The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 2 Inch IDIDIT steering column into 1952 3100

I have been struggling with finding the right bracket-at-the-firewall/kickboard to secure a 2 inch diameter IDIDIT steering column (floor shift) as well as a suitable boot that will close off the hole in the firewall/kickboard that our AD trucks are born with. I will not go into the 2 or 3 products I have already tried that don't seem to work for me.

I am not against doing my own cutting, shaping and welding in order to complete a suitable installation but I am hoping that some of "ya'll" might have already been there and might make my adventure less trial and error... the errors are getting expensive!

Thanks

Do you have any pictures you can post of your steering column and kickboard area?

I will post a few pictures over the course of crafting a solution. It will be a couple of weeks before I can enlist the help to actually place the steering column in position. Thanks for being willing to take a look, once I provide some pictures.

A pretty simple "shade tree" fix would involve a piece of angle iron bolted to the firewall and a muffler clamp the right size. The bracket could be customized with a little sheet metal and some creative metal butchery to look a little more presentable!
Jerry

Is this Ididit Universal lower bracket by chance one of the firewall/kickboard mounts you tried?

Maybe let us know which ones you've already tried and we can see what else might be out there to try?

In the meantime, I'll see what kind of "boots" might give you something to work with.

Here's a couple of universal boot/seal ideas to mull over. They might work with the above universal bracket.

Steering Column Round Firewall Mounting Boot Seal, SS Bezel

OR

Steering Column Oval Firewall Mounting Boot Seal, SS Bezel

Gdads51, that IDIDIT universal bracket is one of the pieces I am working with. The press fit studs that the bracket comes with are not long enough (they are 3/4 inch) to allow that bracket to be secured to the top edge of the kickboard (just where it transitions to the firewall) with enough clearance side-to-side to fit the outside ring of IDIDIT's ball floor mount (part # 2401600051), so I got 1 1/4 inch press fit studs.

So the current plan is this: Use the universal bracket on the outside of the firewall/kickboard. In between the mounting brackets for that assembly, I hope to fit the outside ring of the swivel ball floor mount, with the boot part on the inside of the cab.

As Hotrod Lincoln has noted, it takes a little bit of sheet metal ingenuity to fill what remains of the original hole that our ADs have for a steering column and shifter. I built such a piece out of 20 gauge. If it works, I will duplicate that in 16 gauge.

All this seems doable as long as securing the steering column is isolated to the kickboard part of the AD hole and not the firewall part (that is, we have a flat surface to mount the swival ball floor mount).

I know pictures would clarify all of this and I will provide such once I get the help to actually mock up the steering column.

In the meantime, I am grateful for the willingness of "youse guys" to help me shape a workable solution.

Pictures:
First picture is what we all know the AD cab gives us to work with. Second picture (too big to include... will shrink and include in another post) shows that I have mocked up part of this solution before. Third picture is the 2 products I am currently working with. Note that the press fit studs have been replaced with 1 1/4 inch versions. Fourth picture shows my thoughts on how the outside-of-the-cab ring for the swivel ball floor mount would fit between the mounting braces of the steering column floor mount. Fifth picture is what would go on the inside of the cab, around the steering column, to seal off the hole around the 2 inch diameter steering column. Of course there would be the upper part of the original hole that remains to be closed up. That is left for some sheet metal work.

If all of this does not fit on the flat surface of the kickboard, and it needs to also consume part of the AD steering column hole that is on the firewall, I can still envision an acceptable metal fabrication that extends the "flatness" needed up into the hole space that is on the firewall.

Thoughts?

Looking forward to seeing how the install and fitting works. If you run into a stumbling block, post some pictures and let us know what's going on. We'll gladly offer to help noodle something out.

EDIT: Looks like I was 2 finger typing away while you had some pictures loaded and coming - hahaha! My timing was a bit off. I can see what you're working with and think your plan stated looks like it will succeed IMHO. Only suggestion I might add on what I see is perhaps you should add some nuts on the threaded studs. First add some to the studs to cinch them tight to the collar. Then once you establish where your side mount plates need to be, add another set of nuts to the studs before putting the brackets on them, to stop the collar from moving side to side and maintain the width spacing of the mount brackets. The final set of nuts would go on the opposite side of the brackets to secure the brackets to the studs with the backing nuts to stabilize the brackets and column clamp.

Clear as mud???

Here is that second picture that was too big to send on initial post

Well, here I am again too quick on the draw for my suggestions. Didn't realize there was that little space between the side brackets and column collar. Might still be enough space to put a set of nuts on the studs to stiffen/secure them on the collar, then slide the brackets over the studs and finish the mounting?

Also, if you're looking for a more finished look on the ends of those studs and mounting bolts, maybe consider adding some "acorn nuts" to cap off the exposed stud/bolt threads. Less sharp stuff to snag things and should improve finished appearance IMO.

I get it... and you are right on... thanks for the ideas, Dan!!

One of the high school auto body shop students I taught back in the late 1990s could have designed a better looking bracket than that amateurish-looking cobble job- - - -with some angle iron, a piece of exhaust pipe, a muffler clamp, and some sheet metal! Do people actually have the unmitigated gall to charge money for that thing?
Jerry

Hotrod Liincoln... agreed that a little bit of metal skills and a "can-do" attitude could design and build a much cleaner and cheaper solution. For me, it is the constaint of time that dictates many of my approaches... at moving in on 80 years old, I prioritize my time as if I don't have much of it left.

Having a blast dickering with an old truck and learning new skills... may never finish, but it's the journey, not necessarily the destination.

I've had mine for 33 years and it's still not done :-D

I'm planning on making it at least another 20- - - -I passed 80 back in April- - - -in Overdrive with the pedal to the metal! It's going to take me as least that long to finish the projects I've got under way, or on the drawing board at the moment!
Jerry

46 years for me and I'm just getting started. I agree it's the journey. If I live long enough to finish this one I'll just have to start something else because I already have all the tools.

Sounds lilke the making of a new Shop Area Forum on Stovebolt! Call it "The Journey", a place where those of us who may never reach our destination (relative to our trucks) but wouldn't trade the journey for a ticket to be 10 years younger.

That's not a bad idea, actually!!

We do! It's called Project Journals!

Thanks for pointing us journeymen to the right place.

So... this is how I wound up fitting a 2 inch IDIDIT steering column into a 1952 3100:
Too many pictures for 1 post so this update will span a few posts.
Picture 1: the hole in the cab that needs to accommodate the new steering column. The hole spans two planes, the kickboard and the firewall. If we could contain the new steering column to just one plane (the kickboard), then installation would be easier. Such was not the case.
Picture 2: the two products from IDIDIT that I chose for crafting a solution. One product is called Steering Column Ball Swivel Lower Mount. The other product is called Steering Column Band Swivel Lower Mount.
Picture 3: a plate that I made out of 16 gauge steel to completely cover the original hole in the cab.
Picture 4: The outside ring of the swivel ball mount, positioned where I wanted it... as low in the hole as possible, leaving maybe an 8th of an inch between the steering column and the bottom of the cab hole. That ring spans both planes, which just complicates the work a bit.

See next post...

Picture 5: The plate had to be sliced so the more of the plate maintained the plane of the kickboard, rather than the plane of the firewall. Now we have to fill that gap via welding. Note that I also had to rmeove some of the flange surrounding the cab hole so that the outside ring would lay flat.
Picture 6: Slice is welded up.
Picture 7: Floor Ball Mount fits flat on the inside of the cab with the top part above the break line between the kickboard plane and the firewall plane.
Picture 8: Notice at the top of the outside ring, there is a gap between top of ring and the plate that covers the hole (roughly the thickness of the cab metal). Addressing this gap is left for later.
to be continued...

Picture 9: This is how the plate and floor ball mount fits on the insideof the cab.
Picture 10: Steering column inserted into floor ball mount.
Picture 11: Steering column band swivel lower mount attached to the outside "stub" of the steering column to lock it all in place.

Now on to building the linkage from the end of the steering column to the power steering rack.

I think the use of both mounts helps provide better support and structure to the lower steering shaft end and looks really good from the interior side. The only thing that catches my eye is on the exterior area where the openings and gaps could catch and trap water/dirt/debris.

Maybe consider something to fill those openings/gaps to keep out the crud. It will prevent future rust and the associated headaches IMHO.

Gdads51... you are right on relative to need to make the engine-side of the firewall more "water reistant". I absolutely intend to do that, along with prettying up the hardare with acorn nuts etc. This is "mock up stage" where I just want to make sure that I know how to install everything (Vintage Air, Newport wiper system, Dakota Digital gauges, etc) and that all holes that need to be drilled are in fact drilled, and other holes welded up. Once I complete mock up, it all comes apart again for final metal work and paint. Following that, it is final assembly.

Estimated completion date... 2037+-!!

I get you on the "ECD" - lol!

I figured you had it planned, as all your work is super detailed and well thought out. You're making progress, which is the important part, yes?