Guess what?????? IT'S SORTED!!!!!
Sat looking at and playing with the thing for about 1/2 an hour and then re-read the whole thread.
Richard_Masa_4200 had said earlier in the thread:..........
When you do get it off make sure you don't turn the clock spring wheel too much. It is centred. The plastic pin that sticks through the boss should stop it moving past centre, but not always. When you replace the boss the 2 splines from the clock spring must marry up with the white indicator cancel fitting. You'll see what I mean once you get the boss off.
.........and at the time this was absolutely meaningless to me so I chose not to comment as I assumed he may have been taking recreational drugs or similar. Centred clock spring wheel indeed! In fact this statement proved to be the key to resolving my problems.
After removing the liberal coating of copaslip grease I could clearly see two arrow markers on the rear of the boss and the contact ring.
I have no idea what purpose they serve but are are obviously part of Richard's clock spring wheel centering theory. Upon lining them up, everything became misaligned by 90 degrees. I turned the mechanism itself round by 90 degrees so the cams and lobes were not aligned as they were in the photos posted by ChrisBassett and rebuilt everything up as I had nothing to lose but my time. Everything is now perfect. It has obviously been rebuilt incorrectly at some time in the past.
What I did find interesting (but then again I am a newbie) was the logo stamped into the back of the boss.
Another raid on the Alfa parts bin then.
I am now obviously basking in the warm glows of smugness and contentment after managing to resolve my issue at zero cost to myself and having been told my problem stemmed from the car having a non-genuine wheel. I can now strip and re-bond the airbag cover and the world will be a better place.
Thanks to all who have contributed to my success as I have found it really helpful. Sorry for any new potential forum members who may have popped in and seen 30+ posts involving some bloke who should get out more, wailing about the fact he thinks his indicators should cancel quicker. I admit after a re-read, it is probably the most anal thread subject on the site. But I'm happy.
Oh and if anyone is struggling to remove their steering wheel, you are more than welcome to borrow my Maserati special tool v1.01