Need help- steering shaft.. too long?

So, I have a 73 Charger SE (318) and the steering shaft is a few inches too long. It's all original equipment (non-telescoping) and I probably messed it up during teardown.. The whole lower end of the shaft may have gotten pulled out (by about 2.5 inches) and this is preventing my power steering pump from going in. Has anyone had this issue, and how do I fix it??

Nylon sheer-pin probably got "sheered" and column is now adjustable.

Tap it back in until you have it to correct length, which you can tell by distance between top of coupler and indicator mark on steering shaft, when everything is assembled. Usually about 7/8", I believe.

I would also check that dimension periodically to make sure shaft isn't so loose that it is moving down (or up !!) on it's own.

All good advice, however I tried tapping it back in and up, but it seems stuck. I cycled through the gears and tried with each one with no results. Is there maybe a keyway inside?

I don't believe there's a keyway. I've only worked on the 68-70 columns, but I believe they are really similar. I can see two possibilities.
1. The column is fine, but it's installed too far forward (under-dash bracket)
2. The column's main center shaft has "telescoped".

For #1, I suggest you loosen (just a little) the bolts at the base of the column, where the column bracket attaches to under the dash (3 nuts or bolts), and where the column itself attaches to that bracket (4 bolts). Then, from inside the car, pull the steering towards yourself & then re-tighten. Does that give you enough clearance at the shaft/gear box?

For #2 (the more likely problem), it's a bigger job. The main, center shaft of the column "telescopes" like an antennae on a radio. The bottom part is solid (inner) & the top half (outer-which the solid part slides into) is hollow. The inner/outer parts of the center shaft are held in place by two plastic "shear pins" which can break easily. Those can be repaired/replaced, but requires taking the column out & disassembling it. It'd be tough to do in the car, but to be sure it's still the right length, you'd need the measurement of the length of that center shaft. That's the distance from the nut holding the steering wheel on to the tip of the "South end" of the shaft in the engine compartment.

I don't recommend it, but you "can" just pound that center shaft back up into the outer/upper/hollow shaft & let the steering box/shaft coupler hold the shaft at it's correct length. If you do cut this corner, I HIGHLY recommend that you add one of those weird spring clamps that holds the upper cover of the steering coupler on. Otherwise, it's just a tiny pin holding your steering shaft at the right length.

NOTE - don't hit the shaft with a hammer before you verify for sure that it has "telescoped" outwards. If it's already at the correct length, hammering on the end will break the little plastic sheer pins.

Going to have to "tap" harder. It's actually a good thing that you have decent resistance to movement.

Thanks all for the input- I was able to fix it by taking the whole thing out and tapping and turning the shaft back to its correct length with the help of a bit of PB blaster. It's still difficult to move one way or another so I don't think I broke the sheer pins.

Sheer pin is broken it's just plastic in that column it won't move if it was together . Don't worry about it it's attached at both ends it won't go anywhere !