Removing Bertram 25 Steering Wheel and side window

[RonsB25]

Hi, this is my first posting after lurking in the background for a long time. I'm very impressed with all the great B25 knowledge passed along on your B31 site.

I am about 2/3 the way through a restoration on a 1966 B25 Hardtop, originally sold into Canada and fortunately spent her life in fresh water, up to now.

The boat is in Narragansett, RI and I would love to find some other B25 enthusiasts in the general area, to commiserate with.

But more importantly and urgent is finding out how to pull the original steering wheel off the boat. I assume a wheel puller with a sliding weight would be the best method, but I'm not sure if there is something more I need to remove, before breaking something. I have mistakenly already removed a hub center piece with a gland nut, which I assumed held the wheel on. But it is geared at the bottom and interfaces with a small gear at the bottom of the wheel hub for adjustment or something.

I also have a forward starboard window which is cracked and I assume I will have to pull the entire aluminum frame to get the window out, but again it is not clear to me, how to do that.

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to make it clear what I'm trying to do.

Ron in Narragansett

[Tony Meola]

Not sure about the window, should be the same as a 31 but I will let the 25 guys answer that one.

The steering wheel should be pretty simple. If you remove the center piece, it should be held in with a set screw, you should see a nut that you would have to remove. May need to be soaked in penetrating oil. You should then be able to use a standard puller. Mine has three legs which hooked under the wheel then it had a center screw that turns and pushes on the stud the screw was on.

At least that is how the one on my 31 came off. Came off easier than I expected.I

[Joseph Fikentscher]

I bent the puller trying to bet mine out. Mechanical BigT steering. Had to buy a new BigT helm after I got done with the sawsall.

Same for the lower station when I took that out. Never used the lower station. I don't like being enclosed with minimal visibility.

[Tony Meola]

Joel

I actually soaked mine in penetrating oil and let it sit all winter with a oily rag wrapped stuffed around it.

[RonsB25]

Thanks, everyone. Soaking over the winter may be a good bet, but I am not sure if there is something holding it. There was an ~3/8 bolt, 1/2 inch long which easily unscrewed from the center, but did not seem to be holding anything.

After removing the gland nut part from the center of the hub I can see the entire inside of the hub. There is something in the center that is a different material than the wheel and could be a nut, but it is a small, hollow, metal cylinder about 1 inch tall and 3/4 inch diameter, having walls about 1/8 inch thick with two slots cut into top of wall at 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock. I have not been able to get a grip on it yet, but that may be what is holding it, in addition to the press fit.

There is a chrome piece that slips over the outside of the hub and has cutouts for the two "braces" that run from the hub to the outer wheel rim. That moves freely about 1/16 inch, but does not come off.

Still working on that and several other projects.

If I can figure out how to do it, I will post a couple of pictures for clarification

Cheers
Ron

[Navatech]

If I can figure out how to do it, I will post a couple of pictures for clarification

Ron,

First, pictures are really indispensable in these cases...

Second, if you can't figure out how to post pictures, email them to me and I'll post them for you...

[scot]

The windows will come out without removing the frame, its tight to say the least. Look down into the tracks and you can see the screws that hold the tracks in place. Once these are removed the windows WILL come out. Take the felt tracks out and they will tilt "just" enough to remove. It's been a long time since I removed mine so I'm sorry I cant provide any better details except to let you know that it can be done!

[Tony Meola]

I bent the puller trying to bet mine out. Mechanical BigT steering. Had to buy a new BigT helm after I got done with the sawsall.

Same for the lower station when I took that out. Never used the lower station. I don't like being enclosed with minimal visibility.

Joe

One more thing, don't use a cheap plumbing puller. I used for an auto. It is pretty heavy. I bet I would destroy the wheel before my puller bent. It is a simple puller, and I picked it up at one of the auto parts stores. Might have been NAPA, jsut don't remember, have had it a long time.

[RonsB25]

Side Window - Many thanks for a possible solution for getting the side window out. It was just too tight a fit to lift out. I had not realized the track might come out and will get on that today.

Removing Steering Wheel- THE WHEEL IS FINALLY OFF- Thanks to everyone for their good suggestions, but I think Bertram must have used different methods for installing steering wheels in different years/models. After trying everything (other than the wheel puller, for fear of breaking the wheel) I went back to my original thought that the wheel assembly could be secured from the bottom of the shaft. After removing some aftermarket items from behind the electrical panel I could see the magic nut that held the wheel in place, on a long bolt, up through the steering wheel hub. After wrestling the nut off, the wheel easily slid out in my hand. The chrome cap piece I couldn't get loose from the top, was held in with 4 small screws, easily accessible, once I could see the backside of the steering wheel hub.

Cheers,
Ron

[Corey Mason]

Glad you got it worked out bud.

The pictures you sent me did look a little different than mine. It's amazing how much understanding you get as soon as something is taken apart!

[RonsB25]

Hey Scott,
THANKS for sending me in a new direction to remove my side windows. The clue about the tracks coming out did the trick. I would never have figured that out on my own.

The tracks as I think of them, molded into the top and bottom of the window frame don't come out, BUT there are track sliders attached to the bottom and top of the glass, which run on the window frame tracks. I didn't find any screws to remove, but did discover that the top and bottom sliders can be carefully tapped at one end, to where the other end extends beyond the glass and can be captured. Then by sliding the window a little at a time, while the slider is held firm to the track, you can eventually pull out the top & Bottom slider completely, allowing JUST enough clearance to work the glass out of the frame.

I actually didn't realize until recently that the forward side window would slide open, even though there is not a handle or any way to pull it back without hooking something in front of the chrome strip on the leading edge of the glass and pulling aft.

Has anyone modified the front glass with some sort of handle to make it easier to open?