Key won't turn, Wheel Locked, Should I pull wheel?

[dccarpenter]

Hiya,

Seems I have 99 problems and no answers with my truck recently....just converted my '84 c30 350sbc with a turbo 400 to a sm465..

Got the swap done and everything was working ok..(other than the transmission that I took the seller's word for was running great and found out had a 3rd gear that popped out but anyways.....) until this afternoon, I went to turn the igition to on to start the car and it won't turn. I looked under the dash at the column and the rod that's connected to the ignition works fine if I push it manually in. What has happened is that I turned my wheel so hard , repeatedly, that it locked itself in a way that the igntion cylinder is stuck. Do I need to pull the wheel off to free the column up? Will pulling the wheel free it up or are there other measures that need to be taken?

I know the lock cylinder is ok as it turns towards me to turn the radio etc..on.

As for why I was pulling the wheel so much, I had just gotten home with a new belt for the steering as the old one was going and had loosened and so it was squealing and was hard to turn when stopped, I was turning my wheels as I was parked on a hill and didn't want to roll (until I fix my ebrake...which is also now acting up). I guess I was turning it so hard I locked the ignition..at least that's what I gather from a google researching of this phenomenon.

[jchav62]

Try wiggling(turning) the steering wheel back and forth as you turn the key. Sounds like the like may be binding. This happens to me sometimes.

[dccarpenter]

Thanks a lot for the info, I got it working. Really appreciate the help from everyone here, scraped together the $ to register even!