Steering column restoration

[soonerbillz]

Though I'm confident on most all aspects in my Grande restoration..one item in particular is sketchy for me.

 Steering column restoration..

 Can ya'll give me your thoughts and wisdom?..

 Prefer to hand this off to a pro.. but want to learn as well..

 

[shaheenk]

The steering rack is quite a simple unit, depending on what you want to restore I cannot see this being too difficult.

 

[c9zx]

If you have the Ford manuals it isn't bad. A tilt column can be more challenging. Chuck

 

[soonerbillz]

Yes it is a tilt...

Since posting I talked to a few folks and they all indicate that it something I could most likely do my self... so I guess I give it a shot!

 

[mwilson7]

Yes it is a tilt...

Since posting I talked to a few folks and they all indicate that it something I could most likely do my self... so I guess I give it a shot!

Any update on this?  Did you attempt to tackle it and if so how did it turn out?

 

[soonerbillz]

Yes it is a tilt...

Since posting I talked to a few folks and they all indicate that it something I could most likely do my self... so I guess I give it a shot!

Any update on this?  Did you attempt to tackle it and if so how did it turn out?

No sir.. no attempt yet.

 I am in the process of getting my shop built before I start tearing it down and performing the repairs. In the meantime I am getting all the info I can in preparation to the restoration.. Hoping to actually be working on the car in earnest by late summer.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I think this is the scans of the Ford manual for the tilt. I did mine but did not have to replace the pins that wear out. I just took all apart cleaned applied the Lucas Red N Tacky grease to all the bearings and parts. Painted the visual parts and put back together. You can get the rag joint at about any parts house but the coupling for tilt is different than non tilt. Hope you got that with the column. Also the turn signal electrical is different. 71 & 72 column is same 73 has different electrical.

When I put mine back in had to adjust the ignition switch position and worked fine.

What causes issues with them is when people slam them up and down without holding the wheel and you break teeth off the little sector gear or slam the pins until they get loose. I think of of the best options to have on your mustang especially if you are tall like me.

Cheers,

David

IMG.pdf

IMG_0001.pdf

IMG_0002.pdf

IMG_0003.pdf

IMG_0004.pdf

IMG_0005.pdf

IMG_0006.pdf

IMG_0007.pdf

 

[soonerbillz]

I think this is the scans of the Ford manual for the tilt. I did mine but did not have to replace the pins that wear out. I just took all apart cleaned applied the Lucas Red N Tacky grease to all the bearings and parts. Painted the visual parts and put back together. You can get the rag joint at about any parts house but the coupling for tilt is different than non tilt. Hope you got that with the column. Also the turn signal electrical is different. 71 & 72 column is same 73 has different electrical.

When I put mine back in had to adjust the ignition switch position and worked fine.

What causes issues with them is when people slam them up and down without holding the wheel and you break teeth off the little sector gear or slam the pins until they get loose. I think of of the best options to have on your mustang especially if you are tall like me.

Cheers,

David

Thanks for the pages and info Dave..

 Those scans make the process seem pretty straight up and not so scary!

 

[NG8264723]

Goto West Coast Cougar they have a tutorial on it. They also send some parts that are upgrades to stop the problematic areas

 

[soonerbillz]

Thanks NG8264723 !

Those videos are excellent and I sure appreciate the info!

 

[NG8264723]

Mo roblem.

Don Rush is a great guy as well

 

[NG8264723]

I just made a post about this. Let me know when if you have specific questions. I did mine and it was a pain but it works awesome now

 

[mwilson7]

Where did you post? What was wrong with your column and which parts did you replace? I'd be interested to know what made it difficult, any special tools required? Any gotchas, if you were to do it again you'd do it differently, etc. Might be a great how to write up!

I'm thinking of tackling this either later this summer or maybe next fall. My column seems to have a lot of play in it.

 

[NG8264723]

https://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-tilt-column-rebuild--31612

The main thing is the clocking. The clocking is a pain to get right. I put the gear for the switch in the column and pulled the pin it interactgs with all the way up. I then slid the piece with the pawl over it. This is only removed if the pawl pin is slid off. If you are lucky the top pin is all you need to replac. IT becomes evident when you dissaseble the column. There are two pins a top heavy pin and a lower thinned one. West coast Cougar sells both pins. The only speciality tools you need is a punch set. Also a small snap ring remover