How to rebuild an automatic steering column - Completed

[tbone6]

Good write up, keep em coming...

[sargentrs]

Thanks tbone! Ordered my parts yesterday, upper/lower column bearings and retainers, lower column bearing seal, shift indicator and needle, column to floor boot, shift lever rubber bushings, turn signal lever and shift collar (thanks flyboy!). While I'm waiting on my parts to come in, I did a little preliminary prep on the parts. Degreased and shot some Rust Encapsulator on the bottom and top of the steering shaft, lower shift lever, upper and lower springs, NSS location and needle on the shift tube and the shift lever location on the bottom of the housing. Also lightly wire brushed my shift handle (tiny bit of chrome peeling at the base) and sprayed it with some clear coat. Tomorrow I'll spray the areas I coated with Rust Encapsulator some high gloss black. The rest of the shift tube and steering shaft I'll coat with a light film of grease and the column housing gets primed and sealed to paint color.

[tbone6]

I have the bearings and all the sundry parts needed to rebuild my "3 on the tree" column, just waiting for a better/more time to yank it. I think maybe this fall.

[sargentrs]

You'll be glad you did, tbone. I rebuilt mine about 5 years ago. She was hanging up bad between 1st and 2nd. After the rebuild she shifted smooth and easy. So yesterday, after I got home from work, I shot the gloss black over the Rust Encapsulator. I wasn't happy with how the shift lever came out with the clear coat. Thinking about having it rechromed. Anybody know anywhere to have it done cheap?

[tbone6]

There must be somebody in the Atlanta vicinity that could do your chrome. I would think if you talk nice to em they could drop it in the tank with a bigger part? Have you thought about powder coat for it? I moved my shifter to the floor, so the shifting in my truck is okay, I am rebuilding the column due to the upper bearings being shot, and the turn signal cam not deactivating the right hand turn signal unless I lift up on the wheel while coming out of a right turn, makes for a comical sight, what with trying to hit 2nd gear and all, just to make sure my blinker turns off on its own

p.s. looks like a nice spray booth!

[sargentrs]

Thanks tbone! Haven't started calling chromers yet but will soon. Wanna get it done before I put everything back together 'cause I'm not comfortable installing it after the fact . I just bought a new chromed turn signal lever so I think powder coating would look funky. I built that booth the first winter after I started my project. I couldn't stand the thought of waiting 5 months to paint parts. A friend gave me a 1200 cfm HVAC blower so I ran an 8" duct to a wall vent in the basement, stuck portable heater in there and painted all winter. Doubles as a blast booth too.

[sargentrs]

Ready for reassembly. Two coats of primer and 2 coats of white epoxy sealer. Heat shrink tubing around the wiring harness.

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We'll start with reinstalling the lower column bearing at the bottom of the column housing. I got my parts from Carolina Classics http://www.carolina-classics.com/Result ... mit=Search Here's the column bearing and the receptacle it sits in.

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While a press is preferable, I don't have one so I turned it upside down and placed a small block of flat bar on top then tapped it in with a hammer.

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[sargentrs]

Lower column bearing installed.

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Now to install the upper column bearing in the tube flange in a similar manner. BE CAREFUL! The tube flange is just cast pot metal and will break easily. Be sure and block up under it to support the bearing surface so you don't break the turn signal boss. A 2x4 block fits perfectly.

[sargentrs]

Upper column bearing installed.

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Now comes the fun part. The shift tube has an emboss spotwelded on the end which inserts into a corresponding slot on the shift lever.

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The spring on the bottom of the shift tube maintains the compression between the shift collar and the shifter linkage lever on the bottom. Make sure the shift tube spring is in place, I used some bearing grease, and slide the shift tube into the column housing.

[sargentrs]

Insert the shifter linkage lever into the end of the column housing.

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I installed a new shifter insulator

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and reinstalled the shifter into the shift collar and tapped the drive pin in place. Now slide the shift collar over the top end of the column housing and center the shift tube into the bottom of the shift collar, mating up the emboss on the tube to the slot in the collar. You have to press down on the shift collar to compress the spring on the shift tube and line the bottom emboss with the slot in the shift linkage lever. It's a little aggravating but not too difficult. Stick a finger in the bottom end of the column housing and feel/find the bottom of the shift tube and line them up so the bottom of the shift tube will slide into the lever. Here's a trick I figured out to help things go easier from this point forward. When you have them lined up, set the bottom of the housing on the floor and stand the column up, holding pressure on the shift collar. Get a piece of rope about 3' long and tie a slip knot on one end and a loop about a foot above that (You'll want to have this ready beforehand). Loop the slip knot over the bottom lever and throw the rope over the shifter and run the end through the loop you tied. As you hold pressure down on the shift collar, rotate it until you feel it drop into the slot in the lever and press down. Now tighten up on the rope and tie it off. This will keep it all held together while you install the tube flange.

[sargentrs]

Now to slide in the wiring harness and install the tube flange. You'll recall I had to remove the pins from the harness plug so I could pull the wiring out of the trough on the inside of the column. Look down inside the shift collar and you will see the top slot of that trough.

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Slide the turn signal wiring harness through the small square hole in the tube flange.

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and push the wiring down through that slot in the housing and out the bottom.

[sargentrs]

The tube flange is held in place by 2 square head bolts that just "sit" in opposing slots in the top of the column housing. Here's the slots

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You're supposed to just put a glob of bearing grease on the head of those bolts and stick the heads into the slots. After 3 or 4 aggravating attempts, I wound up holding them in with silicone.

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Before installing the tube flange, I put my new shift indicators in.

[tbone6]

Ahhh, ingenuity at its finest!

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[sargentrs]

Thanks, tbone! Got the needle dropped in too.

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Now slide the tube flange down over the wiring and center the bolt holes over those bolts.

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Have the nuts ready to start threading them on.
Tighten the nuts down good and snug.

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Don't overtorque or you can crack the tube flange. If you have an automatic, you may need to lift up on the shift lever so the tab on the end of it will drop into the bracket on the back side of the tube flange. Now you can release the rope and the shift collar will spring back up under the tube flange leaving about 1/16" gap.

[sargentrs]

Now pull down on the wiring harness, line up the bottom "pin" of the turn signal into the big hole in the tube flange and seat the turn signal switch over the 3 mounting holes. Place the retainer over the plastic ring and screw it down snugly with the 3 screws.

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Slide on the inner firewall mounting plate (made my own) and the rubber firewall boot. You won't be able to get these on after you install the steering shaft.

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Now to install the steering shaft. I replaced my lower seal but reused the column bearing retainer. Slide the seal on, metal washer side down and slide the column bearing retainer on.