Fitting an Italvolanti steering wheel to a Reliant

Post by **RonH** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:24 pm

Cheers Chris
Interestingly I paid just short of £15000 for my GTC but many already know that. So the MB wheel may make the car valuable.

Ron

Post by **RonH** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:27 pm

Mark
I’ve just stretched my iPad screen and now see what you mean

Ron

Post by **RonH** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:30 pm

Mark
Do you need anything from me (apart from the correct address and payment)

or are you ok to proceed?

Post by **philhoward** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:39 pm

RonH wrote: ↑
Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:23 pm
I remember seeing a Middlebridge wheel fitted to a recent for sale GTC on this forum - now sold. The chap was from Leek in Staffordshire- a mere 11 miles from me.
I’m hoping someone on here may remember or know him so that I can make contact. I’ve a feeling Phil Howard knows him?
Regards
Ron

Alas not me, Ron

Scimher (Geoff) is a fellow Cheddletonian and has lived round here a lot longer than I - not sure if he knows? I remember someone mentioning it when I was thinking of a GTC last year as it was on my radar.

Post by **scimjim** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:40 pm

drcdb15 wrote: ↑
Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:18 pm
Sorry Jim, it did occur to me we were going a tad off topic! Can you move this post too please? Thanks

No need to apologise - like most, I had no idea the Middlebridge steering column was different to the 6b, so i thought it deserved its own thread.

Edit - an old thread here seems to suggest that some cars may have splined shafts and others, the hex bar?

Post by **drcdb15** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:25 pm

OK, a little note to clarify things a bit. I've just been checking out the parts list for the GTC (thanks to Graham Walker) and I understand now why Mark is talking about 'removing the hex' - which isn't necessary.

The GTC set up has a splined steering column, and the standard GTC wheel has a complex construction that in effect bolts (or welds? I haven't seen one in the flesh) the boss (with the splines at the car end) to the wheel, making it a single assembly. Hence when you release the securing nut, the entire wheel plus boss comes off and you are left looking at the splines on the steering shaft.

In the MB, as in most later cars, this assembly is split up - the steering wheel is a flat plate with 6 holes in it (9 in some marques, let's not complicate matters) and it is bolted to the BOSS which has a flat rim on the driver's side with 6 matching holes. At the car end of the boss is a thick plate with a single big hole that is splined, which fits onto the steering shaft, secured by a single large nut.

On the MB, possibly not the first few which used up old stock from the SE6B/GTC production, this 'splined' shaft is actually just a solid hexagonal lump, so the car end of the boss doesn't have splines, it has a hexagonal hole.

The point is, MB has a separate boss, whilst the GTC has the boss-plus-steering wheel combined. This means that if you want to replace the GTC wheel with a non-standard one - ANY non-standard one - you will need a new BOSS as well as the new wheel. But assuming the steering shaft splines are a standard size (typically 20 or 36 splines and I can't recall the diameter, something like 7/16 inch?) then an off-the-shelf boss will do the trick.

So Mark, you won't need to 'remove the hex' from the MB wheel, because the MB (Italvolanti) wheel doesn't have the built-in boss that the GTC wheel has, it is just a 'flat plate' like the picture: (this is actually a 9-hole MotoLita but it illustrates the point)

: RR1173 13.jpg (42.69 KiB) Viewed 310 times

Here's the GTC wheel from the Reliant parts list, and it shows the wheel and boss as a single item:

: GTC steering wheel.jpg (98.98 KiB) Viewed 295 times

Post by **Loxford** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:06 am

When I sold my M/bridge I had a spare steering wheel which I kept and fitted to my GTC.
I purchased an adaptor boss and it was quite straightforward.
The intalvolanti is a far nicer wheel than the rather thin Reliant original.
G

Post by **scimjim** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:57 am

So in short, the Middlebridge has a different steering column to the Reliant but the Italvolanti steering wheel has a removable boss.

Post by **RonH** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:39 am

All this is sounding good. I will be approaching the supplier Scarborough when they return next Wednesday. Loxford was this your supplier or someone else?
Ron

Post by **gtcse8** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:00 pm

Ron

Not had chance to look at the MB wheel today.

But I will tomorrow, I will wait till you have contacted Scarborough before trying to fit a Scimitar centre to the MB wheel.
According to Chris It sounds like a FLAT adaptor will be needed, instead of the DEEP casting from a Scim.

All OK unless you want to move the wheel closer to the driver.

Chris

I have various Adaptors that will fit a Scim shaft, all with different depths and bolt patterns, if all else failed I was just going to drill out the rivets on the scrap Scim wheel I have and use the centre boss.

Post by **RonH** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:51 pm

Hi Mark and Chris
I seemed to have got a a little carried away with the interest in the Intalvolanti wheel and more so with the options regarding fitting to a GTC.
GTC 404 already has a Mountney wheel and boss fitted which I’ve been trying to change since I purchased 404.
This adaptor has 6 bolts on a 101.6 PCD. The Intalvolanti I have has 6 holes on a 70mm PCD on a flat plate. Pictures attached. So I’m hoping that when I check the column diameter and the number of splines I will find a suitable boss adapter. Also someone may already know these details and pass them on. 404 at the moment is at the garage awaiting a MOT for Monday morning. So l can’t check the details at the moment.
Again thank you all for your input.

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Post by **scimjim** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:59 pm

I thought they were a Triumph spline?

Post by **gtcse8** » Sat Apr 14, 2018 8:07 pm

I do remember when I did Mick G`s car the wheel boss was not concentric to the centre and it was a crap casting, the indicator canceller did not fit or work and the boss rubbed against the switch surround.

I machined and adapted it to make it work.

It was a very deep casting too.

Post by **drcdb15** » Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:57 pm

gtcse8 wrote: ↑
Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:00 pm
Chris
if all else failed I was just going to drill out the rivets on the scrap Scim wheel I have and use the centre boss.

Separating the standard wheel and spokes from the central boss would be fine, provided there is enough meat left on the boss to give a flat flange onto which the MB wheel will sit and enough room to drill the 6-off mounting holes. These are not large, about 5 or 6mm diameter. Without having one to hand to look at I can't comment, but it may be you can't really tell until you actually get the old rim and spokes off and out of the way.

Scimher · Post by **Scimher** » Tue Apr 17, 2018 12:33 pm

philhoward wrote: ↑
Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:39 pm
RonH wrote: ↑
Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:23 pm
I remember seeing a Middlebridge wheel fitted to a recent for sale GTC on this forum - now sold. The chap was from Leek in Staffordshire- a mere 11 miles from me.
I’m hoping someone on here may remember or know him so that I can make contact. I’ve a feeling Phil Howard knows him?
Regards
Ron
Alas not me, Ron Scimher (Geoff) is a fellow Cheddletonian and has lived round here a lot longer than I - not sure if he knows? I remember someone mentioning it when I was thinking of a GTC last year as it was on my radar.

...I'm sure that I remember someone in Leek advertising a GTC on ebay, some time ago - that is all I can come up with, I'm afraid...