So on further inspection of the damage caused by the low-life scum that smashed her window and tried to hot wire her (yup perhaps I should put the to-do list up in the window to deter would-be thieves) it appears that not only had they buckled the steering wheel but also bent the steering column. I can only presume they were trying to break the steering lock. I managed to get a like-for-like replacement wheel off in eBay and Chilli supplied me with a spare column. All was looking good.
Removing the old wheel and column was a relative breeze to be honest. A bit of brute force here and there saw them both removed without too much fuss. Upon opening the Haynes book of lies it seems that Nushka was not fitted with some of the parts described there… I couldn’t find the “U-clamps” that needed to be used and I still have no idea as to why I had to remove a rubber plug from the passenger footwell… it seemed to play no further part in the instructions! In the end I just reversed the removal instructions and everything seems to be OK.
Actually I do need to replace a pinch nut which I appear to have threaded which fixes the column at the base and also need to check the placement of the column which I’ll do once I have her front raised off the ground.
So, next up I need to find a way to remove the locking wheel nuts (for which I don’t have the key) and then get to work on the brakes, ball joints and checking the steering.
Will update soon I hope.
Sounds like you know what you are doing??? What’s going on 🙂
Haha… don’t get too concerned… did you not read the bit where I couldn’t find the parts identified in the instructions? 🙂