HI all
Couple of questions:
Is there supposed to be a grommet in the dash hole for the steering column I seem to remember there being something in there when I took the dah out, are these available it looks like it was screwed in the back of the hole, I ask because when I come to putting the dash back in the car the steering column is touching the left side of the hole and I don’t want to damage the wood work on the dah, come to think of it most of the pictures I have seen of the steering column through this hole in the dash seem to be not centralised and very close the left side of the hole
Next question
Are there supposed to be glass or plastic lenses over the rear curtesy lights and if so what do they look like and where could I get some ?
It is not a grommet in the conventional sense, but simply a disc of rubber sitting neatly in the recess in your photo and held in place with a set of 4 gauge round head screws in the holes shown. The inner hole should be a neat size to match the o.d. of the column and not smaller. The depth of the routered recess represents the approximate thickness required.
The column should be centred in this rubber and it can be adjusted if necessary at the chassis mounting by shimming with a washer under the appropriate bolt. But check that the upper bracket is located correctly and not bent out of alignment.
Thank you Guys, I have just seen that Worcester are now supplying the covers for the rear lights, as for the rubber around the hole in the dash I will fabricate one and look at how I can centralise the steering column
Much appreciated
Mike
Most cars I’ve seen are missing the rubber grommet because, or maybe, it is considered unnecessary. However, if you have complete under dash panelling in place, the grommet prevents things falling through, which can’t be retrieved without removing the panelling.
The other grommet, the very important one, is the fume excluder around the column at the bulkhead/firewall and it should always be in good condition. This is best installed before the dashboard goes in. There should be two sizes as the 1.5 is a smaller column, but I don’t know if options are available. The new one I installed a decade or so ago on a 3.5 was a bit tight around the column and after a year or so started showing some slight cracking around the neck at the column. Maybe it was for a 1.5, or maybe there is only a ‘one-size-fits-all’ made.
Thanks both
I have a new one installed in the engine compartment, the other one I will fabricate, however I need to centralise the steering column fist which may be tricky
It’s not difficult. There is adjustment of the bolts that hold the steering box to the chassis and also adjustment of the clamp of the column under the dashboard.
