Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Technical questions and Maintenance advice post in here please
Nikki&Austin
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Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by Nikki&Austin »

If you have, did you go for flat or dished ?

We are going for a 15" (we are used to such on a much heavier steering TR).

As we are on the shorter side and will therefore have the seat relatively fwd, I am guessing flat would be better as we are already closer to the boss ?

Thanks
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by gazza82 »

Flat or slightly dished would probably be OK.

I had a Springalex 13" on mine as in the picture above and the cars was fitted with 5 1/2" wide rims and I did not (and still don't) have the upper arms of a gorilla (mountain or lowland!). You just need to make sure you are moving slightly when turning as that makes it easier. (The 10" Mountney on the left was on our Midget with 5" wide rims. My wife drove that and she definitely was not endowed with upper arm muscles!! :whistle: )
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Getting a boss will be interesting as they never made them for the A30/A35 but I think mine was for a Triumph Herald/Spitfire .. box is long gone ..
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Nikki&Austin
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by Nikki&Austin »

Cheers - ML now do a boss B5 for the A35, which include the horn wire - toot toot
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by gazza82 »

OK .. didn't know that but then I'm not looking for one! :-)
"If you're driving on the edge ... you're leaving too much room!"

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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by Countryboy »

Nikki&Austin wrote:Cheers - ML now do a boss B5 for the A35, which include the horn wire - toot toot

Interesting :thumbs:
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by jon_daniel »

Not really sure about the forum etiquette of replying to a post from several years ago rather than starting a new one so hope this is ok...

After a lot of effort I have finally managed to remove my steering wheel which seems to have been more difficult than most people seem to find it. If anyone else is struggling toolstation sell a pack of three gear pullers and the largest one just fit on a standard A35 steering wheel but slips off when you try to use it. Managed to cure this by adding a small notch to the hooks on the puller using a hacksaw.

I have a B5 steering wheel boss which I bought direct from motolita. It didn't come with any wires for the horn, the post above seems to suggest that it should have is this right? The original wheel has a brass disk on the back with brown plastic underneath to insulate it and three posts (which seem to be rivetted on) which go through the wheel with one of them connecting to the horn push wire. The B5 boss only has a hole for one of these posts and has a raised diameter on the back which is quite a bit smaller than the outer diameter of the brass disk. Does anybody know if its possible to buy spares (reproductions?) of the disk as I don't want to cut the other posts off and later find I can't replace it if I ever want to refit the original steering wheel? Or anyone have any ideas of a suitable thrust washer or something that I could buy to use to make something to fit the motolita boss?

Thanks for any help
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by gazza82 »

I've not seen these made as reproductions .. I know I reused mine from the old wheel on my Springalex boss. I don't think I cut down the posts on that but I do have a bigger gap between the boss and the steering column shroud.

Some insulation material (thickish plastic rather than bakelite) and any conductive material (brass, tin, thin steel) could make a new horn ring. After 60 years the odd "innovation" is often required!
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by Alan »

on this subject of steering wheel bosses for after market steer wheels...

I got hold of a boss for a mountey/moto lita steering wheel. on several peoples advice, I got a triumph herald one. (MB029). I can tell you that it isn't a straight fit out of the box. It fits the spline correctly, but then there is a taper on the steering column which stops the boss sliding down further. I don't know whether this is an issue until I look again at it.

Question I have is are the steering columns the same on the A30 as they are on the A35? Sounds a silly question but I have my doubts. if I remove the boss from the A30 (a mountey wheel fitted already) and compare it with the new one, they look the same. however, the new one doesn't slide down as far, as mentioned above.

before I modify the new one, does anyone know if the columns are the same?
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by earthhist »

Alan wrote:on this subject of steering wheel bosses for after market steer wheels...

I got hold of a boss for a mountey/moto lita steering wheel. on several peoples advice, I got a triumph herald one. (MB029). I can tell you that it isn't a straight fit out of the box. It fits the spline correctly, but then there is a taper on the steering column which stops the boss sliding down further. I don't know whether this is an issue until I look again at it.

Question I have is are the steering columns the same on the A30 as they are on the A35? Sounds a silly question but I have my doubts. if I remove the boss from the A30 (a mountey wheel fitted already) and compare it with the new one, they look the same. however, the new one doesn't slide down as far, as mentioned above.

before I modify the new one, does anyone know if the columns are the same?
From the respective parts books:

AS3 (to C29852) Cam gears 2A 6021
AS4 and variants Cam gears (C25621 on) 2A 6071
AS3 (to C29852) Burman patent 2A 6031
AS4 and variants Burman patent 2A 6074

A35s 2A 6071 OR 2A 6074

So A35 columns are the same as A30 (non-AS3) if they are both the same type (Cam gears/ Burman).
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by Alan »

Thanks Richard. How can I tell what steering box I have?

The A30 looks the same eternally as the A35
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by Alan »

i think you were referring to the mechanicals in the engine bay. I was talking about where the steering wheel spline was. I have managed to overcome this issue now and have modified the boss to fit. so the new boss fits the A30.

until I remove the steering wheel on my A35, i'll not know if it is indeed the same.
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by Neil Evans »

Alan wrote:Thanks Richard. How can I tell what steering box I have?

The A30 looks the same eternally as the A35
With a D shaped top?... That's a Cam Gears box... :thumbs:
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by earthhist »

Alan wrote:i think you were referring to the mechanicals in the engine bay. I was talking about where the steering wheel spline was. I have managed to overcome this issue now and have modified the boss to fit. so the new boss fits the A30.

until I remove the steering wheel on my A35, i'll not know if it is indeed the same.
What I quoted were the steering box numbers, because the whole shooting match includes the top bit of the steering column - it is one item. There were two types, and both used on both models as alternatives - this was a business protection strategy - if one firm failed to deliver there was the other.
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Neil Evans
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by Neil Evans »

earthhist wrote:There were two types, and both used on both models as alternatives...
Is there any evidence to back this up, Richard... I've never seen a Burman box fitted after 1954... :whistle:
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Re: Have you fitted a MotoLita ?

Post by earthhist »

Neil Evans wrote:
earthhist wrote:There were two types, and both used on both models as alternatives...
Is there any evidence to back this up, Richard... I've never seen a Burman box fitted after 1954... :whistle:

Well, I was making reference to the A35 parts manual ... :?
Richard Johnston, Plymtree Devon, formerly A30/A35 Club Technical Officer and President
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