[Mick O'Malley]

Ever since trial fitting the steering column and wheel I'd been wondering how best to move the wheel back for a more comfortable driving position and to ease entry. I'd considered having the column cut and shut but decided on a more DIY approach.



I'd searched for a more compact boss but everything available included the horn operating bits and were too deep. My horn button is on the dash so I decided to modify the existing boss. I measured the depth of the metal at the base which was sufficient for my idea, and got a local bloke to cut the whole dished section off on 'his' lathe to leave a plane surface for my adaptor plate. £10 cash as a foreigner . I then cut a disc of 3mm steel plate to the diameter of my steering wheel's centre, firstly as a polygon with my disc cutter, then trued with a grinder wheel. I then drilled the six peripheral 5mm holes using the steering wheel as a jig for marking their centres. I used these holes to mark the centre of the plate for the boss attachment holes, and drilled them at 4mm. Once I'd drilled the centre to accept the column, I assembled it all and secured it upright with a bespoke plywood support. I then drilled 4mm holes through the ally boss and tapped them to 5mm.



All that was then left was to open up the inner ring of holes to accept the 5mm screws and assemble.



I'll have to cut off the protruding threaded portion of the column, and fashion something to conceal the nut. I'm fairly certain I'll never see another like it, but once painted, perhaps with subtler fixings, it'll pass muster.

The nice people at Flickr wrote to me the other day to let me know that, as long as my photostream contains fewer than 1,000 images, it will remain FOC. Excellent!

Regards, Mick