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I thought I had done this before and that it went out the bottom. After fooling with it for some time, I remembered that the other time the body didn't have inner fenders. Can anybody share the easiest way to do this. The body is off the chassis.
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Re: 54 Steering Column Removal
53-5 columns are the toughest. It's been a while, so I may have forgotten something, but here goes. Pull the pitman arm from the column. Remove the trim plate on the firewall, steering wheel hub & t/s switch, & upper column mount at dash. Pull the chrome trim plate off the dash. Very carefully, slide the column out of the dash and rotate it so the box clears the inner fender as much as possible. You will have to force it down untill it clears enough of the bottom of the fender skirt to slide it out of the dash. Once it passes that point it should be easier to get out of the firewall. There is sometimes a curved cutout at the bottom of the skirt for clearance to help with this. Alot of guys fill this area in when they resore the body. It has been said this was done to aid the installation of the steering box during the body drop, since some bodies were a bit rougher than others. You may see the dash flex quite a bit until the end of the column clears, so be careful not to crack the dash! Yeah, it's scarey. If it absolutely won't budge this way, the only other option is to remove the radiator & grill & get it out through the opening. If it's already apart, you may want to go that route.
It takes some doing, but you'll get it out.
Good luck
Rich -
Re: 54 Steering Column Removal
Body is completely apart except for the column. Doesn't look possible to clear the inner fender, but I'll take another look. Maybe removing the pitman arm will help.Comment
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