[Youngster]

Here's a price break down on a scratch built column;

wheel cone.........1
shaft..................5
jacket tube........10
coupler..............15
2 new rubbers.....12
total......$43

Ron

[tfeverfred]

Youngster, the yards here stopped keeping stuff from later than the '90s. Maybe I can find a shaft at an auto parts store, but I doubt it.

If you have the stuff, I would be willing to buy it and, of course, cover shipping. Otherwise, I'll just get the one from Speedway. I'd like to save some money, but if I can't, oh well. I had already planned on my column and wheel running about $175.

[RPM]

In some of the buckets that I build I used a steering coloum from an early Mustang. They use a 3/4 shaft and it works out well. The turn signals cancel and the horn button works. In some of the cars I used the Mustang steering box. One other way Is use a Corvair iron box with the very long shaft. Leave the shaft as long as you need it and I used a race car quick disconnect. That way you can take the steering wheel off to get in and out of the car. This is how I have my current car done. I like being able to take the steering wheel off.

[Youngster]

Fred... Let me see what I can find. Kinda cold to be running around the yards now, but I have a lot of friends with parts.

RPM's suggestion to use a quick disconnect is a good one especially if the driver is a six foot something, long legged fella'. Speedway has some good units.

Ron

[tfeverfred]

Yea, that column I looked at by Speedway has a disconnect for the wheel. Not only would it make it easier to get in and out, it would make a great theft prevention device.

[butch27]

RPM: Which box is better Iron or aluminum? I've got one around here somewhere.

[Rick]

Depends on you aplication.The aluminum one is more expensive and they were only made in 1960 to 1961.

[Youngster]

One thing I like about the aluminum box is that it has a coupling spline right at thr box. This makes it allot easier to set your column angle.

Ron

[GAB]

I never have liked the looks of late model steering columns in street rods. To me, it looks like someone stuffed a telephone pole in there. Way too big.

In planning for what I wanted to do for a column in this maybe someday track roadster, I came up with this plan. All that I wanted in the way of controls is a turn signal setup and a column shifter for the C4 transmission.



Basically, there are 3 different sized tubes and a solid 3/4" shaft. There are some machined bushings that keep everything centered up. The 2 inner tubes are both .058 wall thickness with some rings tack welded to them on the upper ends for threading for the arms. The lower ends have a couple of arms for the turn signal accuator and the shift lever. Those arms are bored for a slip fit on the respective inner tube and attached by drilling and tapping the arm for a set screw and lock nut. The end of the set screw is turned down to a smooth dimension and a corresponding sized hole is drilled in the tube.

For the turn signal, it uses a double pole double throw toggle switch. There is an article in the NTBA technical pages about the wiring for a setup like this. I liked it because it is small, inexpensive and I had used a setup like this for a reversing switch on a power feed that I built for a small milling machine and it worked very well. The down side is that it is not self cancelling...guess we can't have everything.

The bottom end of the shaft is configured to use the stock Vega U-jointed coupler. Since I already had it and the connection is simple...and most important...it's cheap, it became part of the plan. It just requires a cross hole in the main shaft to press in the original pin. There are a couple of flats machined on the shaft for the rubber boot to match up with. A grinder would make quick work of them if lack of milling equipment was a factor. There are a couple of square blocks that ride on the pin and enter in a couple of grooves in the Vega cup housing along with a couple of springs.

Maybe there are an idea or two that might come in handy if someone is contemplating building there own column. I guess that I should confess here that I have not yet built this whole setup. Only the main shaft and the upper end mount for the steering wheel. I keep forgetting to get the required tubes and bushing material when I go to the local metal by the foot place. I need to make myself a note!

[RPM]

Originally Posted by butch27

RPM: Which box is better Iron or aluminum? I've got one around here somewhere.

It is 6 of one and half a dozen of another. The aluminum one can be polished and has a splined shaft. The iron box needs to be painted or powder coated. They could be chromed also. Most of the iron boxes have a long shaft, and need to be cut off and a u joint welded and pinned on the end. There are a few iron boxes with the short splined shaft also.