67 steering column help?

[Norris W.]

Yeah, yeah, I know,it's in my chassis service manual.......... if I could find it. I had the cluster and column out of one of the 67's to put an under dash harness in and some other stuff, so I decided to put a turn signal switch in it and detail it some too. Everything went back in just like it came apart, but I can grab the steering wheel and pull it back (toward the driver) about 1/2". I'm sure I put everything back just as it came out, and there aren't any parts left over. I haven't driven this car since '94 and don't know for sure that the wheel wouldn't do it then, because I never tried it.

Interestingly, there are some slight differences in the column hardware on the underhood end between this car and my 67 roadster which I never noticed until today. The plastic sleeve on the solid part of the column is much shorter on the roadster than the coupe, and while the coupe has a clamp with a bolt through it right below the sleeve, which is probably over an inch long. The roadster appears to have a flat plate, almost like a washer, fixed, and below a very short plastic sleeve. The roadster is the most unmolested car I've ever owned. I'm certain it's never been tampered with. The coupe is an earlier car (H14 build date) but I'm not so sure of the total originality of every single component. Both cars are orignal engined 435's.

[Wayne W.]

Re: 67 steering column help?

67s did have two different adjusters on the end of the column. But the one you describe with the bolt sounds like the 66 and earlier, not a 67.

[Norris W.]

Re: 67 steering column help?

Although I've never fooled with a 66, I was under the impression that a 67 was the first year of the collapsible column. Is this incorrect?

[John H.]

Re: 67 steering column help?

Two different designs were used on 67's in this area - prior to (approximately) February, it had a spring, short plastic collar, washer, and retaining clip below the (stepped) lower bearing. After that point, a second design was used that had a (straight) bearing, retainer, unique spring, spacer, longer plastic collar, and a clamp with a bolt and nut.

1967 was the first year for the collapsible steering column in a Corvette.

[Norris W.]

Re: 67 steering column help?

Thanks for the reply John. That would be consistent with these two cars. The roadster was built D10 (Nov) and the coupe H14 (March).

Any idea why I can pull the column out about a half inch too far at the top on the coupe????? It bottoms in the correct position, without allowing the hub to scrub, but I'm clueless on what retains it in the other direction. I looked back in it today, and if there're any parts missing, they were already gone when I got this car years ago, and I don't see what they could be anyway. The snap ring/spacer only seem to retain it in the downward direction.