So I’d had every intention of going into the man cave for a couple of hours to do a ‘quick job’.
The ‘Quick job’ I had in mind was the steering wheel and manette replacement (with bright new shiny parts recently acquired). Removal was a piece of cake, new wheel (16” diameter, thanks for asking) back in place and then the fun stopped whilst trying to fit the new manette.
My stator tube appears to ‘sit’ in the bottom of the inner column and I have to apply serious amounts of deflection on the wheel/column to get it anything like central - hence the manette is not lining up. I pulled out the old book of words, whipped the front wheel off to loosen the pinch bolt and, to my horror it’s already loose and the stator tube appears very firmly in place. Which leads me to think that the last poor sod who did this also ran into similar issues…
What are my options here? Can you remove the stator tube with the steering box still in the car or is it a column/box out on the bench job?
The stator tube can be removed while the steering box is on the car, in my 120 I drew it out from the steering wheel end. But that relied on the manette control and the stator tube fitting together, dead straight. What should have happened is that the manette with a short tube attached fits into the longer stator tube. It sounds as if you will be able to draw out the manette plus short tube but that will leave the longer tube jammed inside the inner column. So it would not solve the problem. I wonder if it is possible to push up the tube from the steering box end towards the cockpit (the car would need jacking up to get some elevation.) . Alternatively, is there a way of feeding a smaller diameter tube/rod or flexible cable down the inner column to attach to the stator tube and draw it upwards? Better access can be obtained by taking the plate off the end of the box, but the oil would need draining.
I managed to remove the stator entirely (withdrawn through the back window - so not quite how you’d get on with a FHC ). Thus withdrawn I returned to the bench for some fit tests.
So I’m using a new repro manette and it has a 0.5mm smaller ID tube than the original - doesn’t sound like much but it would have never had fitted the stator tube. So the plan is to now ensure the fit is ‘just’ interference between the two tubes and then reassemble (again through the back window).
Welcome Nigel.
As I began to read this thread, I was going to ask if it was a Fixed Head. I think the guy that wrote the instructions in the Service Manual on how to remove a steering column never actually did one, and certainly not on a Fixed Head.
Be aware of the place where the wires pass over a sharp edge inside the stator tube. Mine was worn through there from 50 years of drivers pulling the wheel in and out, and the car would blow a fuse every time I signaled a left turn.
Job, jobbed. Judicious use of a small angle grinder, some hand files and application of time (the most precious commodity) and the stator tube was modified and refitted to the manette and the whole assembly slide through the back window.