Steering column rebuild

[boneheadzz]

So I have a 79 TA with a tilt column and it had the Floppy Steering Wheel Syndrome. Being the mechanically-able person that I am, I removed it and tore it down for inspection.
Last November.
Fast forward to this week and MAN it was a pain reassembling this monster. Bad enough that it was 5-6 months between to help me forget how it came apart. I was really lucky I didn't lose anything.
But I think it took 8 tries of putting it together and then tear it back down because I forgot to put something in the proper way. My fancy new paint job on the exterior column parts is scratched up because of the constant reassembly.
So, now I can see why a reman column costs so much. About as complicated as an auto transmission. Well, not quite but in the same ballpark.



I didn't really change any parts. Just repacked all the bearings and did a repaint. I also used locktite on the 4 torx bits that keep the tilt shaft bearings in tension. I need to change the a few items later since my budget was zero and I'm more interested in making this car mobile again. The lock plate and horn contact are busted on this due to probably years of someone driving this car with the floppy SWS. I should be able to replace these in-car pretty easily when I acquire them. Until then, no horn.
Gotta tackle a few more things and hope to get this car on the road!
Later
Mike