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View Full Version : tilt steering column for a 68 F-body



68 firehawk
10-08-2004, 03:54 PM
Can anyone help point me in the right direction for a tilt steering column? I don't think this should effect it or not but I’m going to be purchasing DSE's new sub frame once it comes out. It's rumored to have rack and pinion but i don't think this should make a difference on what column I put in

gc67
10-08-2004, 07:16 PM
I was thinking about the flaming river column for my 67 camaro. Don't have any experience with it though

MuscleRodz
10-08-2004, 08:12 PM
Ididit makes several models as well.

Mike

Cruiser
10-09-2004, 07:50 PM
I have seen the flaming river stuff and it looks good. Can't say much else though.........sorry.

Joe

nancejd
10-09-2004, 07:56 PM
I've heard that with one of the manufactures, you can't use the lower column shroud anymore on the F-bod, don't remmeber which one though. Maybe somebody else can chime in here.

68 firehawk
10-11-2004, 06:48 AM
Well that gives me a much better idea where to go and where to look. Thanks A-lot guys

Steve Chryssos
10-13-2004, 04:18 PM
I have the Flaming River column and cradle. It's true. The column does not have provisions to accept the stock cradle which in turn accepts the stock trim covers. Doesn't look bad by any means. But doesn't look "factory" either.
So the Flaming River column cradle is machined out of aluminum and slides over the two rear-most studs that hang down from the dash (closest to the driver). The single forward stud on to the right of the column (under the dash) is unused. The factory cradle ordinarily bolts to the column. There are no such bolt holes on the Flaming River column. You may want to inquire as to whether the Ididit column has provisions for the stock cradle.

And you are right. The column can be adapted to any subframe or steering setup with the right U-joints and steerig shaft.

67 455 Bird ragtop
10-15-2004, 03:05 AM
Ididit does have what they call retro-fit steering columns. They say they do use all of the factory hardware. I have been looking at these also. Have not seen any in person but have heard they look nice. Here's their site.

http://www.ididitinc.com/

Salt Racer
10-28-2004, 06:02 AM
If you don't mind doing some cutting and welding, columns from late model cars are nice also.

I swapped in a '95-ish F-body column in my '65 Buick. It's nice to have wiper and hi/lo beam swith near the steering wheel, and the whole thing is slightly lighter than the original one. Wiring took some figuring out. I lost wiper high speed (low speed works), but I'm planning to swap in a late model 7-sp wiper motor down the road. And I have a provision to install cruise control if I ever feel like doing so.

Total cost was about $55 ($35 for the column at swap meet, $10 for GM Pack-con & Metri-pak connectors at a junk yard, the rest is for shrink tubes and connectors).

Be sure to check that a column hasn't been collapsed due to wreck (steering wheel can be swapped).

derekf
10-31-2004, 09:35 AM
I hadn't ever thought about a swap like that, mostly because the diameter of the stock 65 column seems so much smaller than the later ones - what cutting and welding was actually required? I'd expect the end of the shaft near the box would need to be modified, and I guess the dash would need a larger opening to match the larger column diameter, but what else?

Got pics of the swap?

Salt Racer
11-01-2004, 08:29 AM
The column necks down to about the size of the stock column where it enters the dash area, so I didn't have to cut my dash at all (externally). This may not be the case with other cars. I had to notch the under-dash braces here and there for ignition switches, etc (originally in-dash ignition switch). You probably wouldn't have to do this on Camaros.

The actual column tube was a hair over 2" (2.006" or something) in diameter, and the stock one measured 2.388". So I made a short sleeve that fits over the new one so that it would fit in the stock firewall seal. The sleeve is retained by two 1/4" set screws.

The bolt spacing at the under dash bracket was different. F-body column bracket was way too wide for my car, so I made a bracket using 2x3 0.120" tubing. I intentionally left very little material at the driver's end of the slots and I used delrin washers so the column should still collapse in a severe collision.

I cut it down to the length I needed. The steering shaft is roughly 1" OD, and ID is 0.773" or something. So I put a common 3/4" splined shaft with 0.010" shim wrapped around it. TIG welded it allway around, and drilled a 3/16" hole and pressed in a roll pin.

There is a u-joint thingy at where the column tilts. So I got rid of the support bearing that was on the engine end of the F-body column, and used a U-joint at the steering box (so that the shaft works like a drive shaft). BTW, you'll have to make sure that U-joint is oriented correctly. The fork on tilt U-joint thingy is about 27* off from the center.

Since the support bearing at the end also served as a seal, I had to come up with something. The biggest suitable seal I could find at McMaster Carr was 1.5" OD or something, and the column sleeve I made had OD of 2.010". So I bored out one end of the sleeve to 2.25" or so, and made a UHMW donut with 1.35" ID. The donut also has a groove on outside for an O-ring. I slipped the McMaster Carr seal on the steering shaft, tapped in the donut in the sleeve, and retained it with a big snap ring.

I didn't take any in-process pics, so it maybe hard to visualize the stuff I've done from my crappy discriptions.

derekf
11-01-2004, 09:37 AM
Wow.. my eyes actually glazed over somewhere in there, heh.

Much of it made sense, the rest probably will make more sense when I've got a column to look at.

A couple of vague questions/reality checks:

Getting rid of the support bushing/seal - was that because it was in the way, because it was on the part that needed to be cut off, or because without another U-joint the column had a nasty angle through the engine compartment?

Column collapsing - that's the number one reason why I'm interested in doing this, I'd hate to wear my steering column as a new body piercing. You mentioned that "I intentionally left very little material at the driver's end of the slots and I used delrin washers so the column should still collapse in a severe collision." Is that the only collapsibility, or is there an additional location where it absorbs impact further down the column?

Did you keep the in-dash ignition, or move to the switch on the column?

And the stupid question: What is UHMW? (as in UHMW donut)

Salt Racer
11-01-2004, 10:39 AM
...Getting rid of the support bushing/seal - was that because it was in the way, because it was on the part that needed to be cut off, or because without another U-joint the column had a nasty angle through the engine compartment?...

Partly b/c it was in the way, and I wanted to drop down the steering wheel slightly by placing 1/4" delrin shims at under-dash mount, which changes steering shaft angle from stock. And having a bearing between two u-joints would create bind unless the bearing is perfectly in-line with the axis of rotation of the steering shaft.


...Column collapsing - that's the number one reason why I'm interested in doing this, I'd hate to wear my steering column as a new body piercing. You mentioned that "I intentionally left very little material at the driver's end of the slots and I used delrin washers so the column should still collapse in a severe collision." Is that the only collapsibility, or is there an additional location where it absorbs impact further down the column?...

The column itself is collapsible as both the shaft and the column tubes are two-piece constructions (sleeve over tube). But in order for it to collapse, the under-dash mount must be able to slide forward on impact. The factory accomplishes this by bonding two cast slotted wedge-shaped thingys (that parts that actually bolt onto the under-dash brace) to the column bracket by some kind of adhesive. Even my 69 Nova had this type of mount but my '65 Riv didn't. I didn't have resouce of doing something like this, so when I made my own mount, I milled the material down to 0.04" thick from 0.120" at the driver end of the mount slots. There's about 0.03" from the end of the slot to the edge of the mount. I also put some small stress risers with cutoff wheels. So that would be a pair of .03" x .04" rectangle sections in double shear. The material is rated at 45,000psi ultimate strength, so those thin sections should break when 216 lbs of force is applied axially. I didn't check the angle of the column, but let's say it's at 30* from level. So cosine 30* x 216 = 249.4 lbs. I weigh about 170 lbs, so that'll be 1.47G deceleration. Deceleration at severe collision is more like 10G, so it should break. Then I sandwitched the mount with two pairs of delrin washers, and replaced the factory nuts with nylocs and tightened them until they were snug. It should work, but I hope I'll never have to find out.


...Did you keep the in-dash ignition, or move to the switch on the column?...

Moved it to the column. One thing I wanted to add to the car was steering wheel lock.


...What is UHMW? (as in UHMW donut)

It's a type of nylon/plastic material. I used it b/c I had some laying around.