We may just have to recognize that some TR6 wheels had a rubber rim, just as
some had a Delco alternator. What can I say? Looking back, I see that
Piggot, at least, is vague as to the material of the rim itself. Does
anyone have his e-mail address? I'd like to ask him about this point. If
anyone has it, send it to me off-line. I won't distribute it.
Phil Haldeman
haldeman@accessone.com
haldeman@accessone.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Jeff Johnson <jguy@erinet.com>
To: Philip Haldeman <haldeman@accessone.com>
Cc: <triumphs@autox.team.net>; Trevor Jordan <tjordan@bigpond.net.au>
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 7:35 PM
Subject: Re: TR6 Steering wheel update
> Philip:
>
> I'm the lister that Trevor refers to in his post. I bought my TR6 new
> off the dealer's showroom floor and I can state that my steering wheel
> was not leather. It was a rubber compound that eventually bubbled as it
> was attacked by UV rays. I might point out that we've all seen errors
> in print by such authorities as the Bentley or Haynes manual. I'm not
> an authority on much of anything, but I'll swear that at least my late
> model TR came from the factory with a rubber grip.
>
> Happy Motoring!
>
> Jeff Johnson
> '76 TR6 undergoing rebuild
>
>
>
>
> Philip Haldeman wrote:
> >
> > Trevor Jordan says:
> >
> > > There were definitely rubber grips on at least some late model US
> > > TR6s. I have two TR6 steering wheels, a 74 and a 76, both from US
> > > models and they both have/had injection moulded rubber grips. The 74
> > > is still on my car and very obviously rubber from the pieces that
> > > have been chipped away. The 76 was gift from a list member and I cut
> > > the badly deteriorated rubber grip from it myself. It has since been
> > > remoulded and leather trimmed (but not yet fitted to the car).
> > >
> > > There may have been leather trimmed wheels fitted to some cars, but
> > > there were definitely rubber ones as well. Perhaps someone can tell
> > > us when and why the change occurred.
> >
> > Could it be that there is a hard rubber *under* the thin leather cover,
and
> > that if this leather comes off, the wheel looks as if it had always had
a
> > rubber rim? I haven't seen the core of the rim---which I nominally
> > described as a "foam core". That was just a guess. I've never seen the
> > actual material of the core. Is it black rubber? If so, that may
explain
> > why people have these "rubber-rimmed" steering wheels! I'm just
> > speculating. But I've certainly found enough sources that say they're
> > leather. (My original '72 wheel is leather. My junk-yard late-model
14.5 "
> > wheel is leather. Every wheel I've seen appears to be leather. Books
say
> > they're leather. Catalogs refer to them as leather. Everyone I've
spoken
> > to in person says they're leather.)
> >
> > Phil Haldeman
> > haldeman@accessone.com
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