[don hodgdon]

Once I realized that the steering wheel was mounted on a tapered shaft and was not coming off by conventional methods, I went to have a chat with the proprietor of the local Italian repair shop. He lent me a tool he made that probably cost about a dollar to fabricate. It's a flat metal plate, about 1.75" square, small enough to fit down inside the wheel hub, with two slotted holes in opposite corners, and two M6 bolts a couple of inches long with washers. After removing the center nut on the column, the plate is placed over the end of the column, the bolts go through the holes in the plate into the threaded holes in the steering wheel hub. Tighten the bolts down with equal pressure on each side and the wheel pops right off.

The real nightmare is trying to get an aftermarket hub off, one without the threaded holes.