Background #
On a recent UK holiday I decided I would treat myself to a new steering wheel for my 1972 MGB. So, there would be a MGB After-market Steering Wheel Install project in my future. The stock steering wheel was fine although I found the center horn button wasn’t a good fit. Also as the seats had been redone with new foam etc., I found that the large 15 inch diameter of the wheel left very little space for my legs.
It seems that prices in the UK are better than the USA. In the UK you can get both the steering wheel and the adapter hub for about the same price as just the steering wheel in the USA. I found some good options on eBay from sellers I had either heard about or who had top ratings. As such I made my purchase and had it delivered to my brother’s house. I chose a leather 14 inch wheel. I liked the look of and having driven the car briefly it is surprising how much smaller it is and feels. Personally, wouldn’t want anything smaller than a 14 inch wheel I have decided. Having got it home in my hand luggage I went through the install process.
Step by Step Install – MGB After-market Steering Wheel Install #
Step 1 – Horn & Boss #
My 72 has a center of the steering wheel horn button. I made sure that the supplier was able to support that need with the hub/boss and center emblem. I believe the center horn button means that you get an extra piece which emulates the stock copper ring on the original wheel. Here you can see it installed and secured with 2 screws the through base of the adapter hub.
Step 2 – Remove Existing Steering Wheel #
Remove/undo the large nut holding the steering wheel on and in the case of my 72 also remove the horn brush pencil from the 12 O’clock position. As this can be a really tough thing to get the steering wheel off it’s splines you may want to read up on techniques. Mine came off relatively easily with a few firm tugs as I have been able to remove it previously. John Twist has one of his videos on this exact topic.
Step 3 – Noting the Original Setup #
Not really a step but here you can see the copper ring on the stock steering wheel. This has been emulated with the extra part attached to my new steering wheel hub.
Step 4 – While You’re In There, Signal Cancel Piece #
More of a “While You’re In There” point but you may want to check the position of the turn signal cancelling device. This piece should rotate on the steering column. Assuming you set the wheel straight before you started all this, the piece should be at approx the 9 O’clock position on the steering column. If it’s not and your turn signals only cancel after a really big turn of the wheel this could well be the cause of that problem. Might as well fix it now – wink!
Step 5 – Anti-seize to Avoid Needing the BFH #
Here I have put some anti-seize onto the steering column shaft splines.The hope is this might make the wheel easier to remove in the future. Also note the copper flexible link at the 3 O’clock position. It’s important to bend this outwards towards the driver to ensure it makes contact with the new hub/boss ring. The new hub may not fit as far back/down the column as the stock wheel. So adjust this before proceeding. If you don’t you’ll get to repeat some steps as I did!
Step 6 – Hub Test Fit/Alignment #
Position the new hub onto the splines and do a couple of test fits for alignment. If you are 1 spline off you may find your new wheel is not fully centered. As a lesson learned you may want to very carefully check the alignment before going too much further. You can connect the wheel to the hub with just 2-3 fittings and check that the wheel is truly centered for when you’re going down the road straight. Just be careful how you do this!
Step 7 – Snugging the Hub Into Place #
When ready make sure the new hub sits onto the splines and steering column snugly. I used a wooden block across the hub and hit the wood with a hammer gently to tap it fully into place. You can see the hub and top of the splines are aligned.
Step 8 – Hub and Cowl Alignment / Attach the Wheel #
Here you can see the new hub is well aligned into the cowl area. This is why you want to be sure to bend out that copper link back in step 5. I’m pretty sure the new hub and the copper ring attachment don’t make it into the cowl as far as the stock wheel setup does. At this point you can proceed to attach the wheel to the hub using the provided nylock nuts, Allen head screws and provide Allen wrench. Take your time here and get everything on loose and then fully tighten all of the fittings.
Step 9 – Horn Testing #
Now you just need to check the horn setup and put in the horn button. You can easily test that the horn is working by just grounding the wire from the horn ring attachment to anywhere on the hub. If that is working move on to connecting up the horn button/center of the wheel. This was the only thing where I had to make mods to what was provided. You need to connect the black wire to the copper center of the horn button. The horn button has a round screw thread and the wire has a female spade connector, hum. I just got a ring connector and a nut to resolve that as you can see. It was a small problem but possibly annoying if you don’t have the pieces or Sears Hardware 2 minutes from your house.
Step 10 – Finishing Up #
I found the horn button was a VERY tight fit into the wheel and ended up using a rubber mallet to get it in fully. Unlike me, before doing this, make doubly sure the steering wheel is aligned/centered where you want it. Mine was not and I’ll have to deal with taking that out to get at the big nut to pull off the wheel and move one spline around. I don’t know but I have read that you can also adjust the wheel centering by making equal and offsetting adjustments to the tie rods – you’re on your own with that plan though, I just don’t know. Still that’s the finished result and I am quite pleased with it. It fits in well with the black red color scheme I have with the 72B. Good luck & Safety Fast!
I hope you find this article useful as you undertake your own MGB After-market Steering Wheel Install. Please refer back to the knowledge base for more information and articles that I hope are useful.
