Gearheadbill

The stock steering column on my 57 is too long; i.e. it protrudes into the passenger compartment to far to make driving the car comfortable. I do understand that is the way they were from the factory and that in 58-62 the columns were 3" shorter, to move the wheel closer to the dash.

My question(s) is: With the cost of ANY Corvette parts being expensive, is there another substitutionary box/column which will work? For example, will the box/column out of a 53 chev passenger car work? How bout a pickup? I can shorten the steering column if necessary...no problem. Anyone done this swap. Help!

vettes1st

The truck is too short. I'm not sure about the passenger car. A 58-62 Vette will be the easy and probably cheapest way out.

Gearheadbill

Thanks Vettes1st. Ok, so now I need a 58-62 column. How much can I expect to spend for one of these babies? I am brand new to corvettes, so I don't know what reasonable people ask/pay for these.

DZAUTO

That is correct, your MOST practical option is a 58-62 column, BUUUUUUUUUUUUT, it is NOT 3in shorter. It more like 1 1/2-2in shorter.

Gearheadbill

DzAuto. What I'm trying to avoid is cutting up the stock 57 column, in case I someday want to restore the car. It is a stocker, a survivor. I would NOT have a problem sacrificing the 58-62 box/column to the chop saw and other sacriledges done in the name of comfortablilty.

Nother ? Are the boxes (corvette, passenger and pickup) the same internally? Rebuild parts the same?

DZAUTO

The 53-4 pass car internals are interchangeable with the 53-62 Vette, EXCEPT, the turning ratio ia higher in the passenger car. I believe the Vette is 20:1 and the pass car is 21:1. The reason that the 49-52 pass car box internals are not interchangeable with Vette is because they have a brass bushing/sector shaft, whereas the 53-4 car and Vettes have caged roller bearing/sector shaft. The column and steering shaft of the car and Vette are different lengths, but I don't know what the car length is (even though I own a 51 Chevy with a 54 column/box in it, I have never measured it). If you wanted to swap out the internals from a 53-4 car steering box, it would be necessary to use the Vette steering shaft, but press on/off the worm gears between the shafts.
I just went out and looked in my 29-59 Chevy parts book and the length for the pass car steering shaft is 47 1/2in and the 53-57 Vette is 56 1/8in. Quite a difference, that would put the steering wheel almost up against the dash.

Gearheadbill

Thanks. I'll proceed from there.

JohnZ

When I restored my '57 I put a '61 steering gear/column in it (gear and column are all one piece) to gain more room; easy swap with the body off the frame, FAR more difficult with the body on. '53-'57 don't have a removable support section in the instrument panel below the column like '58-'62 do, so a LOT of underhood parts have to come off to remove the column with the body on; it was installed in the body prior to Body Drop when the car was built.

JohnFromVentura

56-57 Steering boxes are 48 3/4" long and 58-62 are 47".
58-62's are relatively easy to get the boxes out of the car. 56-57 are a real sb because the tube needs to slide through the small dash hole and the firewall hole at the same time. It's possible to do this with the body on and the engine in place but it is quite a close fit. I wrote an article for the SACC (Solid Axle Corvette Club) “On Solid Ground” quarterly magazine about 3 years ago on how do the 56-57 steering box R&R + the box rebuild.
John

Gearheadbill

More good info. John: any chance of getting a copy of the article?

Plastic Pig

You might want to consider the 15" steering wheel they make, and some 61-61 seats with 57 covers as they go back farther.

Here are pics of the seats as I know someone will say its not true.


57' seat all the way back inner



61-2 seat in my 57' all the way back inner



57" seat all the way back outer.



61-2 seats in my 57' outer




61-2 seats with 15 inch wheel and original 57' column

DZAUTO

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, do I perceive an indication of an Airbox car?

Plastic Pig

A few indications make it appear as such.

Gearheadbill

Duntov-097.... Car looks good. Thanks for the tip about the seats. Are they a direct replacement/swap? or will I need to fool with the mounts etc? Also, I was already thinking about a smaller wheel. You pic, which shows the wheel in your car, seems to show an aftermarket adapter as well as steering wheel. Can you identify for me the source of said adapter? Thanks.

Plastic Pig

You need the plate that the back of the tracks slide into to do the conversion as the 61-2 seats have only two bolts in the front. Its readily available and not too expensive.

The steering wheel uses all original parts for mounting. Thats the original hub with the outer bell taken off for paint. I think I got the wheel from Chuck Pelton. Last I looked all the major vendors carried them also.

iveym5

I got my 15" steering wheel from Corvette Central. Greatly simplified getting in and out of my '62. The only drawback for me is the wheel blocks my view of the top portion of my speedometer which is where the needle is when I do most of my driving. However, I would have gotten the smaller wheel anyway even if I knew this beforehand.

- Spence

Gearheadbill

I'm back from a trip out of the country and would like to revive this thread for some more info, if that's OK.

I don't know how to post pics on this site so I will try to explain. The pics posted by Duntov-097 show a 61-62 seat which does sit much father to the rear (maybe 3 inches or so) than the 57, also shown. Does anyone have a picture of 61-62 seat frame (no cushions) so I can compare to what I have?

My seat frame, one piece, is in the form of a chair. That's to say that the bottom, which holds the bottom cushion and attaches to the adjuster, is horizontal then transitions into the back like a chair does. I am VERY unclear as to how the 61-62 frame is so much different as to allow for so much extra room.

As a Corvette rookie, I am certainly open to any input which might help. I want to make my 57 driveable without ruining it or chopping up original parts. A friend has a 59 steering column which I can have, so I might swap that as well, along with a smaller wheel. Anyway, thanks to all!!

DZAUTO

Gearhead,
That seatframe DOES NOT EXIST AT ALL for the 61-2 seats. The seat BOTTOM/tracks are attached DIRECTLY to the floor (with an anchor plate in the rear/2 bolts up front). Then, the 61-2 seat BACK has 2 posts on the bottom which are bolted to the seat bottom. Thus, with no frame (like the earlier years) this allows the seat bottom/back go further down/back.

DZAUTO

I DID! I DID! I SAW AN AIRBOX CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think they turn me on more than having sex!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone make complete elephant ears for those-----------------at a reasonable price? I sure would like to have some for my 56!

Plastic Pig

Depends on what you call reasonable. There was a guy selling repros for $500 at Bloomington. Since I am planning to drive the car a lot, I was thinking about picking a set up so the originals don't get stolen or destroyed.

A friend of mine that likes to build things said he could make a pretty fair repro for about $10 in materials and a couple of hours work. I believe him as its just some rubberized looking canvas with 2 metal ends holding it together.