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1921 Steering wheel


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Hi, I pulled the steering column assembly out of storage and starting the rebuild on it. My question is the steering wheel. Mine is wood construction and has 4 Aluminum spokes that are buried into the wood wheel. The wood is bad but am going to try and repair it as I cannot hurt it any worse! Do I have the correct steering wheel for this year. The wheel itself is not round and it looks more square from the sides. Tried a search but no definite answers as to being the correct one for this year. Would the spokes remain bare aluminum or painted black as some I see? Again thanks for any help on this, Don.

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I don't believe the '21 steering wheel has an aluminum spider (mine was cast and painted black) and the wood rim was round and held to the spider with a large oval head wood screw at each spoke end.  The later cars, I believe beginning with the 1924 cars, did have the aluminum spider with the ends of the spokes inletted into the rim, and the rim was more squared off, in profile.

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Hi, O.K. I took some photos and will attempt to post them. I looked up how to do it and I will have to reduce the size of the file so people can see it. What I can tell you it is the steering wheel is  17 inches in diameter, 1 inch wide on top and 7/8 inch on bottom with small circles on bottom to allow a better grip.Wheel is 1 /1/2 inches thick. Hole in center is 865 on top and 875 on bottom so assume a taper with one key. Number on bottom of Aluminum spoke is  C-18866 with a square raised box with an S inside it. The spokes are embedded into the center of the wood as you described. The wheel was bolted to the shaft and the nut on top was not solid and domed  but had a hole in it missing something and now assume a horn button!! This has been a big puzzle to determine what is correct and what is not for the car so again appreciate the help and do apologize for all the questions I post. Have 2 rods that look like radiator support rods to keep radiator and shell from bouncing around but they do not fit radiator or firewall! There is a loop on one end of the rod and bent and  at the other end again a short bend and thread on it.  Located a single rod that looks like it does fit the car so will try that on and see if it correct. Determined had parts of a Model A ford steering column mixed in with the Dodge steering column parts so got them separated and believe I have all the parts for the column and rods that connect the to the carb and distributor advance hopefully!!  I am working outdoors so I am at the mercy of the weather and it has rained constantly almost every day so I wait until it stops uncover the car and attempt another repair/installation as I restore the pieces. Discovered the cut out modification for the starter box and in the process of modifying it and restoring the box.Thanks.

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The rim was loose on mine which didn't do much to contribute to tight steering....... 😕

In order to tighten it I grabbed my jackknife and carved some wood wedges.

I slopped up the holes in the rim with Elmer's Glue and drove in the wedges which did the trick.

Sadly your rim is shot....... :blink:

Keep an eye on ebay.

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Hi yes I watched his video. My problem is, do I have the correct steering wheel? Is there anybody on this site  that has a 1921 and can verify which wheel I am supposed to have. Do not want to restore an incorrect wheel. Thanks.

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7 minutes ago, Don Jr. said:

Hi yes I watched his video. My problem is, do I have the correct steering wheel? Is there anybody on this site  that has a 1921 and can verify which wheel I am supposed to have. Do not want to restore an incorrect wheel. Thanks.

Try here....

1921 Dodge Brothers Touring Car interior

or here....

 

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Fantastic, it looks like I have the newer wheel ( 24ish) in cast Aluminum and will need to locate a cast steel one with it attaching on the underside of the round wooden wheel. Contacting a site now to see what they have. O.K. That part of the restoration has been solved again by the forum. Thanks as always Don.

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Great thanks. Someone is trying yo sell a DB steering wheel with 1 keyway.. Yes lur car has the horn button on the drivers door. There were so many parts that are wrong on our Touring I have to question every part we are restoring to be sure we have correct parts. Thanks for the clarification on this. Found out we have the wrong drag link bar for the steering so looking for the correct one also.

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