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Good afternoon.
I am collecting a 3.4 Manual S-type tomorrow with none power assisted steering.
One thing I am hoping to do is remove the original steering wheel and replacing with a newer, period 3 spoke item.
The trouble I’m having is trying to identify the correct hub required to fit my car and enable the new S/wheel to be fitted. Can anyone recommend one please? I am UK based.
Moto Lita can provide a series of hubs. What Make of Wheel do you intend fitting? e.g. Nardi uses different hubs that only they supply. Derringtons use different hubs that Moto Lita can supply. Depends on whose pattern your other wheel conforms to.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Mar 26, 2023 at 10:47 AM.
If you are just looking for a generic wheel go to Moto Lita or SNG Barratt & they can supply you with the correct hub and a wheel. If you want to save some money Tourist Trophy make wheels that fit the standard Moto Lita 9 bolt hub.
Another alternative is to buy a beat up S Type, Mk2, 420 or MkX wheel on Ebay to preserve your existing pristine wheel.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Mar 26, 2023 at 02:10 PM.
Hi, the hub part needs to match the bolt holes in the center of the steering wheel.
When you buy an aftermarket steering wheel, the seller needs to supply you with the proper hub kit for your car, otherwise don't buy just the wheel or you'll be in for a hassle trying to match wheel and hub.
**Note that the Hub Kit should include the Horn Push assembly and center emblem too.
Moss Motors in California and UK sell the Tourist Trophy wheels and proper hubs. Those wheels are high quality and they are available in wood rim or leather rims, as well as thin or thick grip rims. They are all 15" inch diameter steering wheels compared with the 16 and 7/8" diameter of the original factory wheels. (also known as 17" inch diameter).
I have the black leather / black anonized spokes Tourist Trophy in my '65 S type. I ordered the hub kit from Moss with the steering wheel. It comes with the Horn Push assembly and a miserable silly center emblem. Fortunately I had a beautiful MOMO GERMANY emblem which I adapted to the Tourist Trophy horn push.
Momo is Italian, not German & now made in the same factory as Nardi. I recently bought one of 4 Nardi's made with the Moto Lita 9 hole mount. 4 specials made for a senior executive there. Now being made full gloss to match the rest of my wood. He wanted satin & who was I to argue.
Very shallow dish. 15"
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Mar 26, 2023 at 07:03 PM.
Yes that is the MOMO emblem, happened to have the same diameter as the MOMO horn push center.
However, the black leather MOMO Olympic (first picture), I have in my XJ has "MOMO GERMANY" engraved / punched in one of the spokes on the rear. I purchased this wheel in 1990 before Ford sent "cease and desist" letters to aftermarket accessory producers prohibiting them from producing Jaguar logos and motiffs of any type. Maybe these wheels were being made in Germany at that time. It came with three horn push emblems., the gold Jaguar growler, a silver Jaguar Leaper, and a yellow "MOMO" logo emblem. ( Ferrari yellow ).
also have another MOMO steering wheel but in wood, that has MOMO ITALY engraved in the rear spoke. (second picture)
I still have all the steering wheels from cars I've owned. The best steering wheel I've always liked is from a 1979 Saab 900 Turbo. Thick grip vinyl covered, 15.5" diameter, non-obstructing spokes. Just perfect.
Many sold in SA and UK/Europe & Asia Pacific/Aus are Manual/OD. SA would have been approx 80% manual/OD & 20% auto ~ all S Types built here were 3.8. We like to drive our cars. Manual still predominates other than the German big 3 that all have a semi manual mode. IMHO the best of the bunch is the Porsche PDK.
BTW Nardi saved Momo from extinction. Loved the Momo road wheels on my Alfa Spiders.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Mar 27, 2023 at 03:24 AM.
I think most of the more traditional wood, leather, aluminium Momo wheels are still made in Italy. However, Momo has been a variously owned, global brand for a long time now and it's quite likely they have items manufactured everywhere.
If you want to be more original, there are a few companies in the UK like Exmoor and Heritage that produce up market wood, leather, aluminium wheels mainly for Range Rovers and Land Rovers.
The standard Mota Lita horn push doesn't look right with far too big an area of very plastic looking plastic. My first attempt at hiding it was to stick a larger badge on top. The final form is more likely to be to use a MK1/XK150 horn badge/button.
Steering wheel hub.
