I'm not sure where your saying yours is collapsed. Mine had gotten pushed in a little,when swapping to a smooth column in my 71'. I tore it apart and reextended the internal part,and it works fine

 

Later columns are different than 67 columns. Some 68s & all 69-72 columns have a shaft which can be un-bolted. All 67 columns have a one piece shaft.

 

Ron,

The column can collapse in two places. One is on the housing. If it was collapsed, the "mesh" part of the housing would be distorted & it will be VERY obvious.

The other part is at the end of the shaft. There are two plastic plugs that were melted in at the factory. You can find them where the thinner end of the shaft connects to the main part of the shaft. I guess these plugs could break loose if someone dropped it or slammed it hard enough.

Take a look & see what you find. Or you can post some pics.

Pete

 

The mesh part seems to be fine, looks as it did.

From where the flange meets the shaft (starting point) is 3-1/2 in
From there it meets a little larger portion of shaft which is 4 in.
After that is that clamp.

 

Curiosity got the better of me, so I went out to the shop to have a look at mine. Hate to say it, but the shaft on yours was definitely compressed. My lower shaft is about 8" to the main part of the shaft.

I am not sure if you can save the shaft, but it's not all bad news. Swapping the shaft out from a donor column would be really easy.

 

Thanks for checking Pete, thats what I was afraid of.

How can I re-extend this? I dont have any bux to replace and just painted it.
If its fisable Ill get creative if need be. Looks like some kind of plastic is still in those holes.

Someone must have had some fun with this.

 

2x4 and a BFH, its coming back out. Try and see if it comes all the way out, neighbors will kill me if I do it at this hour. 1 whack never hurt anyone.
Pete, is this still usable, do I just knock it out and test fit or will it stop when its at its "end"?

 

Hopefully JimL82 will chime in. He used to work in the design dept at Saginaw when these columns were built, so he'll know if you can save that shaft.

Like I said earlier, if you can't save it, don't lose heart. You won't have to re-paint another column as the shafts are easily swapped.

In order to remove the shaft, you'll have to take the wheel off. Next, locate the snap ring that holds the upper bearing in place. Remove that snap ring & be careful not to lose it!

Then you need to unbolt the clamp at the bottom which holds the lower bearing retainer. Thats it. Slide the shaft out from the bottom. The lower bearing will slide out too, but that's expected. (Be careful with that bearing. They are IMPOSSIBLE to find).

Re-install in reverse.

It's been awhile since I took mine apart, so I may have missed a step. It may seem intimidating, but honestly, it's a pretty simple deal. If I could rebuild one of these, anyone can!

Pete

 

I sure hope so, see if he chimes in.
Thanks again. :beers:

 

It is safe to use. There is a generous metal to metal overlap between the upper solid shaft and the tubular lower shaft that connects to the flexible coupling on the steering gear. It would have been a lot better if you had applied a constant force to pull the shaft back out rather than a hammer.

It is possible that you could have damaged the steering shaft bearings with the pounding. When you turn the steering wheel the steering could feel gritty if the ball bearings brinnelled the bearing races.

Jim

 

The lower bearing and retainer are now available for 67-68. Hinshaw`s Chevelle Parts has them.

 

If ya need the shaft----pm me.

I have a 67 column that I can take it from

 

I used to work at Saginaw also. I worked in the "intermediate shaft" dept. That shaft has a flat spring in it and is then injected with plastic to take the lash out. It is designed like this so that in a collision the shaft will collapse. It should be ok if you pull it back out. This design was called a double "D" and was used extensively. As others have said it is an easy swap if you want to replace it later.
Bill

 

Just for information what should you put back in the 2 holes to make it look original again? Use a plastic dowel and slightly melt the ends?

 

thanks for the responses guys. Was wondering the same thing as the above poster. Is this spring something that goes bad?

I have the shaft back where its supposed to be but didnt pull it all the way off. It was a little corroded so I couldnt pull it out. Flange is undamaged, just used a small piece of 2x4 and worked it out.
Turned the wheel didnt feel anything funny so assuming all is well.

Cant wait to get this thing back in, coming together!

 

No the spring should be fine as long as you didnt seperate the two pieces. If you do it is possible to put in back together backwards. As far as making it look factory, if memory serves the color of the plastic inject was changed several times. I remember green mostly, also off white.
Bill

 

Whiskey,
I seem to remember that the original energy absorbing columns and collapsible intermediate steering shafts had plastic injected into the section where the solid and the tubular shafts went together. This "locked" the two pieces together until the car was in a collision or someone dropped or banged the parts around and sheared the plastic by mistake. It didn't take a whole lot of force to shear the plastic.

This would be starting in 1967. I think that the flat spring was added several years later.

Jim

 

You may be correct. I was in that group in the 90's. So much of what I saw of these was mainly carry over. The spring held all in place until the plastic was injected. At that time the spring pocket and shaft would be filled with the plactic also rendering the spring usless as the plastic surounded the spring also.
Bill