Lotus Steering Wheel

[elansprint71]

My 68 S4SE had the crappy, thin plastic-covered item but without Chapman's moniker. It had the obligatory splits.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Tim & Mark,

you are two of the many fountains of Elan knowledge that make this Forum a great place to visit.
Thanks for the edification

Cheers
John

[trw99]

Spouting now!

Thanks John, it's a pleasure. I still learn a good deal on here too.

Tim

[jono]

That's quite a bit of dosh for the recovering work Worth it I suspect on a Chpamn wheel but as suggested earlier in the post I think I may be better hanging on to the origianl wheel for sake of originality and buying a Motolita.

Does anyone know if it is possible to buy a blank Motolita and fit the Lotus boss to it?

Jono

[RotoFlexible]

Len charges about ?100 to re-cover a Chapman wheel in leather. The results are superb...he uses the same stitching pattern as used originally. He also restores woodrim wheels, for your S1 & S3 JK.

Does anyone know of a similar service in the US? My original wood-rim wheel is OK (a slight split) but too thin for my liking. (Also too large, but that's another problem.) A leather cover with thin padding to get the rim thickness where I want it would keep the original rim intact, if hidden.

Or, I can pack the original safely away and get a Motolita or 26R replica.

I wasn't able to find much in the way of wood-rim wheel restorers via Google or the Hemmings classifieds - one possible lead but few details. Your '56 Chevy or '66 muscle car's plastic wheel, no problem...

[oldokie]

Pep Boys in the US sell the leather covers, it's a good chance to practice your two needle baseball stitch. On the other hand, I love my MotoLita!

[CBUEB1771]

Does anyone know of a similar service in the US? My original wood-rim wheel is OK (a slight split) but too thin for my liking. (Also too large, but that's another problem.) A leather cover with thin padding to get the rim thickness where I want it would keep the original rim intact, if hidden.

Andrew,
Bruce Crawford of Hard Wood Classics Ltd (http://www.hardwoodclassicsltd.com/index.htm) was recently noted in the Club Elite e-newsletter. He deals mainly in older Porsches but has restored a few Elite steering wheels. I don't know about leather covered rims but Bruce could surely repair your original wood rim. Bruce is in Los Osos, California.
Russ

[RotoFlexible]

Thanks, Russ. With a bit more sleuthing, I found Mike Lempert in S. Carolina (lempertwheels.com). He'll restore your old wood-rim wheel or make a new one. If the photos on his site are a reliable guide, it would be a sin to cover one of his wheels in leather.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Jono,

I have taken a quick look at both Chapman & Motolita wheels that I have handy.
Fistly; the centre of the Motolita is much bigger than the original; the Lotus boss would probably fall through the hole.
Secondly; my past experience with Motolita would indicate that they do tend towards "Inflexibility" if you get my drift
They will of course supply a wheel complete with Lotus horn button.
I think you will find that all aftermarket wheels have larger centres in order to accomodate the adaptor hubs.
The wheel I have fitted to my S4 was a French made job with polished spokes, it looks right & was on special offer at the time.
I've refrained from polishing the spokes; too much dazzle from the Sun.
The restored Chapman wheel is hung on the wall; nicer to look at than to feel between my mits

Cheers
John

[Coupe]

This is my Moto-Lita I fitted - probably takes something away from originality but not concerned about that. Really well made and same size and thickness as the Momo I have on the Elise. The red leather is a deeper red than it looks on the photo !

[Jolly Jumper]

When considering Moto Lita wheels or any other after market solution, please bear in mind the original Chapman wheel was very light and the column was only designed for a low weight wheel.

A Moto Lita wheel will be much heavier. I used to have an Astrali leather wheel which looked nice but it was very heavy.

I have now gone back to the original Chapman wheel and it feels much nicer. Sure it is thin but the steering feels so much better now...

[elj221c]

I don't think the weight of a Mota-Lita would be more than the original plastic Triumph wheel the column was designed for! Perhaps you refer to the rather flimsy way the column is attached to the dashboard in the Elan?
I have done over 150000 miles in my S2 with a Mota-Lita with no ill effects that I am aware of. Sizewise I believe it's much better than the original in both diameter and thickness.
Roy
'65 S2

[davidbalkwill]

Why not buy some leather and some needles and waxed thread and spend a productive evening covering your own.

Here's the one I did for my MGB. Really not very difficult. You could add whatever thickness of padding you wanted.

You stitch the ends of the strip together so it's a very tight fit onto the wheel, that way the sides start to fit around the rim. The width of the strip is cut so it nearly goes around the rim, and it's the stitching that pulls the edges together. You pierce the holes for the stitching before you put it on the wheel, just measuring a regular pitch, and bob's your uncle.

David. Future Plus 2 owner.

[oldokie]

David,
Nice job, bet the gaiter is yours as well.

[davidbalkwill]

You guessed, and the MGF seats fitted to MGB lower frames to keep the tipping back rest.

Anyway, she will be for sale soon so I can join you people.

David