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Not content to leave well enough alone after restoring an original leather wrapped three-spoke black plastic steering wheel (the same type that was fitted to the TR4), the thought of a vintage wooden steering wheel captured my fancy and the search began.
Locating a suitable wheel took a bit of patience. There are very few factory option "formula" wood wheels available, and those who own one are very loathe to part with them. A recent exception was noted on eBay in the case of a seller who clearly did not know what he had.
The exact wheel pictured here was offered for sale with a minimum bid of about $75. Not an unreasonable sum. I had decided to spend up to $200 to bid on the wheel, but little did I realize there was a collector out there who would eventually drive up the final selling price to over $750! For a steering wheel... And not even a complete one at that (notice the missing horn clip, brush and push).
To my way of thinking, that sort of price was beyond reasonable, but the fellow who purchased the wheel was quoted as saying that he would have gladly paid "twice that amount". He had been searching for 12 years for this particular style of wheel. The seller had discovered the wheel in a wrecked Herald and probably thought it was worth no more than $100, given his modest reserve price.
About two months before, I had bid on, and purchased another 15" vintage wood steering wheel on eBay for a more reasonable sum of $120. It had been fitted to a TR4, according to the seller, so I knew it would fit my Spitfire.
Like the factory formula wheel, it has drilled aluminum spokes, each with five holes. But there are some differences in the design -- some subtle, some not so subtle. Take for instance the hub. The factory option had a protruding hub like the standard steering wheel whereas the wheel I purchased has a flatter profile around the hub. Note the subtle difference in the spoke design as well. The spoke edges on the factory formula wheel meet each other in the center ...and flare out on the outside where the spokes meet the wood rim. This wheel is also a different color, exibiting more of a orange cast to the wood.
To a casual observer, these differences are moot, but for a stickler for originality (which clearly I'm not) they can be quite substantial. Although I'd like to own an original Triumph wood wheel someday, I decided that I'm not prepared to wait patiently for a decade or spend outrageous sums to attain the same basic effect.
New vintage style wood wheels are also available, of course. The nicest I've seen are those made by Moto-Lita, though they carry only three drilled holes per spoke, among other differences. Insofar as safety is concerned, I have no doubt that the newer wood wheels are much stronger and safer in the event of an accident.
My biggest challenge was in getting the horn push to fit in the hub -- and of course, getting it to work. While the inside diameter of the hub opening was a perfect fit for the standard Triumph horn push, the outside edge of the push was not clearing the ring screws on the hub, which of course are what hold the steering wheel together... I tried knurled hex bolts, hoping that they'd each have a smaller diameter than the flathead screws that were on the wheel when I purchased it, but they made no difference. I finally settled on a set of screws with normal, beveled heads, but that also use an Allen wrench for removal and replacement. That just seemed to look better to me and seemed safer. Any yahoo looking to wreak havoc can unscrew a flathead -- but not too many mischief makers carry a set of Allen wrenches in their pockets.
Now, I had to figure out a way to trim off 1/16" of an inch around the outside diameter of the horn push, or figure out another way to gain the necessary clearance. I opted to grind down on side of each screw, after marking the center facing position of each one when fully tightened on the hub. That would ensure that when the screws were re-installed, their orientation with respect to the center of the hub would remain consistent and positioned perfectly. As you can see, this strategy worked nicely and at a glance, you can't even tell the screw heads are flattened on one side. The resulting fit is perfect.
My next problem was a little trickier to overcome. While the standard horn brush fit fine (the plunger-type attembly that lies under the horn push and bores through the wheel hub to the horn ring affixed to the steering shaft), I still couldn't get the horn to operate properly. With a little time and investigation, I figured out the problem. On the correct Triumph hubs that the horn push is designed to work with, the opening for the horn push is narrow enough to allow the push to be placed in position, but snug all the way down the depth of the horn push. This is important, because there's a metal contact on the side of the horn push which 
must ground against the hub assembly. With this particular hub, the opening 1/16" below the edge of the horn push is more expansive, preventing the electrical contact on the side of the horn push from making contact with the metal of the hub.
Once I figured this problem out (and after sustaining a brief shock when my body became part of the grounding circuit), the solution, while perhaps not very elegant, was quite effective nonetheless. Instead of fabricating a metal sleeve to fit around the horn push inside of the hub (which if I had the material and tools would have been the preferable way to go), I simply stuffed a wad of steel wool into the cavity on the left side, where the horn push contact would snug against it. This provided the electrical conduit needed between the hub and the section of the horn push that extends inside the hub itself.
I was hesitant to refinish the wood because the finish is actually very well preserved considering the age of this wood wheel. I'm fairly convinced that it was created sometime during the early to mid 1960's. However, in seeing the vast contrast between the wheel and the tiger maple dash, I've decided that the wheel is too distracting and plan to sand off the old finish, apply wood bleach if necessary and refinish with a non-yellowing marine grade clear coat. The wood being darker doesn't bother me, but the tonal range of the color does.
All in all, I'm very pleased with the overall "look and feel" of this wood wheel. The drilled spokes are a nice style repeat of the round dash gauges.
3/13/02 -- Well, miracle of miracles, I actually found an original Triumph factory formula wheel. And not just that, it's never been fitted to a car. It came to an Oregon sports car dealer 8-10 years ago as an accessory part for another car that they bought and sold and has been sitting in storage all this time. I was only one of two bidders on eBay and I guess I wanted it more than the other guy. $232. Wow. I'm very pleased and feel very fortunate.
To be continued...
Please. Always wear your seatbelt while driving -- and that goes double for your children if you have any.
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