Thread: Which salvage steering column to use?

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Originally Posted by Don Shillady

Thanks IC, A picture is much better than words.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

We retired OF's just need a bit more convincing that something really does fit. Also, the fact that 300 bucks for an unpainted column plus a 50 dollar adapter and a 100 to 400 dollar steering wheel is a lot of money now - and it has to be right the first time.

Oh yeah, my favorite old Ford pickup columns that came out of trucks with a floor shift also don't have an ignition switch cobbling up the smooth appearance of the column.... No wiring in the column other then the horn and the directionals and no trash on the column, either. The wiring comes out way down on the bottom. I get them out of a local yard for about $30.00. Usually takes a light sanding with 400 sandpaper, a steering wheel, and adapter to make them hot rod ready. Like Uncle Bob, I prefer fabbing my own column drop then weld and mold it to the column.

To figure your column length, sit in the car and position the steering wheel where you want it and have someone measure the distance from the hub to the floor, then add a couple inches or whatever works best for your car to the overall length for it to protrude the floor...

Keep in mind that you can move the column to the left at the floor - if footroom etc. works out.

The column in my 31 is close to the inside of the left frame rail.
Works for me cuz the Buick's #7 header pipe needs the room.

Since I end up building my own headers, it's best for me to set up the steering column etc., get the erognomics where they are right and then build the headers.
In the case of a set of block huggers - provided they aren't finished - I wouldn't be bashful about modifying a primary pipe or three if that's what it took.

Getting back to the moving the column to the left, granted, it will leave the steering wheel not square to the dash, but it doesn't hurt.
My 32 is done that way and no one - spectator, passenger or driver - has ever commented that the steering wheel is off square.

Some stockers came from the factory with an offset steering column/wheel.
My 50 Plymouth coupe was that way.
Worse than either of the roadsters in fact.
It wasn't bothersome.

There are a lot of things we can do that aren't kosher to a lot of hot rodders, but many times the factories have already been down that road.
EG: my 32 engine is offset to the right 1" for header to steering shaft clearance . . . which wasn't really required once the dust settled.
Offset engines are an old factory trick.

Symmetry be good, but not always necessary....

Some very good points your brought up, C9. I know a lot of Ford and Merc's in the 60's thru 80's have the engine set to the right, I would imagine GM's are the same. Even somehow goofed on a race car or three and had the engine and tranny offset to the left a couple inches..... Must of been a measuring error......

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Some very good points your brought up, C9. I know a lot of Ford and Merc's in the 60's thru 80's have the engine set to the right, I would imagine GM's are the same. Even somehow goofed on a race car or three and had the engine and tranny offset to the left a couple inches..... Must of been a measuring error......

Yeah . . . it is kinda funny that one race car builder driver I knew, helped and crewed for made quite a few mistakes.
Seems like most of them made the car handle better.

Fwiw, a 50 Olds coupe at the old Bonelli Stadium racetrack in Saugus, California that was a top runner due to the driver/builder's skill in building as well as driving.

There's some history for you, not to mention the reason why 50 Olds coupes and sedans are seldom found nowadays.
The circle-burners used em up like they were going out of style.

Well thanks for a lot of help and it's not over yet. I bit the bullet and ordered a smooth column from Brookville, although they use a 34 1/2" column for both '29 and '32 roadsters. It is tilt and the cheapest I could find at $260. However it only has the eight wires coming out of the bottom of the cone and not a connector plug. The guy at Brookville said they hide the wires on the back of the column drop so I will have to set up a connection block somewhere under the dash. In the meantime while waiting for the column I will cut the hole about where C9x has his in the '31 and use my ugly stock Camaro column for mockup. This also means putting a starter key somewhere on the dash and loss of wheel lockout, but I really did not trust the welded cut off end of the shift lever which might accidently slip into "PARK" while driving if the weld ever broke off from vibration fatigue. In fact that reason is second only to the desire for tilt flexibility in going to the Brookville column. I am in the process of adapting a one-off 1/4" aluminum plate to cover the awful gash around the brake pedal, add strength to the column at the bottom and provide a mount for a left-foot dimmer switch. I am tired of using a column dimmer switch and really want the ability to dim the headlights without losing grip on the wheel when running into a bright light situation. Now I can have my foot switch! It's going to be ugly for a while but I will send a picture of the final setup.

Dave S., you asked for comments on the Merc body so here are a few. First, that may be a real money maker for you and the future has to be for more later model replicars to fit modern frames so that is really neat. I have no problem with the apprearance of the rear window, but I lived next door to a man who babied a '50 Merc for many years through several improvements and so the rear fenders look "naked" to me with the lights in the bumper. I do not know what tailights are best, but it looks funny to me without tailights higher up, just my opinion. Maybe '47 Ford tail light lenses blended/frenched in without the extensions would work, or even round Pontiac lights. On the other hand that can be the choice of the builder.

Daver, What are the rear turn signals on your Model A ( I still envy the professional job you have on your stainless brakelines!)

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

My plan is to build the body with no lights cut in. so many choices on what lights to use on the back of the Merc, just as soon let a customer pick his own spot.