I need to remove the steering wheel from my 1980 450SL so that I can get the gauge cluster out. I need to lube the speedometer cable so that the speedometer needle doesn't bounce. I cannot get the allen bolt out of the center of the steering wheel! Short of doing something like drilling it out (not good!) I am at my wits end on how to remove this. Three questions:

1) Does this have reverse threads?
2) Is there a special tool that you can buy,rent,steal, borrow that will facilitate in the removal of the steering wheel
3) Is there another way to get the speedometer cable out to lube it (pull it off at the tranny?) so that I don't have to destroy this bolt.

Would appreciate any help and/or feedback on this issue. Love the tech site. Have spent many a Saturday night doing nothing but learning how to wrench my Mercedes!

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Jim Loseke
1980 450Sl "Black Beauty"
2002 C230 Kompressor "Spicy"

The bolt doesn't have reverse thread. The key-word in unscrewing the bolt is using a perfect FITTING allen-wrench.

You can try to starle the bolt by hammering it a few times (at top of the corners in the allen bolt which will also cause the wrench to fit better again).
Mercedes uses loctite to keep that bolt in place and not risking any possible chance for the bolt to get loose.

Is there a cable in the 1980 SL? Our 1986 SL had a electronic speedo meter, but I can imagine that the older modeels did have a cable driven speedo meter...

greetingz,

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1990 300SL-24
1993 C250D with a minor 600+k kilometer
www.MBenzNL.com(the Netherlands)