THE INTERNATIONAL JAGUAR 'S'-TYPE REGISTER FORUM

I am having some interior work done on my S-type, and have taken the opportunity to replace the steering wheel which was very worn out. I was offered refurbishment, that opted for replacement.

I found a Mark 2 steering wheel on eBay and have had it installed. The company carrying out the work is some distance from me, so they have been sending me progress photos. It is difficult to tell from the photos, but the ‘new’ steering wheel looks to me as if it is at a completely different angle to the original.

Are these Mark 2/S-Type wheels like-for-like, or have I asked for the wrong thing? I may just be being paranoid, and of course it is difficult to tell from photos.

The Mk2 had 2 different pattern steering wheels fitted during it's life as standard. The S Type adopted the later one like this. Post a picture of yours.


This was the early style Mk2 standard wheel with thicker spokes & different horn push arrangement.


Aftermarket wheels were also offered like the Derrington. It is difficult to see how the steering wheel angle could change.

what do you mean by "angle"? The steering wheel goes on the shaft one way only, there is no angle difference between any steering wheel.

If you want a real S type steering wheel, take a look at the one I have for sale. Came off a 1964 3.8 'S'.

www.classicstypeparts.webstarts.com

Yes ~ that's why I asked the OP to post a picture. The steering column can be shimmed under the dash that would only change the steering wheel angle by fractions of a degree that no one would ever notice. It made me wonder if what the OP is explaining is just a picture of the wheel not centered on the column or with the steering turned to one side.

that is why you park the car with the front wheels straight ahead before removing the old steering wheel, so the new wheel spokes go in "level", although it is never going to be 100%, it can be 99.7% or so.

what I do when replacing steering wheels, (and I have a habit of doing that), is to not tighten the shaft nut and go driving with a new steering wheel, if it is out-of-level when driving in a straight line, I make a visual reference to something, stop the car, pull the nut and steering wheel, reset it on the shaft, and try again until satisfied. It takes me two maybe three times to get it right. Just one spline to the left or to the right can make a difference.

+1^

That's why wheel alignment centres always lock the steering wheel dead centre with a floor clamp before setting the alignment. Saves them having to pull the steering wheel.

On our old S Types pulling the steering wheel is dead simple. On modern cars with numerous steering wheel controls, paddle shifters, steering angle sensors, air bags etc. etc. pulling the wheel is a PIA.

Thank you everybody – it sounds as if I am barking up the wrong tree! If the attachment works, here’s a picture of it.

All looks fine to me ~ pretty ~ good luck!

I think that's just the effect of the wide-angle lens on the camera/phone. Looks fine to me.

Lovely interior, btw.

Wandering briefly off topic, as we so often do, the Varamatic steering box has two marks to line up to centre the steering box when you are aligning the front wheels. This is important because of the variable ratio of the rack, so away from dead ahead, the ratio increases and you don't want your dead ahead position at the wheels to be where the ratio increases. You then level the steering wheel afterwards using the same marks.