[LH Lead-Foot]

The floor shift column in my 67 is original as it was pale blue under the dash. As with most vehicles that are 51+ years old, I had everything apart to fix, replace, lube or whatever to make it road worthy. I still have the same column but change the rag joint out and added P/S gear box and works fine. It doesn't have the original steering wheel, but is not a 17", but smaller thank god.

I don't know what you are doing for a P/S gear box, but there is OEM and short turn ratio's out there. Mine is like 4 1/4" from lock to lock. While quick ratio boxes are sold, they are expensive. They do reduce the elbow time during a turn.

If you are adding a saginaw P/S pump, a trick I used was to remove the pressure valve and drill the opening out a little bit. It came to me in the mid 90's as a kit for morning sickness on rack and pinion GM's. The used car manager gave it to me. It has a guide, drill bits and instructions. The high pressure hose attaches to the 1" nut in the pump. Un-screw that nut and the valve is inside it. I slides out and only has one hole in it. It does not increase pressure, only volume. This reduces the force used on the steering wheel on vehicles where there is no problem. It's like the one finger steering.

So gear box choice and ease of rotation force at the wheel. My elbows are shot after 30+ years in the shop & farm. I like the easier turning the trick provides, it does not hurt anything and can be reversed if needed. I know right where it is sitting in the drawer right above my micrometers.

The DOT drives most all changes like the second photo with the slider. Sometimes it is the manufacture of the column that comes up with improvements, but mostly the government.
The double "D"' shaft slides into a double "D" tube, held in place with injected plastic. It provides the ability to collapse if hit from the front. Later models use a wire cage and lower slider with longer travel. When with Delco as an instructor, engineers shown us a DOT book that was 5 inches thick of requirements for models years starting four years into the future. The 12 sections in the rule book drove all department nuts and this is why so many things change on newer vehicles, sold as making customers happy but driving the cost up by thousands.

So, new truck in 1967...Retails new $2,389 Now 2018, same basic truck starts at $44k without ash tray.