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1947 Chrysler Steering Wheel removal


ebruns1

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OK Fellas,

Again, searching this site for 20 minutes and can't find a reference...how do I get the center button off the steering wheel to access the retaining nut?  I don't want to break anything and I didn't want to start prying on it.  I don't see any outside fasteners so I would think it either screws off, or pops off.  Any hints?  Once I get this part removed I'm sure I can figure out the rest.  The posts I did find mentioned screws on the rear of the wheel holding on the horn ring (but that was not specific for Chrysler).  Thanks again for any insight! 

 

PS - this photo is not my car...I wish it was!  

Chrysler Steering Wheel.jpg

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I have a 48 DeSoto and in the Electrical section of the Parts List, it shows a good blow up of the steering wheel.  On both the Custom and the DeLuxe steering wheels it shows the retainer, the part on the very top, as being just pressed on.  The middle part of the wheel is called the ornament and it is screwed on through  a part called the spider.  You access these screws from the back of the wheel where there are holes.  The Chrysler may be different, so I would suggest you check your Parts List for that car.  

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The pic that RobertKB posted of the centre button upside down shows three recesses or "slots when attached..........at just before 3 o'clock, just after 6 o'clock and just after 9 o'clock, at least thats where they appear to be for me...........however...note that as I am in Australia and 15hrs ahead of New York time the times indicated maybe an approximation.......lol...........andyd 

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9 hours ago, Andydodge said:

The pic that RobertKB posted of the centre button upside down shows three recesses or "slots when attached..........at just before 3 o'clock, just after 6 o'clock and just after 9 o'clock, at least thats where they appear to be for me...........however...note that as I am in Australia and 15hrs ahead of New York time the times indicated maybe an approximation.......lol...........andyd 

 

Nope. Those three "slots" are where the spokes of the horn ring go and match the spokes on the steering wheel. There are three tabs around 12, 4, and 8 o'clock to help centre it when installing. It has to be pried off carefully with a thin but strong implement. Easy to damage but as you can see no harm was done to the one shown.

 

Hopefully, ebruns1 will update us on any progress on both this and the removal of the steering column.

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10 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

come on Andy, the truth is, the clocks in Oz run CCW and you folks still don't know what side of the road to drive on...….?

 

They certainly don't drive on the right side.:lol:

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But we Do drive on the right side........lol......see this pic of some old fart caught driving my Dodge recently........he's sitting on the right as can plainly be seen...........lol..........andyd

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OK, got the steering wheel center part off.  Here's a good photo for the next guy.  It just pry's off easily with a plastic trim tool.  Photo shows the spring clip that holds it on.  Look at my other photo for some yankee ingenuity...matchbook covers as insulation for the horn contacts!  Haha.  Two fell out and under the car but one was still there when I took this photo.  The horn must have been going off and this was the quick way to fix it! 

 

I borrowed a wheel puller from my mechanic friend.  He only had the basic tool so I have to buy some bolts that match the wheel threads.  Anyone know off-had what they are?  Looks like a fine thread bolt in any case.  I'll try and see if I can get the wheel off. 

 

MarcDeSoto, yes I'm going to try to get the body off...cant see how to do that without at least pulling the wheel and possibly the column.  What would you suggest?  It seems that without the column in the way I would not have to lift it up that much.  With the column it would have to go almost double the height.  Am I missing something?  As long as I can clear the rear frame kick-up then I don't need to go any higher without the column correct?

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Deja Vu. We discussed this in another thread. 

Steering wheel off.  Good.

The steering column is perpetually wed to the steering gearbox.  Remove the column and box from below, or raise the body high enough to clear the top of the column.     

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So I borrowed a wheel puller from my mechanic buddy...was missing everything except the center rod and main body.  I had two 1/4" coarse thread bolts to attach to the wheel hub.  I left the castle nut on the steering shaft so I don't mess up the threads.  The center was open so I needed something for the center plunger to push against...nothing in the workshop was either small enough to fit or had a hole in the middle (washers).  Hmmm, I have some quarters in my pocket and they are the perfect size to cover the hole.  Well, I just screwed myself out of 2 bits!  I guess quarters aren't as strong as I thought!  Haha

 

Any recommendations on what I can use to cap that opening that will stand up to the pressure?

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Sam, that's a genius idea bud!  I went right out and tried it.  I tightened down the puller and then there was a loud "pop" and the wheel came right off with no effort!  One thing to note for the next guy trying this.  Do not leave the castle nut on the threads...or at least unscrew it way more than I did (I kept it flush with the top of the tube).  If you don't back it out a bit more then that there is hardly any wiggle room for the puller to pop it off.  Also note, there is an indexing slot in the threads so you don't have to worry about losing your wheel alignment if it is already set up properly.  It will only go on and off in the exact same position as you had it.  That's bad news if you thought you could center your steering wheel by removing and installing it at 10 or 15 degrees one way or the other to correct any misalignment of the wheels.

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Quote

MarcDeSoto, yes I'm going to try to get the body off...cant see how to do that without at least pulling the wheel and possibly the column.  What would you suggest?

I have some old Auto Restoration tapes from 1992 which were put out by Ray and Fred Vagedes, called Classic Car Restoration, Back on Track.  I think they made about eight tapes or so.  I bought about four of them back in the day.  In the first tape they cover how to remove the chassis from the body on a demo 1951 Dodge sedan.  There's no need to remove the steering wheel to remove the body.  And there's no need to lift the body high either.  But they do remove the engine and the dog house (front fenders, radiator, grille, and hood).  As some guys already said, you can't remove the  steering column from the steering box, so they just removed the three bolts that hold the  steering box to the frame.  Then they remove all of the body bolts and pads and bag them.  Then, they jack up the body from under the trunk floor.  They stack up cinder blocks on both sides of the rear wheels and slide a 4X4 lumber under the floor to support the rear body.  Then they do the same thing to the cowl.  Now the body is off the frame with the steering wheel still in the body.  Then, they pull the chassis out from under the body with the rear rolling on the  floor jack which is under the differential.  Today we would probably use wheel dollies.  It looks so easy!  They say this is only a temporary set up for the body, so they roll a home made body cart under the body and put some  sheets of plywood to even the support and remove the blocks so they can roll the body around with ease.  

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