steering wheel trials

dougson

I'm attempting the dreaded removal of a 60 year old steering wheel. The wheel is toast anyway and I've been trying to pull it with a conventional puller. According to earlier posts, this won't work. Interesting because the wheel (from my '54 coupe) is drilled for puller bolts (not mentioned anywhere in manuals), but there's no seat for the foot of the puller, the steering shaft is hollow. Then I see this tool on an earlier post, must be the thing discussed in the mech. manual. Looks like something used on a deuce and a half. Anyway, I've tried heat but have only successfully ignited the insulation, freeing black globules and PCB laden gasses. I pried back the directional housing (yeah, it's toast too) to see if I can get more heat on it. More gas. Now soaking with PB blaster. Where's my grinder.....:mad:

Unknown

The whole kit is shown here:



http://hudsonrestoration1948-54.com/HudsonSpecialTools/Hudson%20Steering%20Wheel%20Puller.pdf

Unknown

If you have 2 holes in the hub for bolts make your own puller . Use about 1 t0 1 1/2 inch angle iron - 2 holes for hub bolts -one in center for pull bolt . Leave the nut on the shaft loose to protect the shaft and place a flat peice of steel over it . A few days ago there was a post that showed a 50/50 mix of acetone from hardware store and transmission fluid was many times more effective than any boughten penetrant. BUD

[Deleted User]

I have that exact Snap On steering wheel puller kit which I purchased via an eBay auction about a year and a half ago for just under $40.00. However, they generally seem to go for around twice that amount. Anyway, I used it this past May to remove the cracked steering wheel on my '50 Pacemaker as I had an exact duplicate replacement wheel also purchased on eBay. To be honest, it took quite a bit of torque on the Snap On puller to jolt the wheel free whereby I even used a "cheater bar" on the puller for that last bit of turning. When the wheel broke free from the shaft, it came off with a "BANG!" Probably similar to when you remove the brake drum from the rear axle of a Hudson. But, the tool did the trick. I have made the puller available for use to Chicago-Milwaukee Hudson club members, but so far no takers this year. Guess all the local "Hud Nuts" are satisfied with their steering wheels on their Hudsons!



Dan