65 Steering Column Question

[Daron Craig]

Hey guys,

I'm wanting to put in a shorter steering column with tilt. I found this one on ebay. Just wanted to see if this one was shorter than stock, not sure what stock length is. What do you guys think?

28" Universal Black Steering Column Tilt Manual Trans with 9 Hole Adapter No Key | eBay

[72Mountaineer]

Be careful of the Chinese steering columns. I put an '85 S10 tilt in my '64, fits good.

[1964FarmFreshC10]

Did the S10 unit have ignition switch in the column? Im hoping to avoid that on mine.

Originally Posted by 72Mountaineer

Be careful of the Chinese steering columns. I put an '85 S10 tilt in my '64, fits good.

[truckeroy]

After the sixties, almost all columns had the key in them, except for vans. They are hard to find. Into the eighties, most columns were still round. After that, they have that square box on the side. On a 64 I had, I found a mid eighties floor shift column and cut the key bump off ,wedged a piece of plastic in the hole and jb weld over it. I left the ignition switch down on the column to use as a anti theft switch.

[Agv63]

I went with one of those chinese made columns. No key, tilt and auto shift.
Not too bad but cant compare to original gm. There is no gate for the shifter, only for park and then reverse. Its made for 3 spd and 4spd auto. So getting the shift indicator working properly is a bit of playing with adjustment. And there is no means of bolting it down, no holes nothing, so its either strip it to weld on nuts or that clamp type column brackets.

On amazon there is a non tilt, non shifter column also from china, only have indicator switch. No steering wheel adapter.
But on the one i used the original steering wheel worked, its the cancel cam thats an issue.

Im in south africa so getting a column that is still in good condition is an issue, my old column was butchered beyond repair, so got the chinese column to get the switch and shifter function to make my build a bit easier. cant say it will live as long as original gm type.

Adriaan.

[DPowers]

As previously stated, vans or motor homes still had the key in the dash through mid- 80s.
Usually can pick one up for 150.00 or so.
If you were doing aftermarket, check into IDITIT or Flaming River.
PM Southern Parts or Uncle on this forum. They may have one.