Steering Column PT I

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

Taking out the steering column isn't fun.  First, there's the whole scrape up your hands while you're turning wrenches under the hood area then laying flat on your back, hoping the rusty pans won't give way, while you are struggling with little bolts that only contortionists should only have to deal with.

What's the point in removing the steering column?  I need to adapt a U-joint system so I can make that 3 inch lift work.  The original column is a straight shot - approx 38 inches total that lines up exactly with the steering spline.  (Don't ask me how many splines are on the darn thing, my magnifying glass won't let me get that small. But a rough estimate would be 60?)

This shows the steering box spline connection and the rubber gasket having been removed.  There's 4 bolts to take that out. 

As you can see, this gasket was probably NOT going to last much longer anyway.  There was another snag in disconnecting the collar above this gasket.  There was a metal tab that locked the bolt in place.  I used a punch and hammer to bend it back so I could turn an open end wrench.  Once the hood area connections were unbolted I moved to the driver's area.  It's a good idea to have the seat out because the best way to unbolt those connections is laying flat on your back.  I used a rug so I wouldn't be laying directly in the rusty pans.  You'll notice in the picture below that there are 4 wires on one side and 6 on the other coming out of the column.  Make sure you mark what those wires connect to.  I drew a diagram. And don't forget the ground wire that's attached to the column as well.

Two small bolts hold the steering column to the dash.  This is tricky, due to the tight space, and required two open end #11 wrenches.  Then, there's four bolts that mount the column to and through the firewall.  I used a 7/16.  You see above that the previous owner used wood to help compensate for a shortfall with the original metal bracket.  I hope to find a rubber square to fill in the gap.

Once the column was on it's way out I had to struggle with wires that were on top of and underneath the column getting tangled up.  Finally, it was out.  Whew!

This gives you a better idea of what the whole assembly looked like.  Next I cut off the collapsible part with my angle grinder.  This will give me about 12 inches to mount two u-joints with a shaft in between.  I will cut part of that new 3/4 twelve inch shaft so I can marry to the original 7/8 shaft after the top U-joint.  I will more than likely have everything spot welded.  Here's the final pict after the cut. A smooth 3/4 piece of that shaft I ordered should slide right in.

I'm ordering the U-joints and shaft from appleetreeauto.com because they had the best selection at prices I could afford.  The total cost of this modification will be $90.  This is a best economic solution to the suggested Flaming River tilt steering column ($250) and Borgeson U-joints and shaft ($175).

Part II will be hooking it all up and hoping I ordered the right parts. : )