Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Out of my 70 s4. As the PO must have used the steering wheel to help exiting from the convertible ?lan.
The signature Colin Chapman steering wheel is broken. Because it is wrapped in leather, it is still all there. It is cracked/broken above/between the 3 & 9 o?clock metal arms/spokes.

My hope is to cut away the old material, and get into the guts. I suspect, I will find a broken metal ring covered in foam? Maybe someone has pictures or description please.

My repair would include reinforcements around 3 & 9 o?clock, not sure what material yet. Though I suspect some decent metal put though my roller to match the curve of the center. Most likely reaching from somewhere below to above the spokes.
Baltic birch or some high phenol plywood, cut out with temmil/circle jig. Router or carve out recess for reinforcements. Epoxy together with some angel hair mat. Possibly screwed/bolted most likely not rivited. Wood cleaned up, and possibly adding finger grips but i doubt it (probably small if any).

And stitched/glued covered with leather.

Any thoughts/comments appreciated please

Where are you?

Recently someone posted on this site about replacement steering wheels, the company making them is jacobengineering.co.uk in Gloucestershire UK. The price quoted for a leather Elan S4 steering wheel is ?415. These wheels look excellent on the web site.

Richard Hawkins

They are spot on as he has the original designs (he owns the Springall name) and he borrowed my S4 wheel to check that his new wheels are absolutely perfect. He's making the wood rim as well now, and they are stunning!

Mark

When I re-stitched my wheel some years ago I posted some photos here, they'll give you an idea of what to expect.

lotus-suspension-f42/redoing-steering-wheel-t23420.html#p149681

Cheers,
Ralph.

OP be careful where and how you repair. If it is the outer ring then just welding up would probably be fine, if it?s where the rim meets the spars then I believe they are designed to break on impact for safety. Bypassing this could cause serious injury in an accident.

Mark at Jacobs is a really nice guy see what he can sort for you.

For future reference, does anyone know of someone here in the US that restores steering wheels? Using the same steering components as the Elan, my Elva Coupe has a near identical wheel as my S2. The wheel is delaminating and now is as good a time to start the first component of the restoration.

A tip, when buying the leather to stitch onto the steering wheel ensure that the maximum stretch is longitudinal and the minimum stretch is across the wheel. Leather does stretch easier and longer one way.

When stitching you may find that the longitudinal stretch can be trimmed better when you come to the end ie come to where you started.

Hope this helps

Sorry to hijack this thread but should my 72 Sprint have a CC steering wheel?

Alan.

I?m no expert on Sprints. But having followed this forum for a while, I wouldn?t be at all surprised to hear the answer that comes back, to be something along the lines of........ It depends what Lotus had lying around at the time!

Do you have reason to think your steering wheel is original?

If you do. Then it probably is?

Alan, yes you should have a signed wheel I believe 1972 would have been the pvc wheel with the largerflat boss. I good condition as pvc damage is effectively irreparable will be very hard yo find and very expensive.

Many have been recovered in leather and in the circumstances tends to be an acceptable replacement.

My Sprint (71) has a plastic covered CC signed wheel, complete with what I assume is a soldering iron or cigarette burn in the plastic.

From the previous comments, am I right in assuming the only option is to recover in leather?

Apart from the originality issue, to be honest the plastic is pretty nasty, I would imagine a leather wheel is much nicer to hold.

Andy - YHM

Andy8421 wrote:My Sprint (71) has a plastic covered CC signed wheel, complete with what I assume is a soldering iron or cigarette burn in the plastic.

From the previous comments, am I right in assuming the only option is to recover in leather?

Apart from the originality issue, to be honest the plastic is pretty nasty, I would imagine a leather wheel is much nicer to hold.

Andy, leather is much nicer as you mention, and I found the plastic one a bit dangerous as it is quite slippery if you have any moisture on your hands.

Plastic was used on the non-S/E S4 and all Sprints (as far as I know), so it was just a cost-saving I guess. Covering in leather is the only way to go....and a much better option.

Mark