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I have a new challenge which has been very frustrating.  I have a 9 bolt (bolt pattern circle measures at 4" in diameter) wooden steering wheel that I want to install on my 71 Super Beetle steering column.

I went and bought this:

9 Hole Steering Wheel to 3,5,6 Hole Adapter - 3/4" Polished

(I figured this would be the most aggressive option, giving me the best chance to succeed.)

But it appears that the "6 Hole Adapter" portion of this is only 70mm, so it doesn't fit.  Can I please get advice on what part(s) will work?  I suppose I could always fabricate something, but this may be my last option.

I have attached pictures of what I have.  

8660CADD-9F41-460B-A902-F1E001516D0B_1_201_a1 x 9 Hole Steering Wheel to 3,5,6 Hole Adapter - 3:4%22 Polished   The black adapter was a failed attempt at finding a 6 bolt plate for the column and thought I could use the adapter and horn ring below to attach the wheel using the 3 bolt center.  But everything shown here ended up having a 70MM 6 bolt pattern...  and the holes in my VW steering column are 74mm.

Am I dumb? or have I missed something?  My first mistake was assuming that all 6 bolt steering wheels were the same size bolt pattern diameter.

Thank you in advance for your help.  And you were right... this has definitely been 'Madness'!  

 Bob

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Last edited by OverKILLLL Bob
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Ha... yes, the infamous nardi vs momo scenario.  Few adaptors are predrilled for both now... so you typically need to know what hub you have before buying an adaptor.

Possible solution 1) 

spacers on the other hand are plentiful and cheap.  I purchased one —- that allowed me to connect to a momo or nardi hub, and allowed me to connect either a momo or nardi wheel adaptor—- the first time I made the similar mistake.

10$ included shipping... for a 1/2” billet spacer and hardware,

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-S...Delivery!98102!US!-1

or a 1”...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/STEER...d:g:Ht8AAOSwrnRaWGxi

They are sold in black as well.

 

Possible solution 2)

you can spend 26$ on a new adaptor with the 74mm spacing.  Rays link above is a great example of a quality billet one.

An easy way to tell what you have... for future reference, and to help you line things up straight before mounting your wheel or if you decide to drill your existing adaptor, when wheel is centered:

Momo has a hole at 12 o’clock, Nrdi at 11 and 1 o’clock.

7DCAC5D9-3385-412D-86A3-08E6FB8E1F79

 

possible solution 3)
If you have a steady hand and a metal drill bit and time to kill, you can also just drill the 74mm spaced moles in you excising adaptor 9 hole aluminum adaptor—in lieu of using a spacer— save 10$ .... but do line things up- make a cardboard then plywood template to help you make clean drill holes...,  measure 3 times and also mock things up (mock up of your steering column hub holes... the ones you will try to drill on to your 9 hole adaptor.. and mount the wheel on it before drilling so you know you can get the  wheel to line up straight.   

sorry you ran into this problem... hope this helps.

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Last edited by Lfepardo

Or... option 4... go crazy, sell what you have and buy this heavily discounted custom made Mike Lemptert wheel... Same 15” diameter and it comes pre-drilled with Momo and Nardi pattern, plus it has a wonderfully slim vintage stile wood grip.  Not as square/ large as the wheel you currently have..  BUT THE STANDARD original style Porsche horn you have won’t work.

https://www.speedsterowners.co...mpert-wheel-for-sale

1CB9BD86-520E-41A0-AFDD-87854004111E

 

..  Greg at Vintage can sell you a horn ring and adaptor that will look similar -works just as well to accommodate the momo/nardi stile hole pattern.  I will try to find a pic to post.

 

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Last edited by Lfepardo
Lfepardo posted:

Also, Carey at Beck sells the 6 bolt nardi adaptor ring... if you decide to go crazy with option 4 ;-)  ... so two options for this custom 6 bolt nardi partner option. 

https://www.beckparts.com/new-...i-custom-horn-button

sample pic of the ring Greg and Carey sell.


B77DB044-01B2-4F91-974D-CF2B325319FA

Wow... I am hijacking my own post, but all of you have such nice interiors!  Mine is with some carpet missing, and everything is dusty and old inside.  My gauges are not the correct ones that some of you have.  Screen Shot 2020-03-17 at 11.34.59 AM Not any polish like this picture you posted.  I guess I had better save my nickels and dimes so that I can address my interior.

Screen Shot 2020-03-17 at 11.37.56 AM

 

 

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@IaM-Ray. What I meant to say in my Spanglish ;-)  is that one could use the spacer above/ pictured, by inserting between a 6 bolt nardi or momo hub, and a 6 bolt ( either nardi or momo) to 9 bolt wheel adaptor.   If one had a nardi hub and a momo to nine bolt adapter already purchased,

For reference only:  Bob could have used the momo to 9 bolt adaptor he already had, and connected it to the Nardi hub already in the car by introducing this small spacer between the two... which allows you to connect a nardi hub to a momo bolt adapter pattern.

...  not relevant now since he decided to purchase a new nardi compatible adaptor, but for any future reference.

happy driving!!!

Last edited by Lfepardo
Lfepardo posted:

@IaM-Ray. What I meant to say in my Spanglish ;-)  is that one could use the spacer above/ pictured, by inserting between a 6 bolt nardi or momo hub, and a 6 bolt ( either nardi or momo) to 9 bolt wheel adaptor.   If one had a nardi hub and a momo to nine bolt adapter already purchased,

For reference only:  Bob could have used the momo to 9 bolt adaptor he already had, and connected it to the Nardi hub already in the car by introducing this small spacer between the two... which allows you to connect a nardi hub to a momo bolt adapter pattern.

...  not relevant now since he decided to purchase a new nardi compatible adaptor, but for any future reference.

happy driving!!!

Well between your Spanglish and my FrenGlish we are getting somewhere mi hermano

Lfepardo posted:

@IaM-Ray. What I meant to say in my Spanglish ;-)  is that one could use the spacer above/ pictured, by inserting between a 6 bolt nardi or momo hub, and a 6 bolt ( either nardi or momo) to 9 bolt wheel adaptor.   If one had a nardi hub and a momo to nine bolt adapter already purchased,

For reference only:  Bob could have used the momo to 9 bolt adaptor he already had, and connected it to the Nardi hub already in the car by introducing this small spacer between the two... which allows you to connect a nardi hub to a momo bolt adapter pattern.

...  not relevant now since he decided to purchase a new nardi compatible adaptor, but for any future reference.

happy driving!!!

I think I am following you here.  I want to try and get this down in case I have a 3rd ‘fail’


The piece you’re showing above (the “Al Blanchette”  ring) fits:

1) on top of my Nardi 74mm steering column

2) then I connect the 70mm adapter Momo adapter hub on top of that.  

3) Then the 9 hole steering wheel on top of that.  

 

Right?

 

Last edited by OverKILLLL Bob

Right...  Bob...  but since you are getting a new nardi to 9 hole adaptor ( and 26$ is a great price),   this 10$ bandaid would not be necessary.... unless wheel- blinker switch spacing is an issue for you.  Let me explain.

... I actually drove with this bandaid for a season, and discovered the extRa 1/2” spacer gave me better spacing between my Lempert flat wheel and the blinker switch arm-lever.   Without the spacer my hands would sometime hit the blinker lever when parallel parking,/ turning the wheel +/-30deg from center.  Intended up experimenting with 1/2, q and 1.5” spacers before buying the adaptor I use today with my flat wheel.

with a  typical 1” dished wheel,  spacing between the wheel and blinker arm will likely not be an issue, but with a flat wheel it could be... depends on the size of your hands/ girth of fingers/knuckles and how/where you grip the wheel when driving.

 

I have an Ididit column... with a Nardi 6 bolt hub. if you look close you can identify a microphone on the dash... look close   

You can also see how far the signal light switch is from the wheel and the push button at the end of the stem is for dimming the headlights and flash to pass. so when I changed my Nardi wheel at 12 O'clock my tape job to not forget where due north was... Believe it or not I nearly removed it by accident, old age is here. 

Now this wheel is 400mm but I want to try a 420mm as my future project. 

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1). I’m not quite sure what I was thinking.  The part I ordered was not correct. The measurements of the largest diameter 6 bolt pattern on it was 2.75” across.  So it was too small like my other adapter.  Frustrating! 

2).  I have a new question...  let’s say I could get one of these hub adapters to work; how does the horn button stay secured within??

Please see my picture, it is loose within the adapter hub and falls in about 1/2” inside.  Of course none of the parts I purchased came with any instructions or help.

If you can answer my question, please explain it to me like I am 6 years old, assume I know nothing (as I am starting to realize... I know nothing... Lol 😂)

 

This is the steering wheel a have now with the larger 6 bolt 74mm pattern (this 74mm size is my BANE!!!)

65EEA18D-A6AB-4D23-8E66-A01C14A48FE3

the hub adapter that I have 3/4” Hub Adapter with 70mm 6 bolt pattern (everything I have tried including IAM’s suggested part, which didn’t work, are all 6 bolt 70mm)

A01D8C90-794F-431A-9D04-6AEEAFCD8484A2BFF36F-1E24-46FC-B112-1F0740EAC40A7DB147E1-67B5-48BE-8550-D608045D98EC

Look how far this falls in, and it is loose.  How do you secure this?  Is the hub adapter too deep??

 

As usual my profound thanks to anyone who is taking the time to read this   

Thank you!!

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I think the issue is that I did not know what you were starting with, or at least I must have not read properly.   It looks like you have a standard VW column from a later car with signal light and wiper control stalks. 

So you need to look at a hub that will fit that column.  One which will accomodate the wheel that you want. 

Guys that have Vintage or VW columns will be able to inform you better than I as to parts. 

I have been searching for this part for 6 months.  I can't believe that I am the only one trying to change steering wheels from the 74MM VW column. 

I am assuming 74MM from a process of elimination... unless you guys think it could be some other size that I am not considering.

Also, any clue on the other question/issue on how to attach or install the button?

Last edited by OverKILLLL Bob

Bob,

Sorry to hear this is causing you some madness... it’s part of the experience I guess...

- On you Q1:

 can you confirm which of the Ray recommended adaptors you purchased?  He listed two above.  The 74mm one was the Flaspower branded one..  the second one was a 70mm/momo.

description from the add:   “Half Inch Polished Billet Extension Hub/ Spacer Kit for 9 hole Steering Wheel to GM 6 hole Adapter

* The 6 Bolt is a Original GM Style. About 73.6 mm.

* The diameters of the outside ring is 113 mm (about 4.5")

* The diameter of inside ring is 60 mm (about 2.4")”

if you have the 74mm adaptor &  holes are close, sometimes all you need is to do I massage one or two of the holes a bit with a small file/ sand paper.     I had to do that with one of my adaptors... You probably need to determine with of the holes is a bit out of center.   This should be a 5 minute exercise.

if they sent you the wrong adaptor, I would go back to the seller and ask for an exchange... 

 

best way to measure is center of the hole to center of the hole.

57208D64-9830-4EF9-9421-03EAA3108218


- On Q2:

the horn should be a pressure fit.. by your pictures it looks like you may just have to open up the gap on the horn button ( when looking at it from the back, between the horn chrome ring and the black plastic body) a bit to increase the diameter of the chrome piece on the horn.       You can use a small crew driver to open up the gap a bit.... open it up all the way around the horn ring for an even pressure fit,

also worth noting, once the horn is in place, it’s should be a tight fit.   When installed on the hub and the steering column, you will need an access hole in the adaptor to eventually remove the horn button from the hub.. by pushing it out from behind.   Most adaptors have a pilot hole where you can fit a small screw driver or 3” nail to push the button out.   If not, you can always drill one... I will dig out one of my old adaptors and post a picture for you if that’s of any help.

 It looks like your hub has a ribbed rubber piece so you may not need an access hole to push the horn button out once pressed in to the adaptor.   but do check this before bolting it all together... otherwise there will be no way to push out that horn button.

 

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