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"A bit more orange required!"
"A bit more orange required!"
We have already got plenty of more important jobs to do but whilst waiting for the seats to be finished Kathryn had a brain wave and decided she could retrim the cheap second hand steering wheel we bought a while back with the same thread used for the seats. Robin kindly supplied some thread and the plan came into action.
Whilst thinking about the steering wheel it seemed as good a time as any to consider how to mount it to the Mazda steering column. We decided that a quick release was the obvious choice as it provides an extra level of security as well as making it easier to get in and out of the car. There are plenty of cheap QRs out there but there are lots of bad reviews about them causing slack in the steering so they weren't considered to be an acceptable cost saving measure. Kathryn started the search and soon found a colour coordinated orange NRG quick release on Facebook Marketplace for a great price.
We decided to go with the NRG race boss as well in order to not reduce the reach any more than is required. The boss bolts down onto the splines of the Mazda column, engages with the indicator autocancelling system and becomes the rear part of the quick release. It is also cheaper (RRP) than a boss so win, win really! Again, a bargain was had and when mounted together it provides a very neat solution, which is no longer closer to the driver than the original wheel. The only slight hitch being that you cannot use the central horn button as there are no connections for it, though they are in the QR. Had we bought the standard MX5 compatible boss instead of the race boss then this wouldn't have been an issue but it would have made the steering column around 50mm longer and having had a sit in the car we decided it would be too much. We are fairly sure it will not pass IVA like this so we plan to remove all these parts and reinstall the original wheel when the time comes...
Before...
Before...
During...
During...
After!
After!
It may not be the best retrim a steering wheel has ever had, but its more than adequate for our cheap second hand wheel and it should bring the colour scheme together nicely. It only took a couple hours, it certainly looks the part when fitted and it is complimented nicely with the matching quick release. We also plan to replace the Mountney "M" with the GBS logo but that can wait for another time. These modifications lead to yet more thinking and DIY steering wheel controls will certainly but putting in an appearance post IVA so watch this space!
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