I recently decided to take my old tatty Mk1 MR2 steering wheel off and fit a nice new one.
Having searched through several web sites the best tip I found was to not take the
retaining nut off all the way, but to leave it on the end of the steering column
by a few turns, so that when you pull the steering wheel off (it takes a lot of
effort) it doesn't suddenly come off in your hands and shoot up to knock you
teeth out! A good tip I am sure you will agree?
The only problem with that was, pull as hard as I could, I could not budge the
wheel! I am a fit(ish) 25 year old bloke, and even with the help of a
hammer I couldn't get it to budge. So I would like to share a tip a fellow
MR2 owner passed on to me.
On the main part of the wheel there are two 8mm screw holes (Pic A). What you
need to do is get two 8mm screws (Pic B) about 4cm long. Find a strip of
metal about 10cm long with two 10mm holes in at about 5.5cm apart (I used a wall
hook bracket I had lying around) (Pic C). Having loosened the nut on the
steering column (but left it just on by a few turns, for reasons described
above) place the metal strip across the top and put the screws through it in to
the two screw holes on the wheel (Pic D). Tighten up until it is tight on
the end of the steering column. From here you might need to
put some effort in, but tighten the screws a few more turns until the wheel
suddenly snaps loose.
As for the replacement wheel, Halfords sell a steering wheel boss kit for £19.99
that allows you to fit any standard wheel. As it is car specific you will
probably have to get them to order it in though.
Alan Ingram
