17 replies to this topic

[Barry Boor]

Since we completed the current rebuild of our car several grown men have had a sit in it. In every case, getting in and out has been a bit of a struggle.

The other day I suggested to Mr. C that we should have a removable steering wheel. He thought it was a good idea but of course, our wheel in 1972 was not removable so technically it would be wrong to have one now.

Health and safety being what it is these days I begun to wonder if there are many/any cars running in historic F.1 racing nowadays with a removable steering wheel? It would make sense for this to be the norm, for safety reasons, but is it?

Just in case anyone starts getting excited there is zero possibility of the car racing - events at Zandvoort recently confirmed our feelings on that matter.

[Bonde]

Hi Barry,

 

I know I've been inactive on TNF for ages, but anyway:

 

I can confirm from my recent visit to Spa that many, if not all, Masters F1 3 litre cars now race with removable steering wheels. I wouldn't be ashamed of fitting one on the Connew. And many congratulations on a dream job (for us spectators) well done!

 

Best regards,

Anders

[Tim Murray]

Good to have you back, Anders.

[Bonde]

Thanks, Tim!

 

I feel I'm in good company here, even if I probably won't post as much as I used to (I'm not much wiser since I last posted, so I probably can't contribute much anyway).

 

Best regards,

Anders

[bradbury west]

Anders, wonderful to see you here again. Thanks again for your help all that time ago. The project continues. BTW some  of the "off piste"  stuff I have come across is quite fascinating, of which more anon, no doubt.

Roger Lund

[Lee Nicolle]

As a grown man who does not bend as well as he should,, or at least did I can see no problems with doing it.

As you are probably aware there is a few styles, the common hex with either 3/4 or 7/8 internal dia to weld on to the column and a button to release which are dirt cheap. I paid $40AUD for the last one or the probably better splined one with a pull tab on the back. Both of these styles cater for the fairly generic 3 bolt steering wheel.

Then you get the more upmarket ones designed more for road cars and I am sure F1 have their own style as they could never use simple and generic!

Word to the wise. Not really for this car as its speed will be limited to how fast the guys can push. But I am a bit belt and braces as I have seen the wheels tacked onto the column and the tacks have broken . I simply ground a couple of small flats on the [solid] shaft and drilled and tapped the hex and loctited a couple of 3/16 grub screws as a secondary attachment. 

It is amazing how much load goes into a column and how things often come loose. Most OEM road cars now use some sort of hex or a couple of flats to drive the steering column with a bolt/ nut simply to lock it on the column.

[jcbc3]

Somewhere recently, I read an hommage to the McLaren M23. It stated that among many other things, it was the first F1 car to have a removeable steering wheel. So, you wouldn't be more than a year or two out with that little modification, Barry.


[edit]
Found it! Not a reputable source, but here you go:

https://www.topgear....s-mclaren-m23#5

[/edit]

Edited by jcbc3, 26 September 2017 - 12:29.

[Peter Morley]

Somewhere recently, I read an hommage to the McLaren M23. It stated that among many other things, it was the first F1 car to have a removeable steering wheel. So, you wouldn't be more than a year or two out with that little modification, Barry.


[edit]
Found it! Not a reputable source, but here you go:

https://www.topgear....s-mclaren-m23#5

[/edit]

 

Tony Settember's Scirocco had a removable steering wheel in 1963 - it was held on by what looks like a miniature 3 spoke wire wheel nut, not exactly push button technology but it was removable, maybe this was American 'technology' that he bought with him but it could mean other people had similar systems.

[Roger Clark]

The Porsche 804 had a removable steering wheel in 1962. Not F1, of course, but the pre-war Mercedes Grand Prix cars did too.

[kayemod]

I can confirm from my recent visit to Spa that many, if not all, Masters F1 3 litre cars now race with removable steering wheels.

 

Removable steering wheels can only help with an easier exit, which is clearly a good thing, especially in a non-professional series, but surely the main reason the Masters F1 cars have them is the prosperous well fed corpulence of many of the drivers. I bet that none of them are as small and skinny as for example Rene Arnoux used to be back then. In fairness to Rene though, I saw him a few months ago, and he doesn't appear to have put on a significant amount of avoirdupois.

[uffen]

Didn't JYS have a spanner taped inside the cockpit so that the steering wheel could be removed? When was that, late sixties?

[StanBarrett2]

Didn't JYS have a spanner taped inside the cockpit so that the steering wheel could be removed? When was that, late sixties?

OTTOMH he had that after his crash in the 1966 Belgian GP, when he had been trapped in his fuel leaking BRM.

I even think the spanner was taped to the steering wheel.

 

Not sure though, everything from memory.

 

macoran

Edited by StanBarrett2, 26 September 2017 - 23:21.

[mfd]

OTTOMH he had that after his crash in the 1966 Belgian GP, when he had been trapped in his fuel leaking BRM.
I even think the spanner was taped to the steering wheel. Not sure though, everything from memory.

There was a spanner fixed on the wheel of P115 in 1967. When Hall&Hall got the car late 90's the steering wheel was the original although spanner missing but obvious signs of. They faithfully recreated the wheel small bolts, spokes & added a spanner. Although you'd never know at a glance, it was also a quick release wheel. I distressed the red leather rim

[Tim Murray]

The tape holding the spanner to the wheel can clearly be seen in this Eddie Whitham photo:

https://static1.squa.../1461124500744/

[SJ Lambert]

I think fitting a removable wheel for convenience is eminently sensible!

 

Lots of historic open wheelers run with a removable steering wheel these days (and a harness designed for a HANS device) where they wouldn't have had either back in the day ( not to mention a roll hoop that only came up to half cranium height) - I've yet to fit a removable wheel to my monoposto, but when I do I'll fit it to an alternate steering  column so the original one can retain the steering wheel head and wheel unaltered and in toto!  

 

Whether easing egress is simply a matter of facilitating standard exit procedure or in order to aid escape in case of fire/impact I reckon that there's no need to have any qualms about the steering wheel mod!   

[raceannouncer2003]

From Mike Currie, long time tech inspector in northwest USA and western Canada:

 

"Yes, removable steering wheels are very common. Most club racers have them. In fact, I can’t think of any club racers that don’t. Most vintage cars (except the really old ones - - 50’s back) have removable wheels. It makes entry and exit much easier, of course. But it’s also easier to work in the cockpit (cleaning up, installing new belts, etc.) with the wheel off.

 

As noted on the forum, I can’t recall just when removable steering wheels came into common use. We do, on occasion, find one that has a worn fitting which means that the wheel can come off at the wrong time, but it’s rare, thank God..."

 

Vince H.

Edited by raceannouncer2003, 28 September 2017 - 05:34.

[Lee Nicolle]

The tape holding the spanner to the wheel can clearly be seen in this Eddie Whitham photo:

https://static1.squa.../1461124500744/

Is that FIA approved electrical tape? 

Quick release wheels are another thing that came from Speedway where they have been around for decades.

[F1matt]

Apologies for going slightly off topic but was the Mercedes W25 the first Grand Prix car to have a removable steering wheel or was it only used on later version such as the W125???