Steering Wheel Identification

[NevSpit]

Hello all.

Having a sort out and have two steering wheels but not sure what they actually come off, they are Triumph. 
They are both 15” in diameter. The silver one has a hard rim approx 19.5mm in thickness whilst the black slightly padded one (with what looks like faux stitching) is slightly thicker at 21.5mm. Any thoughts?

Best wishes and thanks,

Paul

[Colin Lindsay]

The top one looks like the TR6 pattern but I think it was used on the GT6 Mk3 too and possibly even the Spitfire 1500 of the same era; the centre Triumph badge would point more towards the latter two. Not sure about the matt black one, but is it possible it was fitted to the Spitfire Mkiv with the black dash?

[Clive]

Yes, top appears to be spit IV/early 1500. And GT6. I wonder if the black one is TR6? bit more upmarket with the leather and 70's tastic black finish.

[Phil Hayden]

Hi Paul,

The wheel fitted on the car looks like a TR6 but the grip itself looks a little thin, could be the photo also I cant see a join in the leather at the bottom of the rim.

The second one looks more like a TR6 but the spokes have been painted. The centres both look like aftermath replacements. Attached a few pictures of the wheel taken of my 1972 TR6. Hope that helps.

I have a wooden Moto-Lita on at the moment but looking to have the leather replaced on the original wheel if anyone has recommendations.

 

[NevSpit]

Thanks all for your thoughts. 
Phil - the first one (on the car) is solid with no leather cover at all and is indeed rather thin. I note your TR6 wheel also looks thicker than both of mine. 
Neither came with the Spit, that had an aftermarket wheel which I don’t think even had the right splines on the boss as the only way I removed it was to take the column out and hit it with a very big hammer. The column was scrap afterwards. 

[Clive]

Thinking about this, I believe the very late mk3 spitfire also had this pattern wheel.  Possibly not leather trimmed??

[dave.vitesse]

Standard fitment on Spit MkIV, Early Spit 1500, GT6 Mk3 and TR6. Leather trimmed.

The lower one has been painted mat black by PO. It should be the same as the top one.

Dave

[Clive]

Using rimmers site (surprisingly good for this) https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GRID005789

The plain plastic wheel (pt no 518534)was fitted to late mk3 spit from FD75001 to mkIV FH50000. Thta was replaced with the leather wheel 160038NB (no boss, no part no given for complete wheel)

Th leather wheel was deffo used on MK3 GT6. Not sure if late mk2 would have been fitted with it, changeover same as spitfire??

Are we sure TR6 didn't use a black spoked wheel in later production? Trawling google images throws a lot up, including some very restored cars. And I am sure I have seen black ones on TR6's, too many to all be repainted. Probably.

[NonMember]

19 minutes ago, clive said:

The plain plastic wheel (pt no 518534)was fitted to late mk3 spit from FD75001 to mkIV FH50000.

...

Not sure if late mk2 would have been fitted with it, changeover same as spitfire??

Yes, that wheel was adopted with the face-lift when the windscreen surround went black and the rear number plate light changed to a big clumpy thing. I believe this was the same on GT6 - all the rest of that facelift was - but I don't know whether the GT6 would have got leather on the rim.

[dave.vitesse]

14 minutes ago, clive said:

Using rimmers site (surprisingly good for this) https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GRID005789

The plain plastic wheel (pt no 518534)was fitted to late mk3 spit from FD75001 to mkIV FH50000. Thta was replaced with the leather wheel 160038NB (no boss, no part no given for complete wheel)

Th leather wheel was deffo used on MK3 GT6. Not sure if late mk2 would have been fitted with it, changeover same as spitfire??

Are we sure TR6 didn't use a black spoked wheel in later production? Trawling google images throws a lot up, including some very restored cars. And I am sure I have seen black ones on TR6's, too many to all be repainted. Probably.

I agree satin black would make sense, so I have had a look in Bill Piggot's "Original Triumph TR4/4A/5/6 book" but they were silver.

I remember the problem with the silver spokes was that they rusted and people then painted them.

Dave

[dave.vitesse]

Clive, more digging re the TR6 -

The US spec from 1970, CC series, DID have the Black spokes.

I stand corrected.

Dave

[Clive]

13 minutes ago, dave.vitesse said:

Clive, more digging re the TR6 -

The US spec from 1970, CC series, DID have the Black spokes.

I stand corrected.

Dave

Not corrected, more educated! You and me....

I guess there are so many black wheels is all the reimported cars. Plus it was probably fashionable in the 70s/80s.

So we may have come to some conclusion on this now.

Incidentally,  I have been refurbing a similar wheel the last few days, in very short bursts. The chrome was poor on the spokes, so used a fine flapwheel followed by a Norton Blending wheel (beautiful things to use, give a great finish. But EXPENSIVE so rely on my friend who works for Norton to supply me, but even that is rare) And then etch prime and sprayed with wheel silver paint. Touch darker than OE... hopefully it will be sold at some point.

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, clive said:

Incidentally,  I have been refurbing a similar wheel the last few days, in very short bursts. The chrome was poor on the spokes, so used a fine flapwheel followed by a Norton Blending wheel (beautiful things to use, give a great finish. 

Photos, Clive, please? I can imagine it but that's never the same. 

[dave.vitesse]

The finish was directly on to steel hence it didn't last.

Dave

[Clive]

1 hour ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Photos, Clive, please? I can imagine it but that's never the same. 

The wheel or the norton disc?

[Clive]

https://www.coventry-grinders.co.uk/product/norton-vortex-rapid-blend-disc/

That's the disc. Used largely for blending welds on posh stainless fabrications (handrails and stuff)

Wheel is a work in progress, needs a flatting and recoat in silver. Think I need a fresh can of silver, it is old, nearly empty and splatting a bit now.

[Colin Lindsay]

Nice! I think most of the discs I have are very coarse, so eat through things - fine on antiroll bars or the like but not on delicates. Those might be worth a try.

Oh, and photos of the wheel too - always nice to see someone's handiwork.

[Clive]

37 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Nice! I think most of the discs I have are very coarse, so eat through things - fine on antiroll bars or the like but not on delicates. Those might be worth a try.

Oh, and photos of the wheel too - always nice to see someone's handiwork.

But at £15 each, they are not cheap. But they give a nice polished finish. 

However, the strip discs are much less, so if you are painting after, something like brackets etc etc they are really good for removing paint etc. I use flapwheels, and if I want a superfine finish, use the norton disc, but trying to eek it out until my chappie can acquire a few more, but he is on furlough for a while and I won't be holding my breath (stuff often appears after trade shows where they have been on display or used for demos etc)