Steering wheels

[Jonty5speed]

Hello everyone, here we are back in Lotus Land.

I ventured out today for a sort of pre MOT when the steering wheel decided to become somewhat "hinged". My argument that it would aid road safety by collapsing in the event of an accident fell on deaf ears so I'm left with the problem of finding a replacement at short notice. I've decided to replace it with the wooden rimmed Moto-Lita which is available off the shelf and get the original repaired at leisure. Does anyone know whether it is a straight swap or are there issues with the horn push etc. that I need to look out for? Would this type of wheel have been available in the '70's and possibly fitted to Plus 2's?

Thanks in advance,

Jon

[oldokie]

My +2 (50/0183) arrived on these shores with a leather rimmed Moto-Lita in '77.

[1964 S1]

Triumph Spitfire wheels work fine, including the horn push. I have a late model one that I've used on my '69 +2 and S1.

[twincamman]

do use a leather wheel as the wooden ones tend make a mess of your internals when they splinter upon severe impact ---ed

[timliggins]

My original 'hinged' Chapman signed wheel has been hanging in the garage for several years. Four times I've removed the leather, had the rim welded and laboriously hand sewn the cover back on, only for the MOT tester to undo everything by pulling on the thing when trying to extract himself from the car. I currently have a 14" Astrali wheel which I drilled to take the original hub and horn button. This was a temporary measure until I got round to having the original restored but I actually found the Astrai, with its thicker rim, far nicer, so the Chapman wheel remains a garage decoration. One word of warning though, I fitted a 13" wheel to start with and IMHO it was horrible; stick with 14".

[thor]

I've got a 13" leather Mountney with black holed spokes, incl hub/horn push you can have for ?40+postage.... I replaced this with an original a year ago. Send me an email.

[denicholls2]

As noted, the column is Triumph Spitfire. Adapters are available (Grant is the easiest to find in my experience) to get you to the other common mounting systems, including Astrali, Moto Lita, Mountney ...

My recommendation would be to start by finding the wheel you want, under the assumption that you can get from there to installed.

I did a write-up of the options I encountered and course I took on the Europa site. You can search their on-line archives with the keyword Moto-Lita or Grant and I'm sure it will pop up.

[peterako]

Just one comment in agreement with timliggins.

Stick with the 14" wheel.

There was an 12" wheel on my +2 when I got it and I used
to wake up with sore shoulders teh morning after driving it!

Switched it to a 14" Mota Lita (Leather) and the car feels so
much better!

Peter 1973 +2S 130/5

[Jonty5speed]

Thanks everyone, I've ordered a 14" leather Moto Lita, will post a photo when fitted.

Jon