GTV-6 Steering Column Bearing

[Chris Attias <cattias@domain.elided>]

About a year ago I posted a query about how the steering column 
bearing came apart on a GTV-6, since mine was loose and the column 
was flopping around.  This detail doesn't appear in either the CD or 
paper copies of manuals I have (and my mechanic, an old Alfa guy, 
didn't know), but I got firsthand experience with it this weekend.  I 
discovered this as I was replacing the multi-switch for the 
lights/wipers/turn signals.

I had bought a new bearing when I first noticed the looseness of the 
wheel and that it wasn't related to the steering column adjustment 
mechanism.  It is a roller bearing with a rubber boot around it.

I pulled the steering wheel off using a  wheel pulling tool, ground 
down on both sides so that it fit inside the wheel hub.  As I 
removing the switch, I found that one of the two screws that hold the 
switch to the column had lost its nut, and the other screw was loose 
as well.  Once the switch was removed, the problem became clear-loose 
switch. The bearing is a press fit into a recess in the top of the 
outer column.  The steering column shaft runs on the inside of the 
bearing, and the outside rubber takes up the shock.  The new bearing 
rubber is slightly deeper than the recess, and is compressed as the 
switch is tightened down.  If the switch is loose and the bearing 
backs out, the column is free to move around in its outer housing.  A 
wacky/elegant design...

Chris Attias
'84 GTV-6
'64 MGB

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