nardi steering wheel

[gatorjaws]

I bought a NOS Nardi wheel from that wood wheels lady for my 66' 230 and for me at least it was worth the trouble of installing it. It took about 4 hours of head scratching and modifying but it looks oh so sexy I can't take the smile off of my face! The Nardi shift knob is on the way.

[Wolfmann]

They are beautiful wheels for sure but I can't bring myself to change the beautiful standard ivory one !!

[harleydan]

Hi Gatorjaws,

I too have the Nardi steering wheel and a Nardi shift nob....I really like them both.  The shifting post has also been cut to a short length to get a more shorter and sportier shift.  Since I do not show my car and not too concerned about total originality (even though Nardi is from that time period), but more concerned about functionality and pleasing my own desires for the car especially in looks and performance, I made the switch.  There are several types of Nardi shift nobs, which one did you go for?  A picture?  I went for an elongated type to better fit my hand and to make up for the shorter shifting post.

We have to get a Colorado get together.  There are 4 other people that I know personally in the Parker/Castle Rock area. 

Cheers,
Danny
1970 silver 280SL Euro 4-speed

[Ferrolanoman]

Gentlemen,
I'd be happy to join a Colorado get together for SL owners. I have a 1970 280 SL acquired not too long ago, but it's a keeper and I'd like to learn and compare experiences with other owners. I live between Boulder and Longmont and could host a meeting in my 'clubhouse.' Let me know if there's interest.

[gatorjaws]

A get together sounds good! I'm not sure which shift knob I got. I will try to get some pictures on as soon as I figure it out.

[JamesL]

There have been reports by people on here having trouble with hubs for the Nardi. The two reported symptoms are:

• horn not working
• too close to the stalk - particularly for the flashers to work

Wife got me the v expensive NOS wheel and the collapsible (MOMO) hub. This has a rubber gator around it. The hub will not work:

• it needs to be about an inch deeper (so wheel further from dash) for the flasher stalk to work properly. In current guise it hits the rim of the wheel before the headlights come on AND
• the female part of the spline (male part being the steering column itself) sits too proud of the brass horn contact rings at the car end.

Thus the hub fits perfectly from an aesthetic point of view - diameters etc, but is not the righht hub for a 280, certainly

I am in process of trying to change out the hub (fingers crossed). In essence, I think you want the longer, non-collapsible hub: mine is 3"/76mm (Stock is about half as much again)

FYI - to get the steering wheel off the spline takes a 23mm socket. I couldn't find that on site anywhere

The wheel looks fantastic and this is not a criticism of the seller as clearly others have had similar issues in going to a Nardi. Of course, if I do get the hubs swapped, and I have the same issues, I really will be lost! I grabbed some photos from the Wood-Steering-Wheel lady on ebay to show what I think the differences are. Top is the collapsible hub that I have, bottom is the other type which appears to be longer (and shallower for the horn contacts)

I gather that on the hub the distance from top of spline to brass contact rings is:

• Collapsible hub 0.305"/7.75mm
• Nardi original hub 0.23"/5.8mm
• Stock MB hub 0.14"/3.55mm

So effectively I have doubled my distance between brass contact rings and the horn pins in the steering column

[scoot]

FYI - to get the steering wheel off the spline takes a 23mm socket. I couldn't find that on site anywhere

Are you saying to get the Nardi hub off the spline it takes a 23 mm socket?  I'm pretty sure to get the stock steering wheel off the spline it's a 22 mm nut...  I could be wrong but pretty sure that I'm not...

[JamesL]

Scoot

I used a 23mm socket to get the spline nut off, and on, and off, and on, and off again. Currently it's off!

[hauser]

If your efforts fail to bare fruit there is another solution here.  I would suggest contacting www.classicowheels.com  He'll be able to get you the correct parts needed to complete your project.

[mdsalemi]

Just an FYI here, Bud's Benz sells a nice steering wheel (Spanish?) that is a nice alternative to a Nardi.  Check them out.