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Drilling my new steering wheel
jaik - 29/5/12 at 08:46 PM

So the wheel that was on my Indy R was a little too big (to the extent that it reduced visibility), a little too weirdly shaped (never liked flat bottoms ), a little too leather and a little too fast and furious (it's Ripspeed).

I was at Demon Tweeks at the weekend with the MR2 Roadster club as I used to be a member and they're a cracking bunch. After a lot of deliberating I bought a 300mm OMP wheel, took it out to fit it, and decided it was still a smidgen too big. Went back inside and spent about 20 minutes with a couple of the staff going through different options as anything smaller was for a formula fitment rather than the Momo/Sparco type I needed.

Eventually, we spotted an undrilled Momo wheel which looked like it had a big enough face to drill a Momo/Sparco fitment into and I went for it. Tonight I've been marking it up and drilling.

I've only made three holes as the bottom one would go right through the logo and would look a bit naff. However, after drilling, I've noticed they're a little close to the edges. It's 5mm thick aluminium, and the top hole is 5mm from the edge, bottom ones are 4.5mm. The holes shouldn't really have any outward lateral forces to cope with, and any there are should be well supported by the other two holes, but I wondered if anyone had any advice on how safe this is?

If it's no good then would drilling just the additional two upper/side holes be okay? I'm really reluctant to put a bottom hole through that logo

And some pics so you can see what on earth I'm talking about…


Mmm, suede


Thankfully there was a factory-punched centre mark


Masking up




PCD drawn


Centre line and top hole found


Side hole positions marked


Bob on spacing between the holes. Surprising considering the cheapness of the plastic Helix compass I used!


Taped in place as I'm still awaiting some nice black button-head bolts




Roughly what my visibility was with the old wheel


And with the new

[Edited on 29/5/12 by jaik]

[Edited on 29/5/12 by jaik]


PAUL FISHER - 29/5/12 at 09:19 PM

The Single Seater / Formula Steering Wheels are designed to be used with the 3 bolt steering wheel type boss, you should have either used a adaptor from you standard boss to 3 bolt, or just purchased a 3 bolt boss to go with it


jaik - 29/5/12 at 09:22 PM

Don't think it's a good idea to use it as is then? I did look for an adaptor, but couldn't find one


blakep82 - 29/5/12 at 09:54 PM

you'll still have another 3 holes to be drilled in it though, each with a lot more meat around them, so i reckon you'll be ok.

looking at the Ripspeed wheel, 3 outt fo 6 holes are very close to the edge, but as said, ideally its for use with a 3 bolt fixing, if you use all 6, i don't see a problem tbh


MikeRJ - 29/5/12 at 09:56 PM

It will be perfectly fine IMO, though I think I'd add the extra two holes and bolts.


jaik - 30/5/12 at 06:21 PM

My bolts arrived so I got it all fitted and took it out for a quick spin round the block. The mounting is rock solid but I'll be keeping an eye on it. The car feels far better to drive with the smaller wheel, and I think I'd underestimated just how much difference the improved visibility would make. Happy bunny.


Not Anumber - 30/5/12 at 06:23 PM

Not sure that i'd lay out for a Momo myself at their prices but that wheel certainly gives a nice clean minimalist look which matches your tidy and uncluttered dash area.


PAUL FISHER - 30/5/12 at 06:29 PM

S.p.a do a nice 270mm formula wheel, I bought one direct from them for about £75 delivered, a good bit cheaper than the momo, but top quality


jaik - 30/5/12 at 09:46 PM

Yeah, it wasn't cheap even with the event discount, but it feels and looks exactly how I wanted so I'm happy


micksalt - 25/6/15 at 10:00 AM

quote:
Originally posted by PAUL FISHER
S.p.a do a nice 270mm formula wheel, I bought one direct from them for about £75 delivered, a good bit cheaper than the momo, but top quality


Thanks for the heads-up, I've just bought one of these since you alerted me to them. I'm not a fan of D-shaped wheels, needed something quite small to clear my knees and wasn't prepared to fork out £170 for the Momo equivalent. One thing I've noticed is that my steering boss came with two types of bolts, regular hex bolts (which stick out, so will upset Mr IVA) or tapered head bolts. The aluminium seems quite thick, am I OK to chamfer the aluminium to fit the tapered bolts instead?


Slimy38 - 25/6/15 at 01:27 PM

Buy some new IVA friendly rounded bolts?


micksalt - 25/6/15 at 01:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
Buy some new IVA friendly rounded bolts?


I think that sounds like the best idea actually, certainly don't want the steering wheel coming off in my hands. Ta very much

To the OP, it looks like your photos aren't displaying, yet it looks like you've got a very handy guide there. If it's not too much trouble can you fix the photos so I can plagiarise Cheers!

[Edited on 25/6/2015 by micksalt]