Technical Cadillac tilt/telescoping install

I purchased a well functioning late 60's Cadillac tilt/telescoping column. I want to install it into my 2-door 1951 Merc which has a TCI front clip with a Thunderbird power rack. Are there tricks to safely shortening this column? Wiring and column shifter hints? Thanks much.

 

All I can offer for a tip is this. Caddilacs in the mid 60`s used a different size spline for the steering wheel than the rest of GM.

 

With a Telescope wheel he is flat stuck with the Caddy wheel as there is no adapter to put anything else on it with and only another similar model Cad Telescope wheel will fit.

As for shortening the column and shaft the shaft is a solid rod from the rag joint to the knuckle if it is a pre 1968 Column and is collapsible if it is 68 and collapsible with a key on the column if it is 69.

The earlier ones have to be shortened while you can cheat a bit with the collapsible ones and shove the tube and shaft up in the other piece to shorten them. Not that kosher but it works and you may have to do something to hold the pieces in place to keep them from moving up and down. I threw all my clunker tilts in the last scrap load so I don't have one to do a show and tell with.
If the tube looks like it has one piece that will slide inside the other it can be collapsed a bit.

 

The Cadillac telescoping column uses the same guts as the telescoping one in an old Corvette. Years ago, I put together a column for a car that had the tilt/ telescope pieces from a Cadillac column with the lower, shorter tilt column from some other GM small car. All these steering columns have the same basic parts - the column could be from a GM, AMC, or International, or even Mopar.

 

If you have access to a lathe & mig or tig, & Common hand tools. ., think out side of box you can make things work , like changing the splines to a Later GM , Ford or whatever you want even @ steering box end . I have made several columns from scratch with sealed bearing , & cut down OEM s , mix & match Brands