Steering wheel too near, gearstick too far - any ideas?

[jelloway]

I have recently purchased a Narrow Bodied Westfield and have found that the gear stick is a long way off whilst the steering wheel is right in my chest! I can only see that I have two options: Move one or the other, seeing as moving the gear box would be rather tricky I was wondering if anyone else had had this issue (read many post regarding the steering wheel being to far away not the other way around, I must be the only short Westfield owner in the world!) and could tell me if they cut their boss down or if their are different length bosses on the market.

The other option is to extend the gear stick itself but I think it would then be like driving a transit van!

I have a three spoke Mountney Steering wheel and I'm pretty sure the Boss is a Cortina mk2/capri/Escort-'74

Any help or suggestions would be great

[ferg]

Sounds like you need a gearlever remote.

www.westfield-sportscars.co.uk/shop/product.asp?numPageStartPosition=26&strPageHistory=&strKeywords=&strSearchCriteria=&PT_ID=77&P_ID=249

Edited by ferg on Wednesday 14th June 16:26

[RazMan]

Can you change the steering column for an adjustable one? My Sierra column give me a range of 100mm.

[Corpulent Tosser]

The Westfield remote that ferg suggests is good, I put one on a Tiger I had a couple of years back, a big improvemnet on the standard Tiger remote.

[dingocooke]

You could get the steering wheel boss modified (ie shortened , or have a bespoke shorter boss made up, and then move the seat forward so that you are nearer to the gear change, or you could get a cranked gear lever or a remote as suggested earlier.

Edited by dingocooke on Monday 19th June 17:21

[steve_d]

How about plastic surgery?

Steve

[LotusNova]

steve_d said:

How about plastic surgery?

Steve

Valid point though. If the overall driving position (seat, wheel, gearstick, pedals) are not natural for you, then the fun in driving it will wear off relatively quickly. Are your pedals ok? They're usually the most expensive to change, so make a good reference point.

[jelloway]

Thanks for all your responses - even the plastic surgery one!

I am going to take the boss to be shortened as the pedals and gear lever are pretty equal in their position and the steering wheel is the odd one out then I will tie my hands to a tree and my legs to the car and get someone to stretch me to 'normal' size!

If this doesn't work I will buy the car from Choc-a-bloc and drop a blade engine in it!