steering column / Momo wheel fitting

hi, I went fit my momo wheel today, took old wheel off no problem, went to fit the spline adapter as my boss was the large spline type. Adapter would fit as the previous owner had fitted the black plastic spacer off a mk2 as he had trouble with the column earthing out and causing the horn to come on when he was steering the car.  I need to remove this to fit the spline adapter but the column will earth out again.  I suppose I could cut down the spacer but then there would be no room then for the spring that goes under the adapter, do I need it?  Anyone got any suggestions?  Thanks 

you need to remove all of the parts from the column shaft, then use the proper spring to match the spline adaptor and adaptor only no other parts are required.

the adaptor should keep the wheel spaced enough to not short out, if not you have the wrong boss

Thanks for your reply.   I have already removed the spacer and just put the spline adapter on, then my boss (its a Momo one so is good quality).  What does the spring do and is it necessary as the adapter will be a pain to take back off.

the spring puts tension on the column to take out any play. plus the spring ensures the column is always fully extended, without it the column can collapse in a bit if you push the wheel and so will touch the screws and short the horn

Hi Rubjohnny, thanks for your help so far but had a problem tonight.  I took off the spline adapter and fitted the spring then the adapter and once the boss is fitted the spring is fully compressed and the boss distance to the plastic surround is about 4mm.  I took it back off and fitted the adapter on its own and the gap is back down to about 1mm so just going to run it like this and see what happens  

did you fit the correct spring? the one for adaptor is different to the one without! also you need to remove all the other parts that were on there before spacers, washers, metal rings etc

I don't know if it was the right spring - it maight have come off a mk2.  I did remove all the other bits first.  As you say maybe it was thw wrong one - is there a different spring for a mk1?

you need a late mk2 or mk3 pressure spring, 1h0 419 667, 69p+VAT

rubjonny said

you need a late mk2 or mk3 pressure spring, 1h0 419 667, 69p+VAT

This has been a very helpful thread since it comes up in Google…(hence me bumping the very old post!)

One more relavant question though: which spline adapter is required? There are two listed in ETKA with two different overall lengths and part numbers:

191419514 ("adapter sleeve; 45MM")
191419514A ("adapter sleeve; 26MM")   

My column is currently small spline with a 4-button wheel - will the spring be in place already or will I need to add one?

Stone

Actually I think I've worked it out…!

With the wheel off it's obvious that the spring must be behind the black plastic spacer piece (hidden by the stalks) - but the distance from the top of the splines to the top of the black spacer is pretty much exactly 26mm.

So the shorter version must have been made to allow you to swap from small to large spline without taking anything apart - just wind it on with the steering wheel nut, on top of all the stuff that's already there. Praise be to VW for occasionally making things easier for us

Stone

Also see the tech manual: Volkswagen Workshop Service and Repair Manuals > Golf Mk1 > Running gear | Steering | Repairing steering gear | B- Longmulti-splined adapter sleeve for modified steering wheel

which seems to say it's OK, so I've ordered the short adapter from Heritage and will give it a shot

yep you pretty much covered it

All sorted now, nothing like previous posters though as the adapter was so loose it could just be slid on and off…when I removed the wheel to adjust it straight it got stuck in the wheel and fell off into the footwell! Might glue it on with a bit of blue Loctite in future.

Seems to have worked fine though, wheel's on and looking lovely Horn and indicator cancelling work fine but I'll have to wait for a test drive until it's running again…