What year did the MK2 become "large spline"

As above, seen a large spline steering wheel on the bay but will it fit my March 1988 E reg 8v GTI, one piece doors and hazard swich on dash?

Alternatively, what's the diameter of the large spline columns? Cheers

 

they changed in about 89/90. My small bumper 16v had a big spline as it was right on the crossover. You can use the collar from a later car to adapt to the big spline, thats all VW did.

 

Cool, cheers for that, looks like I'll need the collar then, does this just slide onto the column?

 

yeah but they dont come off nearly as easily... to remove one at a breakers expect to use a decent 2 leg puller. You can probably get them from VW for a couple of quid, thats what I'll do next time!

 

Yer I had to take one off of my 89 8v and what a bloody b*stard it was. 4 of us, and were all big blokes, had a good go at it and it with alsorts of tools and bad language.

Worth remembering that I dont think you can go back the other way - ie remove the spline from the later cars to fit the smaller wheels as when I did that with the 8v the hub just didnt sit flush and had some play in it.

 

a quick 'spline' question

hi there
you mention this 'collar' to modify the small splines. i have said small spline on my 1985 mk2, and was wondering is that 'couple of quid' from vw a definate price, i.e. is it less than a tenner? i just got a boss/wheel combo from ebay which is great but for the spline size difference. many people on there claim that their bosses will fit mk1, mk2 and mk3, which is a bit unfair to say the least but that's ebay i guess.
so anyway, does anyone know the definate price? gsf don't seem to do them unless they have a name i haven't thought of yet (i've tried collar, adapter, spline, hub, all to no avail) euro car parts has an upper sterring rod adapter for 8.35 plus vat so i was just wondering if it would be more economical to sell my large hole boss and buy another small hole boss, any advice would be most appreciated. cheers

 

Adapter sleeve 191 419 514 7.46 +vat from vw.

 

Personally id just change the boss. They really are a b*tch to get off once you got em on.

 

cheers for this fellas, i think i'll get the device from vw, should that go on fairly easy or is it a hammer job?

 

Rupe, cheers for that, any idea how hard it is to fit?

 

just put it on the shaft and push it on with your fingers, fit the new wheel and tighten. Removal is the reverse but use of explosives is advised. I have removed one and refitted an old small spline steering wheel so it is possible if you dont damage the spplines pulling the adaptor off.

 

Cool, once it's on it will probably be staying on anyway, cheers for the tips!

 

I just had another look and they list a couple for a 1988, I was looking at 90-91 last night.

Heres the picture Click both the same price.

 

more things

hi again,
in my haste to get my wheel on, i rushed out today and bought a shiny new 191 419 514 which is 45mm long. i got home and whipped off my steering wheel only to find that when the sleeve goes on, the teeth aren't low enough to take the teeth on the steering rod, nearly, but not quite. so i came on and found the new post about 191 419 514A, so i guess i need that one. i will take the one i have back to guilders tommorrow and swap it. just for reference, my golf is january 1986 so if you have one i would recommend checking the steering rod thingy first, if it is about 45mm you'll need the smaller one 514a which according to the image in rupe's post is 26mm so that a)the teeth will line up and b) the boss will sit flush to the dash and make contact for the horn.
i will post again when i get the new (hopefully right) one.
cheers for the image rupe, and damn my impatience!!

 

thought i'd post this up cos i got the right adapter for the spline today and fitted it just now, what a pain in the ar*e!!!!
getting the adapter onto the spline required much swearing and sweating (and i can safely say it is never coming off and i can sympathise with those who have tried to do this before!), then getting the hub onto that required a similar amount. bearing in mind i have no steering lock cos it broke i had to use the bolt that holds the wheel onto the spline to force both the adapter and the boss onto the spline, it took a while.
maybe if i had put the adapter into the hub first itmay have been easier, but i can't see it helping much.
anyway the whole thing is on now, horn works, hurrah, and the hub is pretty much flush with the horn contact, bar a few mm, and it drives fine, if anyone else thinks about doing the same, i might think about it very carefully first before trying, and make sure the wheels of the car are straight before you put the boss on, or you'll hate yourself.
well done me