Does the steering column in my 68 look bent? The wheel touches my lap when setting in the car.

The car seems to steer fine but i have only pushed it as it has not run in a long time.[IMG][/IMG]

 

It sure looks bent in your photo. What happens when you turn the steering wheel 180 degrees?
Jim

 

It stays the same

 

I took the plastic off the column and it looks straight, but it still looks to close to the seat(5" from bottom of the wheel to the seat).

Can someone measure theirs to give me an idea of what it should be.


The car was hit in the right front back in the 70's,(I don't know how bad) could this be from a poor repair job?

 

My guess is that the column shaft is straight, but it is not positioned in-line with the driver's dash pad and adjacent housing cover. Check underneath the driver's dash and see if there are any spacers placed in the mounting bracket to cause the column to be lower than expected. If not, it could be due to a bent frame which is raising the position of the steering box at the other end of the column.

{Nice looking interior, by the way. }

 

Take a pic of the end of the column in the engine compartment at the rag joint for us.

That is very odd, I agree check for any shims/spacers under the dash.

 

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I looked in my AIM and everything looks good under the dash.

I'm not to sure about the steering shaft and steering gear.


Is there any way to adjust the angle of the steering gear?

 

That steering shaft is not very far into that rag joint coupler. Mine was a little farther that that out, got it apart now trying to get the shaft to come back down.. ugg

Looks to me like your dash has dropped a little, creating the illusion of a bent steering column.

 

As a fellow once said to me, "Optical illusion, he!!. I'm lookin' right at it!"

 

Still, that does not account for the distance between the steering wheel
and the seat.


when I set in the seat the steering wheel almost touches my thighs and I'm a small guy.

 

My seats are original 71 seats and I have almost 6 inches between the seat and steering wheel, no wheel wrap on mine. Another measurement... from the side of the car, I eyed door top to door top, then dropped a tape measure from the top of the steering wheel to my eye line. I got 4 1/8th inches.

 

The steering column attaches to the steering gear. (There is no adjustment possible, the steering gear bolts to the frame with three bolts.) The steering column also attaches to the body in two places. The floor pan (down by your feet.) and up to the dash panel where it mounts to two brackets (B & D in the following drawing). Those two brackets are adjustable. So the upper end of the column is adjustable so that the steering column can be made central to the cutout in the instrument cluster as it passes through. So there is limited ability to adjust the upper end of the column - up, down, left, and/or right to the cutout. However, that doesn't change the angle of the column any appreciable amount. BTW, the floor pan attachment (bracket A and the toe plate that is welded to the column jacket) is just the result of the gear and dash panel locations.

The angle of the steering column is still dictated by the attachment to the gear and the attachment to the dash panel.

You mentioned that the car was in a collision. I wonder if the driver frame rail is bent so that the gear is now somewhat out of design position. Also in your first picture you can see the A-pillar and the positioning of the instrument cluster. I would suggest getting another 1968 Vette side by side with yours. Then closely compare how the instrument cluster matches the A-pillar. It does appear that the entire instrument cluster could be tipped.


The plastice panels in the following drawing are just following the instrument cluster. The steering column is following the attachements at the gear and the dash panel.


Jim

 

Here's a few 68 int pics I took at some cruises etc... Hope they help.
Glenn

 

Looks okay to me. You have to remember that's a 16" diameter steering wheel.

What's your trim code? I can't quite read the trim tag, but it looks like gun metal.

Very nice.

 

I'm sure that the steering metal pipe under the plastic covers not in the center of them so it's look like bent, take half of the plastic cover out and see if it in the center.
Avner

 

Nah. You're looking at one-year-only, otherwise poor fitting, stock 68 steering column trim.

 

The steering tube is straight but not centered up and down through the dash.


With so much else to do this will have to go on the back burner for now.

As long as it is safe to drive I will probably leave it, (as long as I don't gain a lot of weight).

I'm working on pulling the motor when it's out I can get a better look at the frame and steering gear.

 

I even put an aftermarket smaller diameter steering wheel in my '72 and it was not very much above my thighs. Ended up buying a tilt-tele column, rebuilding it, and installing it - much better now!

 

I also thought about a tilt column, it seems like the best solution.