steering column replacemen t

[philB]

"69 c10 2 w/d sbc, have to replace the steering column, lower bearing gone and shaft is worn, want to use an aftermarket unit, lot of um on ebay but dont have a good knowleadge of this and will be changing to power steering also. The old steering from the rag joint up is ok but there is a coupling, grease seal inbetween the column shaft and gear box, and question is do I need this joint or can it be replaced with u-joints?