I know that tilt steering columns are not very traditional. But as there seems to be less space between the seat back and the steering wheel than there used to be for some reason, they have become more necessary. The only problem is that most are ugly or expensive or both. For the 37 Chevy I'm helping a friend with we bought a column from one of the advertiser in the back of the rod magazines. It came with no shifter or column mounted key, and except for the lower part of the column it looked pretty good. Once The tack cup was mounted with the hose clamp and tightened the plastic cover cracked. When I sanded it down to repair we found it was just like every column shift, keyed column in the wrecking yard. Just those pieces had been cut off and filled with a lot of bondo. So time for plan B. A piece of exhaust tubing with an I.D. Of 4 proved to be a good fit over the existing plastic collar, after sanding the plastic collar and honing the inside of the tubing. This piece was found at school bus parts supplier. (about 8 bucks each) http://commerce1.cera.net/tacbusparts/sections/catalog/catalog.asp?cat_id=276 I had ordered 2 pieces to have a spare in case their was a screw up, one piece had a smooth exterior while the other had been formed as a series of flats(this is visible in the photo). A little work would have smoothed the outer surface, but the car owner liked the stepped look so it was used as is. While searching for this we also discovered that we could strip the column down and replace all of the outer pieces with smooth metal. The parts required include the 4 I.D. tube, a 3 to 2.5 flowmaster cone reducer (about 25 bucks for a pair from Jeg's, but I bet there is a cheaper source) and a section of 2.5O.D. exhaust tubing (about 13 bucks for 4 feet from Jeg's). All these pieces may also available in stainless steel. The first step was to remove the outer shell of the steering column. The pieces of exhaust tubing are a good tight fit to the inner structure of the column, and are welded to the column. Since the collar is now steel we decided to weld the tack cup to the collar instead of using the hose clamp method. We used a piece of 1/8X1/4 steel strap to make a spacer With the lower edge of the dash in the Chevy being lowered to make room for the A/C vents and the owner preferring a higher wheel position, the cone reducer from flowmaster was molded into the lower portion of the dash. The column now sides through this piece and the mounting brackets are hidden behind the dash. The defroster vents on the top of the dash are aftermarket plastic pieces bonded and molded to the dash.
when you're shopping, I think 1968 was the last year for a tilt column with the key NOT on the column. If you find a column in anything later than that and it has no key, you're going to be playing with bondo at some point.
You're missing the point, I believe. Seems the important thing is to have a tilt WITHOUT an ignition switch on the column. OP indicates that the tilt he bought had the switch removed, the 'bump' for its location cut down and then the hole filled with Bondo or some other putty-like material. That's typical of most folks that want the convenience of a tilt, but to retain their stock dash-mounted ignition switch. dj
I'm not sure if I'm looking at this right- but, can you explain what your doing for turn signal switch & lever. thanks! L7
if you look at the shot through the drivers door you can see two slots, the one towards the rear is for the tilt lever, the one that is vertical right next to the steering wheel is the turn signal hole. he dosnt have the levers installed yet.
bob, looks great. the tach cup is genius. looks clean and you'll have guys scratching their heads on that one.
Wow that cleaned things up nice. I think some of the mid 70's GM vans Had a shorter non keyed column if that helps.
tach cup looks like crome spoke wheel center cap! great cleanup job on column and bet the local muffler shop could get some pieces and hit the diesel truck shop for the 4" stuff!
Good point! I browsed through a local truck stop megastore a couple months ago and they had a lot of different size pipes. I don't know if the prices were better, but there was a good selection and of course it's instant gratification to pick up a piece and buy it.
I think you just put Flaming River out of business. A tilt column is one of those car parts that's mysterious and intimidating. I ruined one trying to do a similar thing in my car. Then I bought another one and was able to take it apart without breaking everything.
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I'm sure the 4" I.D. coupler I bought was just a piece of 4" O.D. tubung that had been streched, so if you have access to an exhaust shop hat could expand 4" tubing you could get one sized to fit without the sanding and honing. The Tach cup we used was store bought for that purpose, but there sure might be other things that would work. As far as time, I think I could do another in no more than an hour or two tops. Would kinda depend on how much beer was on hand.
After this you can just go buy a you-pick column for $25 or $40 or so (it varies around here) and do the same.
That is just cool. Isn't that the idea behind hot rodding, using and modifying to work in your car? Good ideas. Mark
lol thanks for the post brother,beer does make things go faster....................well some times. you saved me a lot of money. when we meet, i'll buy you a beer or 12
Nice, now I know what to use in the Model A. I happen to have one of those columns laying around. Now if I could only figure out how to take it apart. Any sugestions or pointers? Thanks.
Harbor Freight has a cheap kit with steering wheel puller and lock plate remover, around $30, and this is light duty work, it will last a long time doing it. Use a 20% off coupon on it. Or you can borrow/rent them from some parts stores. The rest is just basic hand tool stuff. Depending on the year of the column, some use a bolt for the lock cylinder, some (the older ones) it's cast metal and you knock out some flash to depress a tab to remove the cylinder.
The Jalopy Journal
