Thread: Which salvage steering column to use?

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VERY NICE !!!!

Did something similar in steel years ago before I got fat and lazy and wanted someone else to design it plus have tilt.

This pic gives you a general idea of clearances etc.

Nice part about using the full length stock GM steering shaft is the U-joints are at a fairly minimal angle.

Originally Posted by Irelands child

VERY NICE !!!!

Did something similar in steel years ago before I got fat and lazy and wanted someone else to design it plus have tilt.

I made a steel column for a 50 Ford coupe running a Rocket motor many years back.
Used a chrome plated scavenger pipe from the muffler shop.

Scavengers were a popular dual exhaust setup in the early 60's.
They were nothing more than a piece of 4' exhaust pipe belled on the end and tossed into the plating tank.
The pipe along with a bored out Moon aluminum column drop made a nice column for the coupe.

My pal has a tilt GM column in his 29 A roadster.
He needs it, not so much that he's roundly challenged, but because the seat is tilted and a little high in front imho.
Works well for him.

A lot of guys like/want tilt because the column proper drops through the floor at such a steep angle.
A more moderate angle will do it and unlike some setups I've seen you don't have to leave the wheel tilted just to have a good angle on the steering wheel.
May as well use the tilt for what it was designed for.
Entry and comfort after entry.

If a guy built the proper floor exit/retainment device for the colum, it wouldn't be too difficult to set a non-tilt column and wheel up so it could swing to the right on entry then swing back and lock after you were in.

C9X, as usual you show excellent superb craftsmanship (although I wonder how you handled the turn signals?) and I really appreciate seeing the early picture of the angle of your column with the Buick engine. If you look at my recent picture on the "Everybody Building...." thread you can see the mess I have. According to the angle you show above I could/should cut the hole in the vertical part of the firewall rather than in the floor and in my case cutting theough the floor conflicts with the master cylinder and the steel plate along the inside of the body any way. For the surface above the floor my Bebops firewall has the engine indent right where I want to mount the column. So what I am asking is for a picture of where your beautiful column goes through the firewall from the inside. Since I have a non-tilt column I am very interested in the entry point and the angle you are using. The problem with a test hole is that to use a hole saw on the next step I have to have material left in position for the center drill to hold the saw in position. Pardon me for worrying over this too much, but once I cut that hole it will be tricky to change it.

Don Shillady

C9X, I can submit the same picture to this thread but it should be enough to take a look at the "Everybody Building ....." thread.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Here's a pic of where the steering column goes through the floor.
I have yet to weld in a flat piece so an aluminum trim ring can be installed.

The column raises up at the floor level 3/4" - 1" over what the pic shows when it gets tied to the floor.

Does that help . . . or would a different view be better?

Originally Posted by DennyW

C9X, I really like the connecting rod drop. I was thinking about using the same thing in mine.

I've found aluminum con-rods at March Meet and California Hot Rod Reunion for $5.00 each.
They're seconds, blems, failed inspection pieces and a couple were water damaged from rain, but it was only a discoloration and they cleaned up nice.

The one in the pic hadn't made it through all the steps and didn't have a wrist pin hole bored.
The rods are forged with a fairly tall area so as to accomodate differing wrist pin heights.
After that, the tops are milled down for inside the piston clearance.
Anyway, long story just to say that fitting a con-rod without wrist pin hole took two 3/8" holes drilled vertically so as to bolt to the cross bar plate.
Said plate being drilled for several holes so I have the option of moving the steering column left or right - as I've done once already.

A finished aluminum con-rod takes a little more adapting, but it ain't difficult.

What you will want to pay attention to is the rod journal bore.
You may luck out and get one that fits your column OD.
I did once and used a beer can shim - best part was preparing the shim for use.

The rod in the 31 has a 2 1/2" journal bore and there is a separate adapter piece that slides - just barely, it's a close fit - over the column OD and the rod clamps the adapter in place fairly well.
Said adapter may get JB Welded to the column later on.

I've also used aluminum con-rods as tailpipe hangers and have a couple saved out for that.

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

(I wonder how you handled the turn signals?)
Don Shillady

Turn signals are on a small aluminum powder coated black panel just to the right of the steering column.
Not seen in pics of the 31, but here's a pic of the same setup in my 32.
The button in the middle is an old style Ford starter button - available at NAPA in single or double terminal NO.
On either side of that is a pair of 3PDT switches oriented horizontally and wired to operate the turn signals.
Works pretty well and the dash pilot lights are fairly bright even though small so the turn signal seldom gets left on.
Turn both switches outward and you have emergency flashers.

Right now I have them wired to an ignition switch controlled source, but they'd be better if wired to an always hot terminal.
Not too wild about leaving the key in the igniton just to make the emergency flasher work.

You can just see the horn/turn signal panel to the right of the column drop above the steering wheel hub.

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

the early picture of the angle of your column with the Buick engine. If you look at my recent picture on the "Everybody Building...." thread you can see the mess I have. According to the angle you show above I could/should cut the hole in the vertical part of the firewall rather than in the floor and in my case cutting theough the floor conflicts with the master cylinder and the steel plate along the inside of the body any way. For the surface above the floor my Bebops firewall has the engine indent right where I want to mount the column. So what I am asking is for a picture of where your beautiful column goes through the firewall from the inside. Since I have a non-tilt column I am very interested in the entry point and the angle you are using. The problem with a test hole is that to use a hole saw on the next step I have to have material left in position for the center drill to hold the saw in position. Pardon me for worrying over this too much, but once I cut that hole it will be tricky to change it.

Don Shillady

Since you're dealing with a glass body, if you miss on the exit hole, it's not hard to glass the knockout back in, add a layer or two of glass and drill again.

Same deal with steel . . . after the cussing get out the old welder.

I took a look at the posts you mentioned.

Seems like you're on the right track.
And you have clearance for the already installed header as well . . . that's good.
I built the headers on the 32 from scratch and they're built around the lower part of the column on that car.
The 31 will be a little easier, but there still has to be a special pipe built around #7 (last one to the rear on the left) to clear the column.

As a small aside, the 32 doesn't have a while lot of clearance between #7 cylinder and pipe, but the heat doesn't seem to have affected the Borgeson U-joint any.
44,000 miles down the road with about 30,000 on the Borgeson joint.
(The Deuce Factory U-joints I originally installed developed play not too far down the road.)

Take a look at the pic of my 32's steering column.
Brake pedal placement can be moved transversely due to use of a Deuce Factory bracket and arm (53 Ford brake pedal and pad) by making a new spacer - or pair of them depending on where the arm ends up.

The column goes through the 32 firewall in about the same place the 31 does.

The size 10 shoe to give you an idea of how footroom goes.
although . . . the shoe is sitting up too high on the Gennie Shifter spoon pedal.
I'm 6' with a 32" inseam and if you look at the carpets dirty spots you can see that my foot goes further down the pedal as well as the foot is cocked a bit.

The trans tunnel in the 32 is a little higher than most cars, part of that was so I can wedge my foot against the trans tunnel when it's on the throttle pedal.
Looks like you will have the same advantage vis a vis foot placement.

The brake pedal may look a little close to some.
Part of that is the angle of the pic and the other part is I'm a left foot braker.
Others drive the car and have no problems doing the right brake-foot bit.

C9X, Excellent response on a Friday morning! I was just out in the garage measuring more and making white-pen-paint marks while working up to a possible hole saw event after lunch. Thanks much for the first picture of your floor. My straight column will be close to where you have yours although I think the Bebops indent in the firewall is a little deeper than your metal firewall. If (?) I get the hole in the right place I will have to play around with the depth of the column insertion as to whether I have to make my own drop or use a commercial one. The welded plate you show is outstanding but I am without a welder and it is essentially impossible to drill holes in the front cross bar under my cowl although I did have some success with a right-angle drill adapter. I will either make my own drop bars on either side of the column to the front edge of the dash or use a column drop. For DennyW, I had a chat with a guy who mfgrs. a fake con-rod drop as shown in

http://www.jbmicrofinish.com/catalog_6.html

(fourth picture down the page).

They will machine the con-rod-drop to any inner i.d. you spec. and you can have two notches, one notch or no notch, and the price is about $70 which is tempting to me since most of my career I merely made sketches and sent them to the machine shop rather than doing my own machining. C9X, that is amazing craftsmanship and thanks for the quick response.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

C9X, Excellent response on a Friday morning! I was just out in the garage measuring more and making white-pen-paint marks while working up to a possible hole saw event after lunch. Thanks much for the first picture of your floor. My straight column will be close to where you have yours although I think the Bebops indent in the firewall is a little deeper than your metal firewall.
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Not a problem, the new doxie pup drags me out at 0500 most mornings.

Me too on making the marks and sometimes thinking about it overnight.
It's a hobby and a lot of people forget that in their striving to get it on the road as soon as they can.

My (31 Brookville body) firewall is recessed 4" so that's why the difference.

Nuff for now, lunch is over and time to head out to the garage and finish the battery box....

Hi , I use a mid. to late 80's GM front-wheel drive column with tilt and a floor shifter. This is in my 30 coupe. I have MII style front-end with shorter upper a-arms. I have 3 u-joints and 1 heim joint to a Flamming River rack, it steers great! P.S I got a muffler pipe expanded to fit the bottom of the column and cut and welded it to the firewall. Davee

Well I still haven't cut that hole. My '83 Camaro column measures 33" from the tip of the 1"D to the rim where the wheel is and had a sheet metal flange welded to the bottom end. I used a body grinder to smooth off the weld on the column but it still looks rough with two small ventilation vents and a wire clip around the snout end, to hold in the bearing I guess? Anyway I am still flirting with the idea of using an Ididit tilt version to get a smooth tube along with the tilt. Another problem (besides all the rough stuff along the column) is the plastic collar which prevents a column drop. In the meantime I note that Speedway has a 5" drop for '32 dash boards with a swivel and that would solve the problem of the upward sweep of the '32 style dash. I wish you guys would settle the length for a model A whether 30" or 32" because I need to make that choice if I buy an Ididit column. At this point I would favor 32" just to get the tip of the column down a little lower and the Ididit tip is clean enough to show. If anybody knows, I would appreciate comments on the length for a Model A, assuming the 5" drop for a '32 dash.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

Well I still haven't cut that hole. sweep of the '32 style dash. I wish you guys would settle the length for a model A whether 30" or 32" because I need to make that choice if I buy an Ididit column. At this point I would favor 32" just to get the tip of the column down a little lower and the Ididit tip is clean enough to show. If anybody knows, I would appreciate comments on the length for a Model A, assuming the 5" drop for a '32 dash.

Don,
Give ididit a call Monday - my 31 has a 32" from tip to tip and I am using their 6.5" drop with a Brookville '32 dash with reinforcing in the back - see C9's post in shop talk. It is masked for paint tomorrow. Photo was just taken about 10 minutes ago. Add an adapter and wheel and it will be about 3 inches longer, mas o menos. Wish it looked as good as C9's but not enough tooling.
Dave

Thanks IC, A picture is much better than words. The way I was measuring that would look like 30" from D-tip to wheel collar, maybe that is how the other folks are measuring? It would seem that if C9X used a 37" rod inside his neat custom column that is why he shows so much of the column tip in the engine bay, but it is beautiful. On the other hand my 33" column would be 35" by your way of measuring and it looks to me that I might run into the back edge of my block. I can't move the column toward the edge of the cowl because of the firewall indent. Sorry to worry over this so much but Bob's comment about the wart on a beautiful woman is true in this case where the column is visible in the engine compartment. Thanks for the picture.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder