milano steering wheel puller problem solved!

["Ian Lomax" <ilomax@domain.elided>]

Many thanks to R.M. Bies, John Hertzman, and Rich Hirsch for their suggestions
on how to remove the wheel from my Milano.  Mr. Bies kindly offered the use of
the puller he fabricated for his GTV6, but alas it was a little too long to
fit into the hub of the Milano's wheel.  Mr. Hirsch wins the prize for the
suggestion which finally worked.  Here's what I finally did.

The puller I have is about 1" square, by 4" long.  It is too long to fit into
the steering wheel's hub when properly aligned with the tapped holes in the
wheel, and I couldn't find bolts long enough to use it outside of the hub.  It
will fit between the four spokes in the hub at an angle and hang out a bit.
(you have to remove the plastic housing for this to work).  Once inserted
through the hub, the center bolt can be screwed into it.  As the center bolt
is tightened, the bar will push back on the outer face of the steering wheel.
It bent a small lip on the wheel, but with a little help from some WD40
finally freed the wheel.  The new turn signal switch and Momo wheel went on
with few problems, but an extra set of hands was very handy when trying to
reinstall the turn signal switch.  Thanks again Dick!

If anybody is looking for a way to spruce up their Milano, I would highly
recommend a new turn signal switch.  The new switch makes it feel like a new
car again!  The old switch wouldn't hold at times, cancelled too easily, and
just felt old and sloppy.  The new switch has a nice solid feel to it.  Much
better.

Cheers!

Ian Lomax
Carnegie Mellon University - GSIA
Pittsburgh, PA
412.687.5618
88 Milano 3.0
71 Spider

------------------------------