On my '37 I installed a '40 steering box to get away from the gear on gear original box for the newer style roller bearing gear box. The '40 has a different steering wheel and a taper mount. The wheel had too much offset for my liking.
I cut the top of the '37 shaft off to replace the top of the '40 so I could use the original '37 wheel and horn contact. I did a lot of measuring before cutting. Once cut I placed the shaft and the new end in a heavy piece of angle iron with plenty of clamps to hold it straight. I beveled each piece almost to a point so the weld would start in the center of the 3/4" shafts. I used a mig welder and put a heavy weld to hold it, loosened the clamps, rotated 1/2 way, and welded some more. After each weld I let it cool while still clamped in the angle iron. I cut the shaft so the weld would be just below the upper bearing, this would mean no grinding on the weld.
I was able to use the original outer tube, you will need to cut yours, so think about which end to cut. The '37 uses the tube to hold the upper bearing and the horn wire exits the lower end. If I was to cut one end, I would lean towards the gear box end, drilling a hole would be easy for the wire exit. I also had the main shaft out of the gear box.
I don't worry about the weld, I know it goes clear through the shaft, it was a clean weld with plenty of heat, its straight and works.
If you have doubts about welding have it done by someone who does it for a living, this is not the place you want to start welding. It needs to be straight!
If you need a little leg room, you can shorten the column mount at the dash, this will lift the wheel a little higher with out too much modifying.
Joe
