Thank you for the " pulley(s) help" help and a new question about after market steering wheels

[John Brayton]

Hi All,

Thanks to all of you who helped me with the a.c. pulley question. I now have some good clues on how to proceed with fitting an a.c. compressor, a power steering pump, and an alternator under the hood of a 53 Coupe.

We were fitting seats (these are out of an 04 VW) in the 53 coupe today and discovered how little room there is between the top of your legs and the steering wheel. My steering wheel is broken in many places and is not a keeper. Have any of you used an aftermarket wheel on a 53 column and, if so, what adapter and brand of steering wheel did you use?? I've installed power steering in the 53 and do not need the 17" diameter wheel. A 14.5 or 15" would give more needed leg room and turn the car just fine.

Regards,

[candbstudebakers]

John are you coming down?

[PlainBrownR2]

I've seen a few of these kits installed, however, I dunno how this would fit your application though:

http://www.studebaker-info.org/text3/text2007/hawkgrant.txt

[John Brayton]

Hi Guys,

Bob, I sent you a PM and hope you will be around tomorrow (Wednesday).

John, Is the steering wheel shaft the same on the 53/54 as on the later coupes? I looked at the Grant steering wheels but didn't see an adapter for the Studebaker. Any help is much appreciated!

Regards,

[PlainBrownR2]

This should be the adapter for the Grant steering wheels.

http://www.studebaker-info.org/parts/2009/Grant/GRT4291.jpg

I pulled this off of the Bob Johnstone website. As far as fitment to the earlier C/K's I'll have to defer to somebody else who installed one, as I don't have experience on the steering wheels.

[Jeff_H]

'57 and later Hawks have a smaller OD steering shaft compared to '56 and earlier. Any adaptor for those later cars won't fit.

There have been other threads about this and as I recall comments indicate nobody has a adaptor to fit those older shafts. You could take a junk steering wheel and cut out the hub and use as a base to make your own adaptor perhaps.

Another thought is to find a wheel with a rim of smaller OD and transplant onto your old steering wheel. There is a booklet that Eastwood used to sell about steering wheel restoration and there is some discussion in there on rim transplants (how to do). Basically cut off the rim from both wheels and weld one onto the other. The plastic is then recreated at the joints via epoxy filler and lots of carving/sanding.

[Alan]

Grant makes an adapter that will work on the 53, but one part will have to be made or found. It is chrome cup that finishes off top of the column that bolts to the adapter that is sandwiched with the steering wheel. I will have to look through my stuff for a number.

[N8N]

if you have Saginaw P/S you could use the column from a '57 Hawk. IIRC though you are using a Eaton setup so that doesn't help you.

nate