restore my stock/original TD steering wheel? Are there services out there that I can send it too? How much money are we talking about? Thanks..I am new to the BBS today -
Merry Christmas!

Mark York
M York

Mark,

Here is one option; you send your wheel to Gordon Lawson (Gordon Bruce Lawson [gblawson@vaxxine.com])and have him make a custom wood rim such as this one he did for me. Price in the $300.00 area and well worth it.

Cheers,
Jim


James Neel

There is also Kip motors who will recast the plastic rim.....

http://www.kipmotor.com/Parts/Recast.htm
gblawson

http://www.american-stitches.com
They did a beautiful slightly padded leather stitched cover on my wheel, matched the interior leather. The company has changed names since, so not positive if the same people or not. George
George Butz

Mark,

Welcome to the Forum!

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Or you could send it to Pearlcraft.


Richard Taylor

The Pearlccraft restoration is beautiful and maybe like original (lots of debate about the color/mottling, etc.). This as well as the new repro wheels are small in diamater and really uncomfortable to hold IMHO. That is why I went with the leather wrap and the beautiful wooden ones Gordon makes are larger in diameter and a lot more comfortable. George
George Butz

Actually the Pearlcraft restoration is nothing like the original color. It looks more like a gold mother of pearl exactly as I specified. The size is actually the original with more material on top of that so it is fatter than original and feels extremely smooth to the touch.
Richard Taylor

Richard, I stand corrected- it is obviously fatter than the originals/repros and of course I have never felt or actually seen it. Whatever the color, it looks really nice. The swirling of the colors looks a lot like some of the wheels sold 20-30 years ago, but I think those were more gray/brown? My now leather covered wheel was a Moss repro from maybe 10-15 years ago that was suppose to be the original color, which was a slightly goldish-tan that I never liked. George
George Butz

The wheels have a 1/4" rod going through the middle...when cast, the plastic was poured into a mold and ended up being about 1/2" in diameter....
I remember all the cars I drove in the 50's and 60's were about this size...quite thin by today's standards!
Due to the method I use, I just can't get the size back down to 1/2"...although I think that would be too small for a wooden rim.
The last wheel I did, I planed the wood a tad under 1/8", so putting 6 layers together put it at 3/4" and with sanding and finishing it was a bit under that... I really liked the size, but fitting it over the rod required about 3 extra hours work (not a lot of room to router, laminate and sand especially around the spoke clamps....did feel nice though! Leaving the finger grips off the back also makes it feel a bit thicker then a stock wheel....


gblawson

Your wheels are definately beauitful Gordon; actually an art form that you just don't see these days thats one of the reasons I love the T series so much. When Cory was fitting Little T's body work he was fussing about getting the wings just perfect and I told him they were art and I really didn't care if they were exactly the same symetrically I just wanted all the spaces were the parts meet to be even.
Richard Taylor

I still have my orig. steering wheel in place and it is not too bad a shape. It does however develop little splits and splinters in the plastic from year to year. I have repaired these by filling the cracks with a colour matched polyester resin and micro ballon mixture.. So far it is holding up very well.
I happen to like the thin diameter rim.
colin stafford

I like mine fat.


LED DOWNEY

What is the diameter of that one?... I was amazed when I changed from the Nardi (15") to the Brooklands (16 1/2") at how much easier the car was to steer....
gblawson(gordon)


Colin, I am interested in your steering wheel repair. I have repaired mine with clear epoxy with good results, but I have not been able to color match. Can you email me expaining the process? I would be most grateful. Thanks. lvb at windstream.net
Larry Brown

Here is that last wheel photo i posted installed in a TF from OZ.....(the thin rim one).


gblawson(gordon)

Thanks for all the good ideas. Does anyone have any idea on the cost of the KIP recast?

Mark
M York

Was working on a few wheels this morning getting the old rims cleaned and polished...
The spokes are stainless steel and if you cut 600 grit emery cloth in long strips, about an inch wide, they will clean up like new ....just pull the emery cloth back and forth like polishing a pair of shoes.....


gblawson(gordon)

Larry........I went to a boat supply house which sells colour concentrate for epoxy or polyester resins. They also have the micro ballons which look like very fine sand.
I mask off the cracks and work in the resin with a fine pick.
colin stafford

Thanks Colin. Went on line and found a source of epoxy and colors. Will order. Wish me luck in matching.
Larry Brown

http://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/steeringwheel.htm
Len Fanelli

Since this thread keeps popping back up to the top I thought I would share what I did. The right photo is an original wheel; I think it would have taken a little too much epoxy to fix it !! The left photo is a walnut rim I built around the metal rod in the rim. Constructed in a similar manner as Gordon, only I used 6 instead of 8 pieces of wood around the edge staggering the joints with the spokes and I didn't laminate - just a top and bottom layer (I'm not that skilled of a woodworker!).

I only used handheld power tools (router, belt sander, drum sander chucked in a power drill) since I don't own a lathe. Oh, and lots of hand sanding !!! Careful measurement and holding my breath allowed me to get a thinner rim - no finger indents in the back still makes it feel thicker.

Bud Precht
'52 MGTD (RHD) # 22141


Francis Precht

Bud, what is the method to get two photos into one? I feel more comfortable with MGs than I do tinkering with my computer and related accessories. We here on the BBS have seen many postings where the author wishes he could do that.
Jim Merz

Bud, that looks great and in this picture one hardly can see the connections between the six pieces. The connections to the spokes look very smooth and elegant. Did you first glue the two halves into one piece and than close them around the rim?

Jim, I use Powerpoint programme to import into a new sheet all kinds of images. I can easily adjust size of every import and create a composition and safe the hole as one new image as a .jpg file.

Greetings, Huib
Huib Bruijstens

Jim,
Several ways to accomplish this. Easiest I have found (I like easy!) is Paint. The strategy is alot like Powerpoint.
1. open the first photo in Paint
2. 'grab' the little handles (the little black dots) on the sides or bottom right corner and drag over to make the white canvas large enough to add a second (or third,...) photo
3. in Paint, Edit -> Paste from and browse/specify the second photo
4. while the newly added photo is still 'selected' (i.e. has the dashed line around the outside) drag the second photo away from the first and place it next to the first. you might need to resize the newly added photo, too.
5. in Paint, File -> Save As
takes about 5 minutes. Check the file size before attaching to be sure it isn't too large.
If you need any help, let me know.

Huib,
Thanks. I used some wood 'splines' to reinforce the joints. Cut them the same size as the groove left from my table saw. I also like the transition from the rim to the spokes -it looks more like the original wheel. But, that was also the hardest part - MUCH sanding !

I first made 2 hexagon shapes from 3/4inch (~3cm) thick walnut sized so that the steel rim overlapped properly. It was here that I cut a slot in the end of each side of the hexagon and inserted a thin slice of wood as the spline to reinforce the joint.

Then, I used the router to cut a groove in both hexagons the same size as the steel rim but 1/2 the thickness of the steel rim. I also cut a slot to accomodate the spokes. Test fit and trial and error to get everything aligned. Filled the groove with clear epoxy and clamped the wood hexagons and rim 'sandwich' together.

Used the router to cut out the outer circle - CAREFUL measurements to make sure you don't hit the steel rim. Same thing for the inside diameter but you need to stop BEFORE you get to the spokes. I used a coping saw to finish the cutting near the spokes. Then, sand, sand, sand.

Hope this all helps. (Gee....I got to contribute something ! Usually I am the recepient of the vast knowledge on this BBS. Glad to help!)

Bud Precht (the other Bud)
Francis Precht

Thanks (other) Bud. I'll tinker with your instructions.
Huib, I think I have Powerpoint on this new computer so between you and Bud, I have many things to investigate. Thank you too!
Jim Merz

This thread was discussed between 24/12/2009 and 21/01/2010

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