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Yes, the 'black' u-shaped bracket w/the red bushings in my pic is a Spohn Perf set-up. The other one is for a Toyota 4x4 from Tera Flex Suspension. The Spohn part is spec for F or G-body GM cars & is a direct bolt-in. It also fits where standard bushing-style end-links are intended like the aftermarket C10 bars/arms.

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Just a thought...you ought to paint the actual arms too look like your wood mock up parts. That will get people to scratch their heads...

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LoL...

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If that U-shaped bracket was mounted horizontally instead of vertical, ie. like the side of the a-Arm. Would it hold?

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It's a 5/8" bolt so whatever the yield strength is for that from a sheer perspective. I would imagine it would be fine since it's just a sway-bar link (if there was a failure it would not be catastrophic in operational nature). The hardware that retains/locates the heim is 3/8".

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There were a couple of different head-scratching moments but the column length reduction has begun.....

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I've got an OE '66 automatic column that I plan to shorten for my '65. Wish I had tilt too, but this will work for now. Let me know if you learn any pointers or don't do this type info that will help with the process...

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I'll post up the info as I trudge along. I had to get a fresh battery for my caliper today as it kept dying last night when I was documenting dimensions which halted things. I plan to cut things down tonight so I wanted all my data recorded for reference needs.

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That is why I keep a dial caliper around, if the battery dies on my digital, I can keep on going...:lol:

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I had one @ one point but kept it @ work. Apparently someone borrowed it one day & I'm waiting for its return :rolleyes:

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I'll just leave these while I'm here....

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Love watching your build. It is like a machinist class online at times, then an engineering class, and ..... You are one amazing builder. There are a couple of you on the site that are awesome to learn from. Thank you!

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I'm no different than guys like you. I try to be precise as we all should (you know, a job worth doing is worth doing well). It's mostly just passing along info that hopefully helps someone in the future. Some of it is regarding my thought process when working on something & some of it is how I went about the actual work.

Thank you for your contributions as well.

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Played around until the wee hours. Connected but I don't think the angles will play nice. Prob going to need to trim @ least another 1-2" off to get a better angle @ the top u-joint.

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One option might be to get a High Angle U-Joint such as this: http://www.borgeson.com/xcart/product.php?productid=425

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Yes.... One of those was my first thought. But, as I understand that would require a mid-mount/shaft bearing which would start cramping & complicating things.

I used one of the steel joints I've had on a shelf & drilled the splines out to get it to that point in that last image. I'm going to try & determine the angles & will go from there. Borgeson states up to 35° working angles but my understanding is they need to be under 30° for a normal life.

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Watching closely as I always learn something from your build. Looking at the pictures, is there 2" there to remove without getting into the shift linkage and/or the firewall mount?

Rick

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Yes & no. I gave myself room to trim (easier to remove more vs add some back on). I made the initial cuts, did a quick temp assembly, & mounted it in place loosely. In order to put things where I could make the connections, it was easy enough to push the column slightly into the cab & pull it back out.

I have probably ~1" material that could be cut from both sides of the firewall w/o issue. The engine compartment side would possibly also require slimming the firewall bracket slightly as well.

Trimming that much total would put the column 'cone' less than a fingertips width gap from the dash & likely shorten the engine compartment side to the point of the shifter arm opening being immediately after the firewall bracket.

I put a plastic angle template against it last night. It's more than 30° so the column will need to be shorter (which should decrease the angle @ the shaft/joint) or option 'B' (having to add the 3rd joint/adding complexity).

My dilemma is, the shorter the column end = the better the angle @ the joint. But, moving the shaft over for the better angle is going to start getting closer than I want to the collector flange of the already built exhaust. I built the exhaust after confirming a PBDM/SBC was done w/the 2-joint combo on my buddys truck/s w/o issue. It was tight, but it cleared. I've been in contact w/him for more info. He used different u-joints (UniSteer vs. Borgeson) & his trucks were 68's so slightly different & he didn't shorten his 67-72 tilt columns (he said he didn't need to):

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Another long day/night....

I pulled the column, disassembled, cut the tack welds apart, & then chopped another inch off.
Re-tacked the outer housing back together & same to the shift tube.
Assembled/aligned the two tubes & slid the steering shaft in place.

I bolted the assembly back into the truck. This is now as short as it can get w/o getting creative @ the lower/firewall mount. I have ideas for that but not until I could get past verifying the angle @ the joints.

The column can't get closer to the dash; it's maxxed out w/o making contact.
The open slot for the shift tube rotation is right @ the edge of the firewall mounting bracket. I'll need a steering shaft @ least 1" longer but it appears the additional cut was a positive adjustment.

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The angle looks better joint-to-joint. Not by much, but better regardless.
It actually wound up centering the shaft between the manifold flange & the C/O bracket upright (it was touching the rear upright of the C/O bracket).

I grabbed my angle template, centered it on the column housing, & adjusted the arm to align it as close as possible to the shaft. I checked the angle & it's close enough to 30° that it should work w/o bind.....

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Scotti, nice work glad the angle line up for you. The only way that I see you would be able to move it any more would be to recess the firewall at the mounting area. I would hate to open that can of worms. I may have missed it in the thread, what's the finish on your Ram head manifolds?

Rick

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There is probably 2-3" between the shift arm & firewall so it could be shortened more @ the cost of more mods (the shift tube arm can be stepped as needed). I'll get some additional parts in & validate the 'no-bind' first. If good, I'll call it done. If not, chop.... chop.

The manifolds are ceramic coated inside/out. The top coat I recall was 'titanium'. It has a satin, cast appearance. I had the headers on my dually done w/the same stuff & it wears well. I have 6yrs/7500miles on the headers & they still look decent. The collectors are the worst as they see the harsh conditions (water/grime/road debris) but still better vs a painted header.

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Just a note. Having the column that close to the dash. Do you plan to run the rubber boot that fills the gaps around the column and gauge bezel? It won't fit very well if so. Mine is similar with my 2" shorter column and that boot/gasket hits the thicker part of column and gets pushed out so it doesn't fit well.

.

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Not sure if there was a 'boot' for the earlier trucks. My 3spd didn't have anything. I was probably only putting a u-shaped seal @ max but like mentioned in my prior post I can still shift the column slightly toward the driver as needed.

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I don't believe there was any sort of seal between the column and the dash on the 60-66 trucks. There's not one on my 63, and it doesn't seem like there ever was one

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Shoot, yeah I forgot your year of truck. My bad.

.

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Not going to lie.... I assumed they didn't have anything since mine didn't. BUT, I never actually researched what the automatics might have came with. I wasn't going to use anything but after wrestling the column in/out probably a dozen times by myself I managed to scratch/scuff the u-shaped opening when it slid down too far against the dash while adjusting things on the engine compartment side. So, I have to touch-up the paint or hide the damage. Sometimes hiding damage in plain site is easier (It's not what you know; it's what you see....).

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Your out of your analytical mind, mate ! Clean work, no surprise. Im still way ahead of you, bess step up those hours. :smoke:

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This seems appropriate. I'm never in a rush to get things done it seems as I don't care for the pressure of deadlines. My my budget being fairly low doesn't help the speed of things either.

With the holidays, we still haven't gotten the sway bar arms done. Yes, I can do them by hand but I prefer the accuracy of machining for stuff like this if/when possible.

I also reached out to a board member for steering column parts sources to obtain some rebuild parts. Again, holidays slowed that as well. Hopefully the next week or two will be productive.

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Slow progress....

Got the steering shaft machined for the DD joint. I'll do one more test fit of the partially assembled column/housing this weekend before finishing the rebuild.

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Nice work scoti..

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SCOTI what was the advantage of machining round stock for your dd fittings over using production dd shaft material?

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Never mind.
I see yours is splined on the top end.

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Correct. It's the original main shaft for a tilt column.

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Column housing and shift tube welded up....

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THIS JUST IN.......

Literally. The rebuilt column from 70shortfleet arrived yesterday & looks new. Les was very easy to work with & collaboration of parts ideas flowed easily.

I can say I was always comfortable throughout the process as questions about certain parts or methods were discussed so we were regularly on the same page on the process & progress. Communication & value was great. I definitely won't hesitate to reach out to him again for my RetroRod project if it ever restarts (starts?) :rolleyes:

A few images as it arrived. Note how the packaging is reinforced w/wood & the column itself is locked in place. Very nice.....

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Goodness, that thing looks awesome! I have missed seeing your posts on the build.

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Sent this off for rebuild & worked on some other stuff while it was gone.

Full drivetrain in the '29 Tudor (built/balanced/cammed 4-banger; 4spd conversion; rebuild rear end). It's the full/legit patina ride that got the most attention.
4spd swap & rear end inspection for the '31 Coupe.
Full drivetrain re-fresh in the '30 Cabriolet (hone, re-gasket, & rattle can rebuilt 4-banger w/a better head; rebuilt 3spd, Mitchel OD unit, rebuilt rear end).

I helped w/the '31 Coupe motor re-fresh in Nov. 2020. The other two were non-running. Neither had been on the road for years. We started thrashing 2nd week of May. All 3 cars were running/driving on June 10th for a club touring event in East Texas/Longview area.

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Those last two pictures are at the Kilgore College Campus. I drive by that lot every day. Where you there for the meet? the 10th was a Thursday, so I would have been at work...Wish I could have come out to look them over!

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Yes sir. We got discounted admission to the Oil Museum so we checked it out. The few times I've went out there I was never able to check out the museum. The Tour was Thursday - Saturday night. The 'Welcome Party' & ending event/dinner was @ www.wyldeacres.com event venue.

My buddies do these tours w/family & friends. This was my inaugural event :lol:

About 100 registrations/200 people signed up for this 58th Annual Texas Tour (60+ Model A's). It was different vs. what I'm used to as far as attending shows but it was a cool thing to participate in. I didn't care for the last minute thrash getting the Cabriolet going (it wasn't started until 11:15pm on 6/9/21. We were scheduled to depart @ around lunch time 6/10. No pressure. Wound up trailering the Cabby since it had a valvetrain noise on the fresh lifters but the other 2 drove the entire trip w/only the '29 experiencing 2 small issues that we overcame on the shoulder (1st one in Forney TX vapor lock issue; the 2nd/3rd stops were near Wills Point for a loose crank pulley).

The '31 Coupe just returned from another event in Colorado. The truck pulling it on a trailer broke down outside of Dalhart TX. He unloaded the Coupe & drove home to DFW some 450ish miles in a straight shot stopping only to refill gas & water. It's driven over 1k miles since 6/9/21.

The first two pics below were around 930pm Wed 6/9. We just got the rear end back in place so we could roll it outside & turn it around to stab the motor & trans.