Steering Column Questions

[pontiac charger]

So a friend of disassembled the steering column on my 68 floor shift charger and returned it with everything loose.  What I mean is that the main shaft that connects to the gear box pulls out of the assembly and the two housings are not tight.  He is trying to convince me that the main shaft only tightens when it connects to the box itself, but it doesn't feel right.

So my questions, are how does the housing tighten up on the assembly, how does the main shaft lock into the assembly and finally, what are the two bolts in the blinker housing connected too?

Thanks for the help on this.

[Nickrc3]

I just finished restoring my 68' floor-shift steering column, and I have to tell you, reassembly was definitely tricky! Idiot me never took disassembly pictures, and having the FSM didn't provide the illustrated parts breakdown I needed.


After many hours of studying the components and searching the Internet, I was able to visualize the assembly process.
Can that buddy provide assistance? He took it all apart, and two sets of eyes always help.
Your question is certainly a valid one.
The outer sleeve (with the accordion perforations) or jacket assembly, has specific cut(s) which fit into those grooved slots within the gearshift housing (or tapered cup). Loosely rotate the gearshift cup around the end of the jacket tube and you'll see how the tube drops nicely into those grooved slots.


The bearing housing has two square head bolts. Do you have those? Without them, securing both housings to the jacket assembly will be every difficult. Those specialty heads drop into the square provisions within the shift housing, and only the edges of those bolts capture and secure the jacket tube. The threaded end of the two bolts pass through the breaker plate housing and are tightened within the locking nuts. One of those bolts is pictured below.



How far is your column disassembled? Is the actual steering shaft out?

My other headache was the inner shift tube and which end went where, and the spring w/retainer washers. Did you carefully check the two bearings? My upper bearing only needed a good soaking in lacquer thinner to remove that 45-year old grease, but the lower (mounted within white plastic housing) was shot. Hoover Auto provided a replacement.


Hope this helps, but again, search the other Mopar sites, as there is some useful information out there.

[Nickrc3]

Here's what I should have done in my initial reply. The red arrows indicate those square provisions cast into the gearshift housing which capture the square head of the bolts.
Blue arrows indicate those grooved slots which the jacket assembly slips into.

[pontiac charger]

You are the best.  It makes perfect sense and went together perfect.  Thank-you for the help.