I noticed this during disassembly and thought “Hmmm that don’t look factory “. The threaded mounts are welded to the cowl, about 1” to the right of what appear to be the bolt holes for them. The only thing I can think of would be a fairly significant collision and even then, this would be a pretty lame repair. I know they did strange things sometimes at the factory, but I doubt this was one of them. What do you think?
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Steering column bracket - This doesn’t look factory
snippy256
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I noticed this during disassembly and thought “Hmmm that don’t look factory “. The threaded mounts are welded to the cowl, about 1” to the right of what appear to be the bolt holes for them. The only thing I can think of would be a fairly significant collision and even then, this would be a pretty lame repair. I know they did strange things sometimes at the factory, but I doubt this was one of them. What do you think?
![Image]()
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I don't know if the welding is factory, or if it is factory why they did that. But I am pretty sure that "reddish brown" stuff is spray glue, which held the original upper cowl insulation in place, not paint.
from memory it had to do with the change in steering column style from 68 to 69 which resulted in a wider column to accommodate the key rod and the new ball coupler style collapsible column messed with the bolt in alignment of the brace. The body tooling was already done from 68 so welding was the financial decision. I dunno if Jiml82 is still around but he knew all about this stuff as he engineered quite a bit of it. I’ve only heard of this for 1969. All other years were bolted to my limited knowledge.
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yeah Not factory Should have bolts...well mine did maybe a Friday car? Strike car?
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Yours is a 68. It was a 69 thing… here you can see the column support frame where the 2 bolts slide though is slightly different shape vs 69.
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Yep I see it now ... at first glance looks identical!
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They were bolted originally. If you look at the left side rod you can see the threaded hole just to the left. Maybe someone stripped the threads and welded them on instead of fixing it properly.
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Two of us with 69's having these supports randomly welded in the same way? Not very likely me thinks. Gotta be factory, and the explanation seems to make sense.
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Wow did GM run out of bolts in 69? Seems more labour intensive to weld vs bolting it in?
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It seems it was the most efficient way to address the issues presented by the new steering column. They could have drilled new bolt holes, or provided new and modified mounting arms that actually fit correctly. As it was, this was a quick and dirty method that made it onto the line.
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I believe it. I work at an engine factory for one of the big three and have seen our quality department make decisions on a number of issues that would make anyone that knows about building a quality engine shake your head in disbelief. I don't think a single day goes by that I don't shake my head at something while working the assembly line.
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My Baltimore built '69 is welded as well - not sure if it might have been a specific factory decision, but the explanation on the different column dimension between '68 and '69 seems reasonable.
jim
jim
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