Wooden Steering Wheel

[Gingerbunts]

Hello

FYI - I am a newish owner on a steep learning curve!

I am splashing out shortly and getting the interior of my 1986 126 Brown reupholstered and I'd like to add a wooden steering wheel. (also getting a respray! very excited!)

I've been looking on ebay and there are quite a wooden steering wheels, some coming in around my £60 budget but I've not bought one yet as I'm worried it won't fit.

Could anyone out there advise me what spec I need it to be to ensure it fits?

Many thanks

Nicky

[drcdb15]

Hi Nicky,

don't want to dampen your enthusiasm, but just a precautionary check... have you ever actually used a wooden steering wheel? The feel is quite different to a plastic covered wheel, and wood can also be quite slippery, so if you usually wear gloves when driving you may find it hard work to grip the wheel.

I'd recommend trying out a wooden wheel before you spend good money on something you may end up not liking.

Personally I like the feel of wood compared to plastic, but the grip issue is a serious one. My Jag has a part-wood wheel that is highly polished, and driving it wearing gloves is imho potentially quite dangerous. Fortunately the other part of the wheel is leather so that's OK, but I have also used an all wood wheel on another car, and if you have an issue with the grip you will end up driving only holding the spokes. That is both dangerous and can be quite uncomfortable, especially for longer periods.

So try before you buy is my advice. Hope you find what you're looking for!

[Gingerbunts]

oooo thank you I hadn't thought about that, I often drive with gloves on as her heater isn't great.

Thanks for that I may have a rethink and possibly recover the plastic one with leather.

Thank you sooo much :0)

[drcdb15]

Coincidentally, I found this little gem on C&C soon after replyng to your first post:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C727835

You'll see the car has a wooden wheel, but I notice the bolt pattern seems unusual in that it is apparently not even around the hub. Since it's an Abarth style wheel, you might try phoning around the Abarth specialists to get their advice about a boss/hub kit to fit your car.

Abarth is not really my field, but some dealers are very well versed in this area. Middle Barton Garage springs to mind, but you should also check out this forum for previous threads that will give you a list of names.

Also of course there are some very Abarth-aware members on here that might be able to advise. And there is at least one 126 Brown owner here too who may be able to contribute.   

[drcdb15]

Nicky,

you might also want to read through this thread:

http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=10269.msg76081#msg76081

You'll see the 126 generally used a 20-spline ('coarse') or a 38-spline ('fine') fitting between the steering column and the boss (or hub, some people call it), but the ELX model also apparently used a weird 37-spline fitting from the Cinquecento.

Changing steering wheels seems so simple at first, just like changing the road wheels... until you come to actually do it.... 

[Joe Webb]

yeah can confirm the splines are weird, I have the ELX and it took me 4 goes to get the right boss (hopefully as the latest attempt hasn't arrived yet)

although as long as you have the right boss it shouldn't be that difficult really. I'd buy the boss first though in hindsight as there are more steering wheel options than bosses, so you can get a mountney or momo or whatever depending on the boss that actually fits!

can't wait to get my wooden wheel on there! I fitted a quick release coupling to it as well