Hello All,

My name is Kelly (guy) and I purchased Car #0321 earlier this year. Bob who I bought it from has been nothing but helpful and friendly. I feel like we are now friends. I live in the Phoenix area and I got the car just as the weather was turning to HOT. With no A/C I am not one to drive it too much in 118 degree heat. Before it got too hot (100 or so) one thing I noticed was that the steering column inside the car got really hot. It felt like a lap heater. (Like I need that in Arizona). After consulting with a few of you, and a visit by Jim Rigg and his Cosworth, I got some good ideas as to what the cause was and possibly how to try to fix it. What I found was that the heat from the headers was coming up the steering column. There is no seal between the steering column and the opening into the car. This seems to be the main reason. There is a white grommet so to speak that the steering column goes through but there is a big gap. Michael Young stated he used a sealed bearing to seal the hole in his car. Great idea but I would need to know the bearing part number before I could order it and install it. This gave me an idea. I needed to figure out a way to block the opening around the steering column then maybe I could reduce the heat coming into the car.

First to test this theory I put some aluminum foil and loosely stuffed it in the gap between the opening and the steering column. Did a test drive. It did help but I knew it was temporary.

I went to Home Depot looking for some ideas and found some metal round disks in the electrical department. I knew the steering shaft diameter was 3/4”. These round disks (see the pictures) were large enough to cover the hole and it had a 3/4" opening in the center for the steering column to go through. Since they are thin enough, I was able to cut one side with a hack saw. Then I could bend it around the steering column and then bend it back. It was a tight fit (which is good) and the steering column can either turn in the hole or the whole disk will turn. Nothing to bind or hold it back. Since the package of round disks came with 4 in the bag, I thought if one is good maybe 4 would be better. 4 disks would help block the heat better as well as act as heat sink to dissipate the heat before it goes into the car. Now that the weather has turned I have had a chance to take my Cosworth out on the road for more than a jaunt around the neighborhood. The bottom line is this. There is still some heat on my steering column in the car when I am driving but it is much, much less than before. If the heat was s 10 before I would put this at a 2 now. Still a little warm but not hot. I think the bearing would be a better permanent fix but for now it much better. Please take a look at the pictures as to what I did and if interested you can do the same.

Looking at Bob’s car he seemed to have the same set up and gap as mine, yet not sure why his car does not seem to have as much of an issue. But talking to others it seems that this is a common issue for Cosworth Vega’s.

Feel free to contact me if you want more details or want to talk.

Thanks

Kelly