Kinky idea???

[jgkmmoore]

I have a Series IIa 109 SW, 1964. It has the later/dished plastic wheel(not the early/flat/banjo type).
I understand I can't adapt the 'banjo' wheel for some reason. Is it simply the spline count? or some other reason. Any reason I couldn't use a J--p Ch----ee steering wheel? 3 spoke,leather cover,flatter? Most cars have a 3/4" tapered end shaft for steering. Is Rover so much different? Assume none of the 'hot rod' type adaptors will work if the J--p wheel won't?
You see, I'm too porky to drive my truck whose seat does NOT adjust. 6' tall, 230 lbs, gut hits current wheel. Hep me! I will not exercise any more than I am now!!! Not an option. Leno is on my case every night. It won't offend me to weld the wheel to the shaft if I have to. I need a 15" or larger wheel, 3 spoke, flat or shallow dish. Nardi is TOO $$$$. Any ideas?
I'm goin' nuts on ebay, seeing all the possibilities that may not work.:confused:

[crankin]

Aftermarket steering wheels will not fit straight onto your existing steering column. To fit an aftermarket steering wheel onto your series you will need an adaptor or 'Boss' kit. I think a IIa is a 16 mm shaft with 36 splines….someone correct me…on the measurements

[Linus Tremaine]

You need to change the steering shaft. This either involves taking apart the steering box and switching it or getting a complete steering box that is splilned for a banjo steering wheel. There has to be someone among us parting out an early II or IIA. See if you can snag the box, column and wheel. Its a full days work to swap, but not too challenging. Plus, you will get a chance to re-seal it, put new clean 90wt in it and change all the old loose bolts that hold it on to your truck.

[Jeff Aronson]

The smaller the wheel, the less leverage a wheel provides and the harder the II-A will be to turn.

Good luck in finding a solution and share it here. Your issue shows up often.

Jeff

[siiirhd88]

Mountney, from England, makes smaller diameter steering wheels for the late SIIA and SIII. The wheel has a thicker padded rim and three flat spokes. The base of the hub has dimples at the location where the holes need to be drilled and tapped to attach the turn signal cancel adapter.

Search "Mountney Steering Wheels" on Google for info.

I picked up one Mountney wheel on Ebay, and bought a second one new from the other Vermont LR parts guys. No pics, sorry, since I am currently 450 miles from the trucks.

A very late Triumph Spitfire steering wheel has the same spline size as the late SIIA and SIII, but I haven't tried to fit one. You'd still have to figure a way to cancel the turn signals.

The smaller steering wheel does increase the steering effort, but I only notice it while parking and such.

Bob
'96 Disco SE7
'80 SIII 109
'75 SIII 88 V8
'68 SIIA 109 V8

[amcordo]

Anyone else feel mislead by this thread's title? :p

[jgkmmoore]

I've searched 4 different Forums under 'steering wheel' and found ZIP before asking the question on this Forum. I had minor physics enough to know about the effects of the smaller wheel, and that's why I asked about 15" or larger. 17"s are pretty rare.I'd like to stay with a thin rim as well, ala old brit stuff. Would like to see pics of the Mountney, I'll try that.
Turn signal cancelling is not an issue...I use the 'manual' form. The used Spitfire wheel would be more up my alley...I'm looking for 'cheap and effective'. Thanks Bob for thinking about pics, and I'll Google up the Mountney. Sweet Nardi on Ebay, but it's past $110 and a few days to go.

I dunno metric...how close is 16mm to 3/4 inch? If the J--p wheel has the right (or close) sized shaft, I'd just slip it on and weld it to the shaft. Not even thinking about changing shafts for any reason.

Hehehe-Gotcha Amcordo! Made ya read it, didn't I? Cool. Appreciate everyones comments on this.

[Nium]

For pretty much any conversion you can enter it in the Google search bar, for example typing in "16mm to inches" yields 16mm = 0.6299" (~ 5/8") or entering "1 pound to US dollars" yields £1.00 = $1.52 US. :cool:

Cheers

[ignotus]

JgK,

I recently swapped my plastic wheel for the Banjo style. Yes they are different. Being that the diameter and shape of the end where the wheel attaches is the main thing. Also at the top of the column some have bearings(late) others have a bushing(early).
Your options are as others have said. I opted for remove and replace totally since having the RHD box in the LHD position upsidedown was unacceptable. So I did as Linus suggested.
One thing that you may consider is that the inner column is a 3 piece shaft welded together. If you found the steering wheel that works for you, simply obtain the inner column also.
Then you can take yours apart, take all 4 pieces(inner and outer old+new inner and wheel) to your local machine shop, have them cut off the offending end and replace it with the desired end. If you found something with a larger inner shaft it could be machined to fit your old bearing race.
Another option is to take the present inner and outer column to a machine shop and have them both shortened by what ever dimension you need. That might be the easiest way and you still retain the "Rover" look.

Hope this helps,
gene

[jgkmmoore]

Thanks Gene. Last paragraph is prolly gonna be the answer. Im' going to try a thinner seatback first, and if that doesn't do it, will shorten the shaft. Was hoping for an easy out, but on this one, there isn't one.:(
Best Regards-Jeff

[siiirhd88]

Here are the photos of the Mountney steering wheels. The one with black spokes is 15" outside diameter, the silver spoke wheel is 14" outside diameter. The wheels have a center that is set up for horn wiring, if needed.

Bob