Hi everyone,

I have stumbled upon what was once (apparently) a benetton F1 steering wheel and column, complete with QR mechanism.

Here's the wheel, I think it's mid-nineties:



Anyway, it came with a column which has the spline of the QR welded to it already:


From looking at the column, it would appear to be from a ford sierra:

The lower markings read 83BB 3524ABD14DA, which I think means '83 design Sierra made in Britain.


So can anyone confirm that this is a Sierra column? Have any modifications been made to it that would hinder putting this into a normal sierra uppper column and lock?

Unfortunately, I don't have any reference to go by at the moment.

The only problem I have is that I'm building a car which is designed to use a Golf Column, so it's either adapt the chassis for a Sierra column, or chop off the spline from the end of this thing and graft it on the Golf Column.

I'm inclined to touch the column's welding as a last resort. It looks like a very professional job to me.

Any ideas or advice appreciated.

Lee

Amazing! Benetton doing their bit for the environment and recycling old Ford bits!



It certainly looks like a Sierra column to me.

Just out of interest, how come you're using the Golf column? Is it an aesthetics thing or does it have advantages over Ford?

Cheers,
James

Re: the golf column, it's just part of my kit.

However, I don't see any reason why a sierra column wouldn't fit.

Any ideas on any problems I might come up against though? Could putting this into a sierra column mounting without bolting a wheel over all of it to keep it in be a problem?

Just trying to avoid more expense, but this never seems to get me anywhere

Most people seam to go for sierra because of the column switches and the ease of wiring it to the rest of the loom

Jason

Monkey,

I have a feeling that QR steering wheels aren't SVAable.
Not sure why I think that though! Maybe a post in SVa would be a good idea!

Cheers,
James

How did it mount in the F1 car? Any ideas?

Cheers

James, I also seem to recall reading somewhere that race QR mechanisms are not for road use. Mine is a snap off street, the race version is stated as being not for road use.

Anyone know where we stand ref the SVA. Ive checked the manual but it only talks about the wheel itself and radii etc. The only other reference i can see is regarding type approval of the steering system. I bet this is one of those annoying 'down to interpretation by the tester' unwritten rules.

Regards,
Darren.

That'e definately a Raceteck quick release mechanism, but can't see an F1 team using a Sierra column????
Maybe a Formula Ford instead???
Pat...

For the street at least in Canada I think the rule is that it has to require 2 pins to release the wheel instead of just one. Basically it requires two hands to pop the wheel off. Either way mine will have some type on it or I wont be able to get in and out without to much contorsion.
Dale

Are you selling the wheel and boss on ebay now???

I would be careful selling it as ex-F1 Benetton. I was in the Benetton factory in 1999 and they were building very trick lightweight carbon fibre steering wheels designed to suit specific driver and fitted with all of the electronics etc. Iam 99% sure that your wheel is not ex-F1. I wouldnt want you to fall foul of a descriptions problem. I would also suggest you state that it is up to the buyer to determine if it is road legal if it is intended to be used on the roads - the race ones are not road legal.

Link?

DarrenW:

Personally I think it's off a B195, but as I say in the description I have no way to guarantee this is the case! The guy I bought it from was unsure of any details As you say, F1 moved to integrated units later on, presumably when the number of buttons got ridiculous.

Here's an image of a B194's wheel, which is somewhat similar:

http://www.f1-sales.com/b194.htm

This has definately had controls mounted to it at some point. There is evidence of this at the top and bottom areas of the inside of the wheel (superfluous bolts and bolt holes).

Thanks for the advice Don't suppose you got any of the carbon ones hanging around?

IMO it's up to whoever wins the item to decide if it's road legal. I couldn't find anything written down to say it isn't.

Cheers!

[Edited on 21/4/05 by monkey69]