Steering wheel, turn signal and shifting lever from the start.
First task is the turn signal. The small plate shown is held on with a pair of small screws.
Next is detaching and removing the strap holding this part to the steering column, and disconnecting the wires from the turn signal switch.
Out it all comes!
Next up is the shifting lever.
The cap loosens up with a bit of leverage with a channel lock (with a rag to keep from scuffing the cap).
The lever itself pulls away easily - it basically just floats inside.
Now to the steering wheel itself. First thing is to remove the logo plate from the center. To do this, one has to rotate the wheel to the proper position, so that a hole in the wheel lines up with a hole on the bottom of the steering column (pictured). Then one simply inserts a tool (in my case, a straight clipped-off piece of a coat hanger) through the pair of holes, poking at the logo plate from behind, and it pops right off.
And the logo plate is off! The horn ring kind of floats in the hub, so it pops off as well.
I got a bit ahead of myself and didn't take proper photos of the contact plate (beneath the horn ring) and detaching the connecting wires. Here's the aftermath, the inside of the wheel hub.
Next off is the hex nut holding the wheel in place, and then the locking plate behind said nut, still present in the above photo.
The wiring that runs up inside the steering column - this pulls out with a bit of oomph and audible crackling of the old nasty sheathing.
Now to get the wheel itself off. Depending on how tight the wheel itself is attached, sometimes they can be pulled away by hand. My neighbor Ernie yanked one off the second Ponton he acquired and stripped down not long ago; the trick is to leave the hex nut threaded on partially, to prevent the wheel popping off and slamming you in the face while you're tugging on it. I tried this several times, but my wheel had a deathgrip on the steering column - no go.
So, I contacted Len, a fellow Pontoneer, and asked if he would loan me his steering wheel puller tool, and he agreed. The trick with Len's tool is, the gaps between the raised ridges around the bottom of the tool are too small to properly fit within the hub.
Fortunately, Harry in LA had also borrowed Len's tool at one point, and had the solution: shave down part of one of the three tabs inside the hub.
To get the tool in now, I insert it at a bit of an angle, and then give it a bit of a pop to get the tool past the shaved tab. In it goes! At this point, the tool is spun a few degrees, to slide the raised ridges into the slots behind the three tabs.
The next step is to crank down on the tool, pushing against the steering column, and pulling on the tabs, to pull the wheel away. The instructions say to crank on the tool a few degrees, and then pop the end of the tool with a hammer a few times, rinse, repeat - otherwise you risk fracturing the wheel itself.
Alas, cranking on the tool tends to cause the tool itself to spin inside the hub, with the raised ridges sliding out from behind the tabs. A trip down to Harbor Freight to pick up a rubber strap wrench later, and I find that this is really a three-hand job; 1) Hold the wheel itself steady 2) Hold the strap wrench on steady 3) Cranking/whacking the puller tool. Fortunately, my neighbor Richard has a few minutes free that evening and he wanders up.
After a couple of aborted attempts, the two of us succeed in getting the wheel off!
The steering wheel itself is in pretty poor shape. Cracks and separations all around the outside, and the hub itself has several large cracks. Richard knows of a place to send the wheel to get it repaired - and the cost of said repair is nearly as much as purchasing a new wheel. This is a decision I'll make later.
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