The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 77 steering column dis-assembly?

Hi,
I have a column from a 77 GMC 1/2 ton in my GMC 1/2 ton and I fabbed some mounting brackets for under the dash that mount to the stock 77 bolt holes. Only problem is there is alot of vertical play with the steering wheel. I want it to be solid.

I was looking at the column and see that it is 3 seperate pieces just down from the steering wheel. One with the signal and ignition in it, another with the shifter in it and the third has nothing in it. I thought if I took off the bottom piece I would be able to make the mount more solid onto the dash. Possibly using the place where the original column was bolted into.

Has anyone ever taken apart a column from a 77 and if so could you tell me how to take off the bottom part.

Or if anyone has a better mounting idea that would be great. Thanks.

kskt4

kskt4 - I put a 92 S10 column in my 64 El Camino. Once I had the column anchored at the firewall and made new brackets to attach it at the dash there was no unwanted movement at the wheel. Is the whole column moving or is there play inside the column?

I have another column from a G-body that I'll put into my 58 Burb someday. It needs a new ignition and turn switch but it only cost me $10 so I thought it was worth trying to fix. Good luck and let us know if you find the disassembly procedures.

Mark

dburban,
I used the plate and rubber seal from the 77 that holds the steering column at the firewall, in my 49. Did a bit of modding but it looks and holds great. The problem that I was having with the vertical movement came from the brackets that I made to mount the column on the dash. I drilled new holes about 3/4" from the back lip of the dash right behind where the stock column was mounted. I then used 1/8" plate and made 2 brackets that extended down from these holes and mounted in the stock 77 mounting holes. The back lip of the dash being horizontal is the cause of the vertical play.

I browsed alot of pictures of members trucks and say alot of ideas. Because the 77 column shifter cover extended right under the stock mounting holes on the 49 I was trying to see if anyone has removed any part of the cover. That way I would be able to make a mounting bracket that will go right where the stock one is.

I went ahead and checked a few things and cut away 3 1/2" of the bottom of the shifter cover with my zip cut. Worked out perfect. Now I am going to see how if I can drill a couple holes then tap them so I can bolt the column to a new bracket and in the same place as the stock one would go. That should fix the vertical movement for sure.

Ken

Ken,

I've not seen how the 49 column originally mounted, but if the 77 column uses a girdle type mounting bracket that wraps around the column then I can picture the problem.

If the tap doesn't work or doesn't give you enough strength you might try what GM did on my column. My 64 Camino (the 92 S10 column) has four nuts welded to it for the bracket to attach to. They are thick enough to give the threads of the mounting bolts some bite. Since you have to build an adaptor bracket you could adjust for the space taken by the nuts.

Mark