Hot Rods Tilt Column Disassembly help...

Here is a couple of pic's of my homemade puller tool.
I just used a correct thread bolt a couple of washers, a suitable nut and an old junk socket that I drilled slightly so it would allow the pivot pin to pull up inside it.
Worked a treat and no chance of snapping or breaking.
I did have to grind down very slightly one 1/3 roughly of the socket edge to ensure it could sit flat as the pivot pin hole sits on a lip edge in the cast housing.

 

WARNING - Something else that I have discovered upon re-assembling this column head IMHO.
These after market columns of which I have a Flaming River version are a column electrical fire just waiting to happen.
I have again dis-assembled my column head and have planned to purchase some of that shrink wrap electrical sleeving and cover the electrical harness that runs down the column as well as shrinking some similar material over the column shaft roughly were it exits the outer tube.

I noticed the turning center shaft pretty much rubs continuously on the harness, which must eventual wear thru.
The wires are only single insulated and there is a point in the steering shaft were it goes up in size from a 3/4" DD solid shaft at the top end and is joined/sleeved into 1" DD hollow tube at the lower end.
It has been partially welded and ground at that point, but still presents as a quite sharp edge and no doubt has the potential to cut thru there or some where else along the point of contact with the harness.
I have also made an alteration and exited my wires out ahead of the welded joint, but still found the wires are continuously rubbed even by the smaller 3/4" DD shaft.

I recall in the very old Ford columns back to the late 1960's, Ford used a steel tubing internally of the outer steering tube to push the wires thru so that there was never any chance of wires making contact with the rotating shaft.

I've worked to hard building my project to risk it all for the sake of a column fire or the inconvenience of being side lined on the highway during a cruise...
So, I am going to make every effort to minimize this potential hazard in the best possible way.

 

An update.
I by coincidence ran into a guy who does quite a lot of hot rod auto electrics and we got discussing these particular tilt columns.
He says, that this is an ongoing issue for owners of these columns, they are pretty much guaranteed to experience flasher and horn problems due to wire insulation breaking down inside the column.
He considers it to be poor design.
He agrees with shrink wrapping the wire harness and likes my idea of doing the same to the center shaft to minimize any chance of wear and a short circuit.
He says it is not only the turning of the shaft that is the problem, but also repetitive activation of the tilt mechanism that causes movement of the wires, which can be just enough to chafe and wear thru.

 

Whole job done and dusted and I am still waiting for Flaming River to tell me how to dis-assemble it.
It seems they don't want to tell me...

You can see how sharp that edge is at the weld.

 

Glad you got it all together. I'm happy to have seen inside of one of those. Clearly nothing is identical in shape (even the U-joint) as a GM unit but it sure is a reversed engineered unit.

 

I just hope it helps other folks be aware of the potential hazard and one way of reducing it.
No pic's are in photo bucket so this info will always be here as a historical record for future searches.

 

Hi, I just came across your post in regards to the Flaming River column. I just bought one and I came here looking for answers on how to pull it down to paint and found your comments on the wire chaffing. Thank you for education me. I will certainly insulate the wires and the steering shaft when I have pulled it apart. Can you tell me how the pod comes off that houses the indicator mechanism? I cant seem to find any instructions or manual related to this. Andyes, FR are hopeless at TEch Support. They did not get back to me either. Thanks for your help in advance. Mark.

 

I too am trying to figure out how to remove the cover/collar that houses/surrounds the turn signal switch. Can anyone help?

 

FiftyV8 is still active on the board so he might see it and check on who posted on his three year dead thread.

I'm like Johnny Gee In that I have had a number of oem units apart but never an aftermarket.

 

He has already asked me by PM, but I don't recall exactly.
If anybody out there can assist it would be well received.

 

Sorry about responding to a 3-year-old dead thread but I thought the last post was Jul 29, 2020. I found my answer (via You Tube) on how to get the collar off. It simply pulls off with a 3 jaw puller. (Press fit) .
Thanks!
Greg

 

Still could be informative for anyone that missed the thread but needs some tips.
I converted a factory 67 Camaro tilt column for my 67 Nova and had to remove the tin upper cover and did not want to bugger it up as it is pretty thin so I built this puller, it is similar to the GM version.
If you look close there are two lugs that engage the tilt and turn signal lever slots, one high and one low, two different shapes also, this is how the puller grasps the cover without distorting it.
Seems like a lot of work but if I recall it took a fair amount of effort to remove (and replace) that cover, the tool works great.
I looked at my Suburbans' Ididit column and it appears to have a different slot layout but the principle is the same I'm sure.