Thread: Chev tilt column in Model A

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C9x, very nice work but probably beyond my talent. I will stay with the non-tilt '82 Camaro column I have until/unless I can't make it work somehow. I note that the distance from the back of the steering wheel to the bulkhead/firewall bracket is almost exactly 27" and the column is about 32" total length. Brian, it is easy with the right tools to work on the column. First you need a simple two-bolt puller to pull the steering wheel using two tapped holes in the steering wheel under the horn button after simple removal of the single hexnut under the horn button. Then you should see a black plastic cover disk under the steering wheel and you really need a special tool which threads onto the column and has a U-shaped bar which presses down on the disk with a wingnut using the column threads to buck against. I rented that tool from AUTO ZONE. There is a ring clip in a groove on the column shaft which has to be pried out while the disk is pressed down against a rather strong spring; I used a needle-nose pliers and a small screwdriver blade to pry out the clip. Then the black plastic disk should come off the column. At this point I recommend you make a mark on the shaft splines where the next disk below the plastic disk is relative to the shaft splines, although the next part down is a steel disk with a set of u-shaped holes around the edge. After making that mark it should be easy to use your fingers and/or a small screwdriver to pry off the steel disk and the signal-return disk, both of which have a splined hole. Below that there are three small fine thread screws which hold the turn-signal plate in place, so remove them and remove the screw holding the turn signal arm. Note Brookville makes a kit for new chromed parts including the turn signal arm for about $30, but I just sprayed my rusty turn signal lever with aluminum spray paint and it looks pretty good. Then there is a single screw holding the flasher button and that has to be removed. Now all you have to do is wiggle the turn-signal plastic part out of the hole along with a multi-wire pigtail that slides between the outer sleeve and the column. If you buy a new turn signal mechanism ($26 at AUTO ZONE, my original was cracked at the pressure point and not likely to last long so I replaced it), it comes with a new pigtail of wires which easily slide down between the outer sleeve and the inner column. Finally there is a single threaded pin under the turn-signal mechanism in what would be the right hand side of the column and when you remove that the key cylinder will slide out. A new cylinder with two keys was $9.99 at AUTO ZONE. As I said the only problem for me is how to orient the signal-return disk upon reassembly. In principle it does not matter since you have to align the splines on the Vega box anyway and of course you can mount the steering wheel on the splines any way you like but if you want the "cancel" mechanism to be symmetric with respect to the straight position of the steering wheel, the return mechanism should be symmetric with respect to the straight-ahead orientation of the steering wheel. My new friend, John York, at York Replicars told me he has to "phase" the u-joints on the d-shaft, but I think it can be done just by arbitrary orientation on the Vega box splines and reorienting the steering wheel. On my non-tilt unit and without a column shifter it may be simpler than your column and I do not know what you will see when you try to remove the column shifter. In my case there is a plate between the signal-return disk and the outer black plastic disk which has a series of u-shaped cutouts around the edge and a tapered pin in the column which is spring loaded. When the lever at the base of the column is in a certain position (PARK?) and the key is in the LOCK position, the tapered pin will stick up through one of the holes on that plate which is also splined and prevent the whole unit from rotating. That is my dilemma, how to relate the position of that lever to the transmission somehow but I plan to discuss this with Lokar tech folks. Good luck.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder