Frankenstein Steering Column Assistance

[MadMike]

Helping my neighbor out with his truck, hoping for a little clarification on what the steering column might be from, or if it is cobbled together.

To give you an idea of what I'm dealing with.
'70 F250 'Heavy Duty', 'Sport Custom'(glove box), LWB, 2WD, A/T, P/S, P/B, originally a 360FE.
Now has a ~'76 460, Holley 600cfm, Dana Speed-O-Stat, and aftermarket(unknown conversion) A/C(R134a) with a Sanden compressor, and plenty of excess wiring from radios/CBs/Camper/trailer. A.K.A. a mess under the dash. These changes were done decades before the current owner purchased the truck a couple years ago.

Initially I thought the column may have been a replacement from a later year truck, but now I suspect only the signal/switch/hazard plate was replaced with a later unit as the it may have been hard/difficult/$$$ to find a proper '70 replacement switch. Someone has been inside this column before.

Story time;

Steering column was sloppy when I first worked on the truck(FWIW I'm familiar with rebuilding '80s GM Saginaw columns) the steering wheel was loose and upside down(appears to be 48-1152 steering wheel from LMC(http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fb/865w/0085.jpg)), signal switch appears to be from a mid 70's truck, it looks like ...
'D4**' casting number on signal plate. Gear selector bowl and other components were loose/sloppy. Shift gate was loose and mangled, screw holes for shift gate are stripped/oblong, loose shift gate plate screws were inside the shifter handle hinge area causing crunchy/difficult gear shift and hard to actually place the truck into Park proper. Wire circlips to locate upper bearing were down in the shifter bowl area. The 12 O'clock/ 6 O'clock nuts/square head bolts were not attached to the main column shaft. Shifter bowl appears to be spring loaded, it pushes up the column shaft and rubs the mid(signal) plate when shifting gears. Due to time frame(truck is used semi-daily) I was not able to remove the signal switch wiring and shifter bowl to investigate what may be causing the bowl to be pushed up. The spring under the steering wheel/above the upper bearing...

... is missing.
Is it possible someone placed the upper spring below the shifter bowl? I can't think of any reason why the shift bowl is spring loaded so much. I know there is a spring on the shifter tube shaft, but I cannot see why it would be pushing up into the signal/midplate. This causes the shift bowl to rub against the mid/signal plate. And the steering wheel adapter and cover rubs against the top of the mid/signal plate. When I reinstalled everything I did place the lower and upper circlips to properly retain the upper bearing for the mid/signal plate. Makes the steering much better, wheel rotates on a single axis, not all over the place.

Reverse lights currently do not function, there was apiece of homemade bracket installed on the column making a racket. I suspect whomever put it there tried to mimic the original NSS switch bracket.


My questions are;
1. Can a mid 70's mid/signal plate be installed onto an earlier column? '67-72 Columns look very similar to the '73-77 units, save for the Hazard switch. If so, is there a difference in thickness, causing the rubbing issue?
2. Should the shifter bowl be spring loaded and forcing itself up the column into the mid/signal plate? Or is this most likely the missing upper spring somehow fell below the bowl and is adding additional spring pressure? Or a missing bushing between shift bowl and signal plate?
3. Is there any stop to prevent the steering wheel from being pushed too far on? Or is this a problem with the wrong mid/signal plate?
4. Anyone use the LMC 3 spoke steering wheel? Is the pot metal adapter made wrong for the trucks allowing it to rub the mid plate, or just too soft and easily deformed?
5. Is there anywhere on the column stamped what year or casting year the column may be from originally? I crawled under the dash a bit but did not see anything.

I hope someone familiar with knocking these columns apart can give me some insight on to what I have or what it might be, or what is banjaxed.

Thanks for any and all help.

[69Ford]

Most things to me look correct for a 1970 column "chrome shift lever and blinker lever" Did it have the 3 spoke steering wheel 1970 last year for this. What doesn't look right is the funky looking hazard switch and blinker cancellation setup and wiring. I don't think any of the bump's had the hazard switch on the column. A one point for sure after 1969 it went from the glovebox to the dashboard. Is there a hazard switch in either of these positions. Search this site there are some good posts as to how these column's go together. If I find them I will post a link.

Steering Column (3)4.JPG

Here's a pic of two 1969 column's I restored.

[69Ford]

Ok a bit confused is your first picture an example or is it the actual column in the truck.

[69Ford]

There is a spring in the lower column pushing up. In the upper part of the column there are two square head bolts, nuts. There are two slots on the column tube that the square part of the bolts has to grab onto acting as a stop. When you are rebuilding a column this is the hardest part as you have to put pressure on the lower spring at the same time as getting the bolts in the slots. My guess is someone did not get this right and put the column in anyway. The turn signal switch in your second pic looks right to me. Here's another pic.

DSCF1025.JPG

[MadMike]

Ok a bit confused is your first picture an example or is it the actual column in the truck.

Pictures are linked from Fordification How to rebuild an automatic steering column - Completed and the tech section on tilt and differences in later columns. I was not able to take pictures of the column I was working on due to time crunch to get the signal lights working and the steering wheel correctly bolted on. Owner just 'noted' that the steering wheel felt 'funny' so I investigated and found the cobbled together column. It was a hazard and required immediate attention. Found Fordification and am now trying to figure out what is actually in the truck. Thus, It can be fixed(or restored) properly.

If the column on the right is the correct A/T column for a '70, then the column in the truck(or at least the upper section) is from a later truck/Bronco that has the Hazard switch on the column('73-'77). Currently the Hazard switch on the column is non functional. Signals and horn do work, just not the Hazard switch on the column. After fixing/removing some of the previously mentioned 'wiring' the Emergency switch on the dash now activates the Hazard lights.

I'll use Steering Column, Gear & Wheel part #s to further describe what I am seeing on the column in the truck.

Shifter bowl is not the same as shown, 7228 is not in the truck. Shifter bowl in the truck has a slot and a plastic pointer that is lit up to show selected gear. Not the orange painted mohawk gear indicator seen in your picture.
7A216 shift gate was broken and loose in the column preventing proper gear shift selection. This was removed to prevent jamming.
*354728-S one screw was partially holding on the shift gate the other was jammed in the shifter spring 7293(?).
Above items removed to prevent jamming and allow the shifter to go into Park proper. NSS is in the 'Park' position and the ghetto fabulous homemade version of 7B097 fell out of the column never worked anyway, it just sat on top of the column. No reverse light functionality.

In the upper part of the column there are two square head bolts, nuts. There are two slots on the column tube that the square part of the bolts has to grab onto acting as a stop.

Yes, when removing the steering wheel the signal/mid plate were pushed up by the shift bowl.
3641/351754-S were originally loose and not properly attached to the column tube. This is fixed now, combined with the wire circlips properly locating the bearing on the steering shaft, the column is solid. However, the outer shifter bowl now grinds against the back side of the outer signal/mid plate 3511. I don't believe the bowl and plate should be rubbing against each other like this. Not only does it not feel smooth it sounds horrible. If the shift-gate was still functional, the operator would have to pull the shifter handle forward to unlock the shifter from the gate to rotate and select a gear. This added force causes even more grinding of the two ODs on the column. Should there be a bushing/spacer, possibly 7C228, that prevents the direct contact of the outer portion of the column, the paint on these edges is now gone. This cannot be the way the factory intended it to function.

Until I can find a diagram/exploded view of an AT 73-77 column it will be hard to properly determine what parts belong where.
I could see that the circlips(not shown in the holding the upper bearing '3517') might keep the mid plate up too high and grinding against the aftermarket steering wheel, but 3641/351754-S were already tightened down locating the signal/mid plate 3511 in the proper spot on the column tube. And there was no forcing 3839 on. This would also still not explain why the shifter bowl 7228 is grinding against 3511. 3518 was not on the column, and from the diagram it appears the upper spring 3520 is not used with A/T columns.

My current question is;
What is 3518 and what is it made of? Looks like a bearing retainer found on 80's GM Saginaw columns, but with the non tapered upper bearing and plate 3839, there would be no need for this. Or is it a steering wheel spacer to prevent over shooting the splines?

Can the upper components(shift bowl, mid/signal plate,) of a '73-'77 truck column be placed on a '65-'72 truck column and be made to 'work'?
It seems like everything does fit together but there are a few clearance issues due to slight differences of heights/lengths.

Are there any markings on the steering column tube itself? If so, where are they located? And, what should the numbers be expected to be found?

Did it have the 3 spoke steering wheel 1970 last year for this.

It does, but it is not a factory steering wheel. It appears to be the one sold through LMC and other retailers. Same as this...

Steering wheel hub is not integral to the wheel, it is a multipiece design with a soft pot metal hub, steel hub cover, steering wheel, and the multiple pieces that make up the horn button/horn button switch.

The pictures used in my OP are not the actual column, they were Fordification pics linked from the Signal and AT rebuild Stickies at the top of the forum. Used those as references to give an idea of what I was looking at, since at the time of repair I was only trying to fix/correct the slop and dangerous condition the column was in.

[Ranchero50]

Yep, '74 style column (hazard on column, no key switch). Looks for parts for one of those and you should be able to get it back in working condition.

[MadMike]

Looking through a few Bronco sites and came across this....



From Steering Column Rebuild - TIPS - 3 speed manual

Looking around a few more sites it seems only MT columns used the circlips around the upper bearing. Is this correct?