walkerz
14-12-2009, 02:01 PM
Hi folk,
Not a excel rally question per say, but I thought I'd ask the people that have theirs in pieces on a regular basis :potstir: (and no, Fro, I'm not going to turn it into a rally car....)
Our Excel has just been broken into for the 2nd time in 2 months, and they've tried to break the steering lock and bent things in the process. Again.:splat:
The (new) steering lock has held and seems to operate OK, but the top mounting bracket for the steering column (the one welded to the column) has been bent. Now I could straighten the bracket, but the alloy sleeves/bushes that the bolts go through have been smashed. Are these alloy bits really needed? They seem to be there to give the column some longitudinal movement, but the lower bracket doesn't them. Are they so the steering column can colapse in an accident?
Can I get away with straightening the top bracket and replacing the alloy sleeves, or can I even skip the sleeves altogether?
Where's the best place to get the needed bits?
Oh, and they bent the steering wheel too - anyone got a stock one they can part with? Other sundry parts that would also be nice are an instrument panel surround (the steering lock hit it) the lower half of the column surrounds, and a wiper/indicator assembly (they broke off the wiper arm :( )
Cheers,
Stuart
stuart at walkerz dot net
Not a excel rally question per say, but I thought I'd ask the people that have theirs in pieces on a regular basis :potstir: (and no, Fro, I'm not going to turn it into a rally car....)
Our Excel has just been broken into for the 2nd time in 2 months, and they've tried to break the steering lock and bent things in the process. Again.:splat:
The (new) steering lock has held and seems to operate OK, but the top mounting bracket for the steering column (the one welded to the column) has been bent. Now I could straighten the bracket, but the alloy sleeves/bushes that the bolts go through have been smashed. Are these alloy bits really needed? They seem to be there to give the column some longitudinal movement, but the lower bracket doesn't them. Are they so the steering column can colapse in an accident?
Can I get away with straightening the top bracket and replacing the alloy sleeves, or can I even skip the sleeves altogether?
Where's the best place to get the needed bits?
Oh, and they bent the steering wheel too - anyone got a stock one they can part with? Other sundry parts that would also be nice are an instrument panel surround (the steering lock hit it) the lower half of the column surrounds, and a wiper/indicator assembly (they broke off the wiper arm :( )
Cheers,
Stuart
stuart at walkerz dot net