removable steering wheel?

[crashbash]

I want to add a removable steering wheel to my MGB, ala race cars set up.   Have you done it? How is it done and which systeim did you use?  The ultimate theft protector - almost.

[Bill Young]

David, it can be done but finding room for the adaptor and still keeping the column mounted switches will be more than a challange. You should take a look at Curtis Jacobsons's car. http://www.britishv8.org/MG/CurtisJacobson.htm  His column is about the cleanest I've seen but then it goes along with the very competition look of the car and the modified dash.
As far as quick release mechanisms, there are several on the market and each has it's positives and negatives. Check with any of the various racing vendors such as Pegasus Racing http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/keywordsearch.asp which have quite a selection.
There is one that is intriguing, the OMP unit that bolts on in place of a MOMO steering wheel. That would allow use of the MOMO adaptor which should retain all the column functions but it does move the wheel over 2" towards the driver which might be a bit uncomfortable.

[Moderator]

Most racers toss their original steering column and instead mount a shaft on Heim joints. You can see lots of photos in the BritishRaceCar.com photo gallery... I installed a quick release in my car, on Ted Lathrop's urging, but it was easier in my case since my whole column was already a home-made one (I made twenty years ago) with a 1" x 1/8" wall DOM shaft riding in Garlock flanged Teflon-lined bushings which I simply pressed into the ends of a 1.25" diameter steel tube onto which mounting brackets were welded. The original MGB splined end was hack-sawed off and slid into the bottom end of the DOM tube and was welded. The main benefit of this home-made column is that it was convenient to attach electric parts to it: the turn signal switch, tach, and fuel ratio gauge.

The Allstar Performance (hex type) quick release worked fine for me, but it's a little loose by design - I got that tiny bit of annoying slop out with Permatex, which works better than expected - but (more expensive) splined quick releases have less lash to begin with. I remove the wheel to make it easier for other people to get into my drivers seat, but I'm so used to getting around the rollcage that I don't bother removing it for me.

[DC Townsend]

My removable set-up is similar to Curtis's except I used a column and release from Speedway Motors - about $100 for both. Turn signals were handled by adapting an early VW signal stalk (same as on used on Cobras). There was a little bit of machine work needed to get the VW switch ($65 from most on-line VW parts suppliers) to properly seat on the column but, other than that, they look like they go together. Admittedly mine is closer to race set up than a street column but it has all of the required essentials, is tons lighter than the one that came out and you can adjust the length to suit by removing the bearing in the end of the column, cutting down the housing and reinserting the bearing. Steering shaft is a "D" style (on the engine compartment end) so you simply trim it to length.