Junk yards generally have books (sorry can't recall the name of these books) that cross reference part numbers. You look up your part, & the book provides you w/ the part number & a list of other vehicles & the years they were used in. From the description you provided, you have the tin cage w/ round ball beaings? When the cage is slipped off the shaft, the only thing that holds the ball bearings in the cage is grease? If so, these are very common. Is your tin cage in good shape? If so, measure the diameter of it, count how many ball bearing slots it has. Better yet; If you or someone you know has a micrometer, measure a ball bearing & get back to me. I have some & will gladly give'em to you if they fit your application.
What really grabs my attention is you mentioned that "the bowl is loose even though the bolts were tight". I suspect ball bearings falling out is a symptom which resulted from the loose bowl. You'll need to look into why your bowl is loose as the root of the problem. From my experience w/ steering columns, if everything seemed right, but the bowl was loose, It was due to wear at the lower end of the steering column. Does the seal in that bottom area look like it leaked grease out of it? Does it look like dirt & water got in there? These are tell tale signs of lower end wear.
Here's how you can check it: With the lower end of the steering shaft coupler disconnected, Have someone watch the bowl while you pull hard & jerk back & forth on the end of the steering shaft @ the coupler. If that person sees the bowl move while your doing this, The lower end of the coulmn is probably worn as that will usually wear b4 the area in the bowl will. Unless someone was previousely in that bowl area & removed & or added the wrong grease to the bearings & shaft. This is unlikely, but possible. Also when your pulling/ jerking on the end of the shaft, the shaft in & out movement (end play) should be minimal). Also try moving the shaft around in a circular motion. Jerk it up & down & side to side to check for slop. There should be zero slop.
On a final note; I've done this test on 80's mopar trucks with the steering assembly completely assembled & all the parts were there. You mentioned that you weren't sure if you were missing a spring or something. Hmmmmm.
I'm looking @ a **** poor pic (Fig 18) in my `67 shop manual & the only spring it shows in the column is in the lower end.
Here's the Dissembly & Assembly instructions:
Disassembly--40-50-60 Series (Fig. 18)
1. Loosen lower bearing clamp, push steering shaft slightly upward and remove snap ring retainer at upper mast jacket bearing.
2. Slide steering shaft out of mast jacket from bottom, along with lower bearing clamp, seal spring and retainer seat.
3. Loosen turn signal switch retaining screws and remove turn signal switch housing and switch assembly.
Assembly:
1. Install turn signal switch and housing assembly on upper end of mast jacket.
2. Position clamp, seal, spring, lower bearing and lower bearing on steering shaft. (Yea I typed that correct. I think the last "lower bearing" was supposed to be "lower bearing retainer or clamp?).
Note: Lubricate seal with a silicon grease.
3. Carefully insert steering shaft into mast jacket from bottom.
4. Install upper mast jacket bearing retainer (snap ring) in groove in the steering shaft.
5.Adjust lower mast jacket bearing as outlined under "Maintainence and Adjustment".
Mast Jacket Lower Bearing Adjustment:
1. Loosen clamp on steering shaft.
2. Adjust clamp to allow steering shaft and play indicated in specifications section.
Steering specs for 40-50-60 (Except T) Models:
Lower Mast Jacket Bearing Adjustment .005 - .030
