1966 B body steering column rebuild

[High School Car]

Hello,

Wondering is someone might be able to help with this...
I have some pictures showing the parts in question. Not sure where these go. I made the mistake of not taking photos and letting things sit for a few months. But, in my defense, I did not take photos because I can remember how to put something back together. Anyway, it is a cam and two springs. Not sure where they go and in what order of assembly.

I spent lots of time trying to find it in manuals, diagrams, etc. Has anyone got ideas?

Thanks and will post pics of progress.

 

[AR67GTX]

It’s been a couple years since I had the column apart in my 66 but I don’t remember anything like that inside it. It’s kind of hard to get a size perspective from the photograph. Could the cam have something to do with the wiper motor transmission? I haven’t been inside one of them so I’m not sure what’s inside.

 

[High School Car]

Wiper motor is a possibility. I'll check it out since the car is basically a shell at this stage.

I'll get some more pictures of the columns' upper components and post them.

 

[gtx6970]

None of the above is in a 66 Column. EDIT see below
The white plastic piece is the wiper linkage cam for a 3 spd wiper set up;


EDIT, the small spring to the left MIGHT be for a column shift car

 

[oldkimmer]

The skinny spring is for the shift lever. The other is for the horn cap.

 

[gtx6970]

. The other is for the horn cap.

Possible with aftermkt steering wheel
Nothing like that in my 66 Column

 

[High School Car]

You guys are awesome.

The skinny spring goes down in the recessed spot under the shift lever in that cavity, correct? There is a pin and a much smaller diameter spring in there also. Does this larger spring go over the top of it?
Horn cap - makes sense now.

 

[High School Car]

Another tear down photo.

So, my wife says "what would peel yer banana if you could do what you wanted to it?".
I said nothing (to me anyway) would be cooler than an old school big block 4 speed muscle car.
We started looking for the parts and man, 4 speed stuff is not cheap. I bought a hump, cut the floor and welded it in. Took me several months to find a 4 speed and bell housing. However, when they showed up it had an aluminum case. That raised my eyebrows. Upon further checking, it was a 4 speed designed for late 70's Dodge half ton pickups, vans, that kind of thing. You guys who have done this will know what I am referring to. Trying to re-inforce that gear box is not un-involved. Plus, the gearing is a little weird.
First gear is granny, but vans and half ton pickups would be great with it because they had 3:23 or 2:71 rears (maybe my numbers are off a bit). Shift to second and you loose about 12 or 1300 rpm. So in a big block with 3:91 gears in the rear, I would roll about 20 feet, shift to second and the motor would chug. Would be rediculous. Third gear is ok, but 4th is almost no change. Dodge considered this an Overdrive 4 speed. It was put out when emissions were becoming a thing, which is why the gearing is weird.
You can buy aftermarket kits with everything in it and better gear spreads but they ain't cheap.
So, decided not going that route and RE_CUT THE FLOOR to get the 4 speed hump out and RE_WELDED THE FLOOR to make it an automatic hump again. No wasted time there, but now you know why there is a Gear Vendors Overdrive. I was able to buy it, and A/C and still had money left versus what a 4 speed conversion was going to cost.

 

[AR67GTX]

I hadn’t thought about a column shift car. I have hundreds of zip lock baggies, new and old. I’ve found on disassembly, if I don’t bag and tag everything immediately or at least by lunch and late afternoon each day, I run the risk of forgetting where something went. I failed to do this one morning with some bolts and by late afternoon I didn’t have a clue where one bunch came from. It finally occurred to me the next day.

 

[High School Car]

The distance between the coffee maker and the coffee can is how long it takes me to forget a number between one and ten!

 

[High School Car]

In the course of the steering column rebuild, the steering wheel is full of the common cracks. It looks "OK" but would be a sore spot, especially with everything else re-furbished.
So after a bit of University of Youtube, I found this product called Plastifix. Their website is Polyvance.com
and the part number I ordered is 2503. @503 is black, 2501 is white and 2504 is clear. My steering wheel is black, and even though I will need to spray it after the repairs, I used black.

A few tips for those of you who may be doing this project...you can watch their videos on "how to" and it is pretty simple. Prep the surface, make a v-grove where cracks need filled, go a bit past the cracks to keep the cracks from re-starting. Wash, alcohol clean and then you can start with the filling of the holes and cracks.

Their instructions tell you to drop 1 drop of the chemical into the powder and then pick that one drop up with the needle/dropper and re-locate it to the crack.

Here is what is not described well and really boils down to technique but you will waste time and material discovering this yourself...

There is a small cup for you to put the powder in. Don't be stingy putting the powder in. The reason for this is because when you drop one drop of the solution as the instructions say, the powder will sort of absorb it, but not really. It is more of a static cling. Kind of like the waterbug on the surface of the water puddle. If you put too much solution in the powder then it will solidify and ruin your powder. One drop as it says.
Second, if you do not have enough depth to the powder, when you drop that one drop in it goes through the powder and hits the cup. Now it is a solid again and you can't use it.
Third, once you have figured out that little trick of acquiring the material and moving it from the cup to the part you are working on, then you have to deposit it onto the part itself. At this point it is still a little ball of powder surrounding the chemical. The chemical is still a liquid at this point. Touch the ball of material to the part and slightly squeeze the dropper so you can get the chemical to "push" the ball off of the needle. It also helps thin it a bit so it flows a bit.
Last, the needle you use (which is provided in the kit) has a hole about a half of an inch from the tip of the needle. This is where the chemical solution exits the needle when you squeeze the bottle. It does not come out the tip. Why is this important? Because if you plug that hole with the powder your needle is toast. Which I found out the hard way.
Hope that helps.

Anyway, now the sanding part. I am using 320 for the rough sanding and will go to 600 then use finer for the entire wheel before it gets painted.

If anyone can tell me how the little orange gear selector needle fits on that 1966 b body steering column, that would be great. It just clips onto something and overhangs the lens with PRNDL1L2 but no matter what I do I can't get it to not rub or be in a wrong orientation. Back to not taking photos...speaking of which, when I get the steering wheel all ready for paint, I'll put a picture of that up.