Re: Project: Recycle
 

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

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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!

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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.

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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.

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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):

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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.

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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.....

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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.

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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....).

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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.

Re: Project: Recycle
 

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....