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Old 12-01-2010, 12:32 AM   #1
phantom4
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Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

I recently decided to replace the bearings in my 70 K10 non tilt column. While replacing the bearings I also decided to replace the turn signal switch and cam canceling unit as my turn cancel never worked.

Well I get it all back together and finished assembling the column and I now have two problems.

1) Canceling still is not working, I can hear the detents contacting the switch arm but overall it still does not release in either direction.

2) My pointer is now 10 degrees rotated counter clockwise from the point housing so none of my gears are lined up correctly. I also noticed my shift linkage was short, also indicating the shift arm had rotated away from the linkage.

I used the diagrams posted here for reference upon re-assembly and have not noticed anything binding so just wondering what I am missing???
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Old 12-03-2010, 05:57 PM   #2
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

anyone?
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Old 12-03-2010, 10:01 PM   #3
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

As for your turn signals not cancelling, the new switches have weak springs in them and are not strong enough to cancel. If you have your old ones put them in and see how that would work. I think it will fix that problem.
As for yout indicator, when you unbolted the switch it holds that part of the column together, losen the screws to the switch and turn the indicator to where it should line up. As for the shift linkage to short, I have no idea.
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Old 12-04-2010, 08:04 PM   #4
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Well it looks like the canceling cam is not riding deep enough to catch the springs. I will pull the wheel off and reset its depth.

Regarding the point, I understand you can adjust the gear display window, but you one would prefer to keep it aligned vertically.

I am still trying to figure out how the shifting shaft and its lower stop rotated counter clockwise 10+ degrees. This was the amount I had to adjust the shift linkage as well so it was not in the upper gear housing... seems something shifted.
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Old 12-04-2010, 08:23 PM   #5
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

You can adjust your pointer on the linkage just align your pointer to P and tighten the linkage.
Did you replace the little plastic bushing on the end of our shift lever? Mine was deteriorated.
Sounds like you need more preload on the spring down at the new bearing. There's a springs you need to put some tension on it to pull the steering wheel in some.


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Last edited by Sport/Truck; 12-04-2010 at 08:51 PM.
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Old 12-04-2010, 08:59 PM   #6
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Here's the spring I'm talking about. I don't have one after everything was painted and powder coated.
There's also a black rubber piece with a nylon bushing that could be in backwards or misaligned.
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Old 12-05-2010, 11:35 AM   #7
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

I found this article helpful when rebuilding mine.







Featured CarsTechnical ArticlesHow To GuideProject CarsCar EventsCar HistoryCar Videos & Video ClipsCar Wallpapers & Desktop ThemesCar CommunityThis Month & Desktop ThemesClassifiedsSubscribe to Car Craft MagazineSubscribeGive a Gift Digital EditionSubscriber Services Home»HowTo»How To Rebuild A GM Steering Column
How To Rebuild A GM Steering Column
Fixing The Broken Column In Our Chevelle Wasn't Hard With Help From Year One
From the February, 2009 issue of Car Craft
By Tony Nausieda
Photography by Tony Nausieda


Unbolting a Chevelle column... read full caption
Unbolting a Chevelle column is simple. From the interior side, you’ll need to remove two bolts on the plastic-finish panel, five more bolts on the firewall insulating plate, and two nuts that secure the column mast to the dashboard structure. Lift the hood and remove the nut and bolt from the output flange clamp and disconnect the linkage rod from the shift lever if your car is so equipped. Before you lift the column out of the car, remember to pull the column shift indicator cable off the shift collar and undo the wiring harness from the ignition and neutral safety switches.

Remove the steering wheel... read full caption
Remove the steering wheel with a puller; they don’t come off very easily if you try to yank on ’em. Once the wheel is off, remove the three screws that attach this stamped metal cover. Lift off the cover to reveal the lock plate.

The lock plate is retained... read full caption
The lock plate is retained at its center with a spring clip, but the plate itself is under spring tension. The easiest way to remove the lock plate is with this special Lock Plate Removal Tool (shown in a factory illustration). They’re available at parts stores, dealerships, or you can fabricate your own out of bar stock. Crank down on the lock plate and remove the spring clip. The lock plate will come off when you remove the tool. Remove the coil spring and horn contact.

Our turn-signal switch worked... read full caption
Our turn-signal switch worked intermittently, so we couldn’t wait to replace it with the new GM switch we got from Year One. Remove the screw that holds the turn-signal lever. You’ll need to remove three more screws that secure the switch itself; two are visible now (arrows), and the third is accessible if you place the switch in either turn position. After removing the screws, unscrew the Hazard switch on the side of the column and lift the turn-signal switch up and out of the way. A neat trick for getting the switch harness out smoothly is taping the harness plug tightly to the wires.

The two-prong contact switches... read full caption
The two-prong contact switches your ignition-key buzzer on and off. Lift the switch straight up (don’t lose the spring clip that’s attached to it). To remove the ignition-lock cylinder, turn the key to Lock, insert a thin tool into the circled slot to break the casting flash, and push down to release the spring latch on the cylinder. Pull the lock cylinder out of the column. Remove the bolts that hold the ignition switch to the lower column (not shown). Don’t forget to remove the washer that surrounds the steering shaft. Now remove the four bolts (arrows) and lift the entire housing out of the column.

Here’s what you’ll... read full caption
Here’s what you’ll find on the other side of the turn-signal housing. The rack activates the ignition switch when the ignition key is turned. Lift it out of the housing and remove its preload spring. The lock bolt is driven through the lock plate when the ignition key is turned to the Off position and keeps the steering wheel from turning. Remove it and its spring from the housing, then remove the two Phillips head screws that secure the shift gate. We degreased and re-lubed the gate before reinstalling it.

Survey the damage, folks.... read full caption
Survey the damage, folks. The sector gear (arrow) was so trashed that we couldn’t operate the ignition switch at all. We placed a small screwdriver on the flat surface of the gear, and tapped it off the metal shaft. Push the new gear on until you feel a positive “click.” The gear should turn freely when correctly installed. When you reassemble the column, make sure the big tooth on the sector gear aligns with the big slot on the rack.

Yuck—the lower gearshift... read full caption
Yuck—the lower gearshift housing bearing was trashed and was creating lots of play in the shift tube. After sanding and painting the turn-signal housing, shift collar, and column body with Eastwood’s Underhood Black, we installed a new GM gearshift housing bearing.

We’ve got a column-shifted... read full caption
We’ve got a column-shifted car, so we removed the shift lever by driving out the pin (arrow) from the bottom using a punch. Lift the shift collar up and off of the column. Remove the wave washer that sits underneath the shift collar. We already removed the steering shaft in this picture.

Here’s the lower end... read full caption
Here’s the lower end of the column that protrudes into the engine compartment. Pry off the retaining clip (arrow) with a screwdriver, and remove the metal cap (careful, it’s under light spring tension). Lift off the plastic bearing retainer (the bearing will come with it), and remove the spring. Our bearing was seized, so we pried it off and pressed on a new one. Remove the two screws that hold the neutral safety switch to the column and lift off the switch. Now you can take the shift tube out of the column body. We also removed the firewall insulation plate. It’s a two-piece design, so you’ll probably have to cut the foam insulation to remove it.

Installation is a reversal... read full caption
Installation is a reversal of disassembly (the exploded view helps), and it’s not a bad job if you haven’t lost any of the small parts. We lubed all the bearings and sliding surfaces with white grease before installing them for smooth operation.

Installing the ignition lock... read full caption
Installing the ignition lock is a little tricky. Insert the key partway into the lock cylinder so the locking tab (arrow) doesn’t protrude completely. Insert the whole assembly into the column and make sure the sector gear lines up with the lock’s position. Now push the lock cylinder all the way into the column. Push the key the rest of the way into the lock and rotate it in the column to make sure it functions properly.

Our shift-rod bushing was... read full caption
Our shift-rod bushing was trashed, so Year One came to our rescue yet again with a new part. We pried out the rotted stock bushing and installed the new one in its place.

The Chevelle’s ZZ502... read full caption
The Chevelle’s ZZ502 generates so much noise and heat that we figured we’d install new foam insulation at the firewall plate.

The new foam insulation isn’t... read full caption
The new foam insulation isn’t self- adhesive, so we sprayed the mating surfaces with 3M General Trim Adhesive. We bolted the firewall plates in place on the column, and maneuvered the foam pad over the shift lever and joined it with the firewall plates. Loosen the firewall-plate mounting screws a little, because you’ll have to adjust the location of the plate when you reinstall the column in the car.

The rebuilt column is now... read full caption
The rebuilt column is now the nicest part of the Chevelle’s interior. The new turn-signal lever is certainly a huge cosmetic improvement over our worn-out stocker and complements the new paint. Now we’ve just got to redo the rest of the dashboard…one of these days. CC
Having your street machine stolen is a stomach-wrenching experience. Through a desperately needed stroke of good luck, the police recovered our ’70 Chevelle. Of course, the model citizens who pilfered Cheap Street managed to mangle a few things on the car, so we’ve been repairing the damage over the last few weeks. They screwed up the steering column pretty badly, mostly from slide-hammering the ignition-lock cylinder. We can’t figure out why, because the keys were in the ignition when it was stolen. That means that the thieves were even dumber than we were for leaving the keys there in the first place.

After assessing the damage, we were pleased to find that the main steering collar and shift tube were left intact. Browsing through Year One’s Chevelle catalog yielded all the parts we needed to repair the mangled steering column and a few other things that needed rebuilding or replacing anyway. Our Chevelle is equipped with the standard non-tilt column used in most ’69-and-later GM cars, which proved to be surprisingly easy to rebuild. The cosmetic improvement alone was well worth the afternoon’s time spent disassembling and detailing the assembly. The only downside is the dramatic contrast it creates with the dingy dashboard and broken instrumentation. We’ll remedy that soon enough, but in the meantime check out how we freshened up the column.


The Eastwood Co.
263 Shoemaker Rd.
Pottstown
PA 19464
(800) 345-1178
(610) 644-0560
www.eastwoodco.com Year One
P.O. Box 129
Tucker
GA 30085-0129
(800) Year-One
www.yearone.com


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Old 12-05-2010, 12:22 PM   #8
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Gotta love Carcraft and their mag articles posted online, a great resource.
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Old 12-05-2010, 03:30 PM   #9
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Alright the column is apart and the turn signal issue was caused by thin washer sitting in between the upper bearing and the canceling cam. This washer came out on the tear-down so I reinstalled it. It looks to be part of the old bearing race and is not actually a washer... so this problem is fixed.

Regarding the pointer I can not just simply adjust the shift linkage as the column has a guide to insure the shift mechanism is in park as noted in the posted image. There is no adjustment in the rotation of this column as the slot that aligns with the dash pin only allows depth adjustment. So this lower shift mechanism is where my problem is and it is still unknown as to why the unit shifted. I should mention this is a 700 R4 trans so it does have one more gear selection then what was original to the truck.

I am wondering if the previous owner (who installed the 700R4) might have clocked the column outside of the slot alignment and just clamped it down in place to insure the shift indicator aligned properly in park. I also noted that the neutral safety switch was ruined upon tear-down, might also be from clocking the column.
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Old 12-05-2010, 05:56 PM   #10
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Quote:
Originally Posted by phantom4 View Post
Alright the column is apart and the turn signal issue was caused by thin washer sitting in between the upper bearing and the canceling cam. This washer came out on the tear-down so I reinstalled it. It looks to be part of the old bearing race and is not actually a washer... so this problem is fixed.

Regarding the pointer I can not just simply adjust the shift linkage as the column has a guide to insure the shift mechanism is in park as noted in the posted image. There is no adjustment in the rotation of this column as the slot that aligns with the dash pin only allows depth adjustment. So this lower shift mechanism is where my problem is and it is still unknown as to why the unit shifted. I should mention this is a 700 R4 trans so it does have one more gear selection then what was original to the truck.

I am wondering if the previous owner (who installed the 700R4) might have clocked the column outside of the slot alignment and just clamped it down in place to insure the shift indicator aligned properly in park. I also noted that the neutral safety switch was ruined upon tear-down, might also be from clocking the column.

I just searched through my pictures and other posts, and think you have something wrong.
Do you have two plastic washers in you column now and you removed a third one?
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Old 12-05-2010, 06:10 PM   #11
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Make sure the top of the mast jacket fits in the grooves in the cast metal part that sets on top of it. The dial should be straight even across the top of jacket when the jacket is on center. The linkage will need to be adjusted for the pointer to corrispond with the dial.
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Old 12-21-2015, 09:09 PM   #12
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Sport/truck, did you ever get the pointer lined back up with the dial. I have the same issue with mine when I got it and have not figured out how to correct it.
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Old 12-21-2015, 10:57 PM   #13
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sport/Truck View Post
1971 GMC Sierra Grande, 1/2 ton short wide, original 4 bolt 010 020 block & heads. (matching #'s).
You mean matching date codes, right? Our engines have no numbers to match, other than a 3-letter code saying it came with that type of transmission in a truck. Unless it changed after 1970.
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Old 12-22-2015, 01:17 AM   #14
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Re: Steering Column Rebuild - Issues

Quote:
Originally Posted by davepl View Post
You mean matching date codes, right? Our engines have no numbers to match, other than a 3-letter code saying it came with that type of transmission in a truck. Unless it changed after 1970.

Thread is from 5 years ago and S/T hasn't been on since 5/15/15. Just a heads up....

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