Steering wheel cocked

[exarkun1178]

Hi, want to know your thoughts.  Sat inside the europa for the first time in more then a year.  frame off restoration.  anyways, the new steering wheel is a bit cocked.  the 3 oclock position is tilted into the car, the 9 oclock is tilted towards the front of the car.

I suspect the steering column and rack may have been installed a bit to the right, but looking at the hole in the T section of the fram, there really is no wiggle room to do that.  any ideas why this could happen?

[BDA]

The steering column points a little toward the center of the car so the steering wheel will not be perpendicular to the axis of the car. Believe me, when you drive it, you'll never notice! 

[EuropaTC]

I don't know about LHD cars, but on our RHD ones you do tend to sit slightly askew with your feet pointing inwards, so I think that ties in with what you've found, allowing for the wheel on the LH side. 

I had owned my car for some time and never even noticed it until another owner pointed it out to me.  (another example of my unerring observational skills.....     )

Brian

[exarkun1178]

looks like this is standard.... strange

[BDA]

I guess, but spending the money to design it so that it would be perpendicular to the axis of the car when you actually don't sit parallel to the axis of the car would be strange, too. 

[Bainford]

I first noticed this in a picture online when shopping for my car. Thinking that the car had problems I immediately passed on it, but eventually I noticed it in pictures of other Europas as well. When I bought my car and it showed up in my yard, I sat in it for the first time and suddenly it all made sense. As mentioned, the seating position is such that your legs/feet are canted towards the middle of the car (rather than straight ahead). The steering wheel is positioned so that it is square with the driver when seated thus. Once you are driving your car, it will all seem right.

[exarkun1178]

I was surprised to find the Moto Lita wheel i got is larger then the one i had.  this likely exaggerated the issue.  Ill guest use to it i suppose.

[BDA]

A larger wheel might make the misalignment more noticeable but I still doubt you'll be able to tell.

I purposely kept my original steering wheel - for a long time, it was nicer than most other sports car steering wheels. Sometimes I have thought I would prefer a thicker wheel and a smaller one would look even more sporty, but I think that just about any other wheel would obscure the water temp gauge so I've decided to be happy with my steering wheel.

When you're going slowly and you want/need to turn, a larger diameter wheel would be really helpful (another reason I like the original wheel as opposed to a smaller 'sportier' one). Even though the front end is light, it can still take some effort to do some parking maneuvers. That wheel may work out very nicely for you.

[EuropaTC]

If that's a 13" motalita then I think you'll do fine with it.  I've had several variations and although the car is quite manageable with smaller wheels, it's more relaxed to drive with a larger one.  I've had one of the 13" motalita wheels for the last year and as BDA says, the steering feels better at parking speeds, especially if you're switching from a modern car with light power steering.

Brian

[exarkun1178]

at the time they had two sizes.  looks like they have several more now.  i believe it is the 13"  at the time, i selected  the smaller one thinking it would be the same or smaller the the one i had.  Good to hear bout a more comfortable ride.