Quote:
Originally Posted by 70shortfleet
Ist, take the nut off with a wrench and run the correct die over the threads, it should clean up. after removing the nut take the horn contact off, it is upside down. The bent up housing can be straightend. It is thin metal and you should be able to tap it back into shape. It is on the bottom so once you mount the column and put the steering wheel on, you want even see that part that has been straightend
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Having been in a similar situation recently and consulting the oldest mechanic I know (ie: Vietnam tank repair guy turned classic car mechanic) he turned me onto a "thread file". You figure out the thread pitch and then repair the threads with the file. Mine was on a really flimsy AC condenser connection and I saved it... I was quite proud and ran out to buy my own file right away!
If you just run a die on it, it's kind of hit and miss whether you'll get onto the same thread path. That's why working with what remains of the existing threads helps. Get it close enough and then you can hand-start a die on the right thread.
The ideal solution would be to get one of those dies that comes in two parts. You then assembled around the good part of the threads and back it off. I don't have a set of dies like that but apparently they exist.
On the crushed part of the column, I don't know. You might get lucky in a vice, or at least enough to keep it completely functional. But I remember column heads looking like they were cast out of that white pot metal, which doesn't bend so well.
If you can remove that whole piece and heat it up in the oven to soften it up and then find some kind of metal cone to help reshape it, it'd probably work. Maybe over a paint can if you can find one with the right diameter? Not sure what to use.
All that said, if its an option, I'd look for my money back. The column I just bought came in a custom-made little wooden coffin. If it was just in a cardboard box with packing material I highly doubt the carrier (UPS or whatever) will honor a damage claim on it. And it would have to have been insured anyway, and you have to send them the item and the packaging to prove it was properly packed, etc.