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Annnnnd 4 hours/6 bolts later the steering column is mocked up. The clearance between the lower steering wheel and the seat cushion is the same as my 2021 Toyota Tacoma....easy to enter without getting trapped from the waist down!
The camera angle makes the gap look smaller. Next is the column bezel and the lower dash panel filler.
Then I have to get used to the"new" extra clearance and column angle
Annnnnd 4 hours/6 bolts later the steering column is mocked up. The clearance between the lower steering wheel and the seat cushion is the same as my 2021 Toyota Tacoma....easy to enter without getting trapped from the waist down!
The camera angle makes the gap look smaller. Next is the column bezel and the lower dash panel filler.
Then I have to get used to the"new" extra clearance and column angle
I'm working on month #7 of the Agent Orange respiratory problems. maybe this week I can get enough of a break to finish the steering column install ! Sure will be nice to restart the fiberglass work on the front clip
(Itch...Itch!)
Ohhh...to repeat myself...the V.A. denied me compensation for my spine injury. They concluded that the NVA soldier did NOT try to stick a bayonet through my back. TIME FOR AN APPEAL.
N E V E R do this unless you have a basketcase project!
When I moved the steering column 2" closer to the gauges it meant that I had to shorten the covers that fit over the column. The lower panel rasius the column fits into was already damaged so I had nothing to lose......
Taping the covers together to make rough cuts for fitting the column.......
The two halves are rough-cut to fit the column......
2 hours of trimming both halves,,,,,,,Rough-fitted into place........
Last edited by doorgunner; Feb 11, 2025 at 10:51 PM.
SINCE I'm within a day of finishing the dash I decided to let the ADHDXYZ have it's way.
After I cut 2" off the coil springs I've been having BAAAAAAD Bump Steer to the point the car tries to change lanes after hitting a pothole. A level shows the tie rod linkage is about 1 3/4" off...sample pic below....
In the pic the wheels are hanging, which is what my tie-rods look like with the car on the concrete....SO....
IF I replace the ball joints with steering heim joints....machine two tapered bushings...I can install the joints on top of the steering arms which will make the linkage level......
sample pic below.......
The heims will have 1/2" long spacers to allow full travel up/down.
TAAAA....DAAAAA !
I also bought a steering dampner years ago which I will install in place of the worn out original dampner.
Last edited by doorgunner; Feb 15, 2025 at 07:27 PM.
Man I wish I knew steering geometry. That’s one of those voo doo, wishcraft things I feel beneath. I’m gonna install new stuff, find a recommended alignment guy and then hope for the best. I have watched a few vids on the stuff, and may actually pay attention one day, but admire when someone can get all those numbers together. Nice drawing by the way! I definitely see all the parts there, just the numbers make me glazed over
That underside shot of yer ‘Vette… so clean!!!
Thanks to the Members who keep me going on this project.
Thanks to the Guests who check in on the project...now you know how NOT to do it!
Almost everything I have done to my car doesn't fit like it should and had to modify it in some form. That's how it goes nowadays for sure. Keep up the good work.
Almost everything I have done to my car doesn't fit like it should and had to modify it in some form. That's how it goes nowadays for sure. Keep up the good work.
Tell me about it! By the time I got the garage warmed from 40* to 70* the lower steering column cover didn't come close to fitting.
I had to remove the special brace I fabbed and elongated all the slots even more.
I still have some modifying to get the half-round end of the cover to blend with the column. The kick panel had to be trimmed along the top edge so it would reinstall using the same screwholes
I need to tuck away the yellow wire at the fuse block and the black subharness under the column/reinstall the brake pedal stainless trim.
That lowered fuse block sure is alot easier to get to now!
I will have to readjust the column lower cover again tomorrow to close the gaps along the lower dash panel opening. WHILE I'M AT IT....may as well replace the grimey 12 y.o. carpet that me and the PTSD ruined !!!
I stuck 3 fingers between the dash edge and the steering wheel to show how much higher and shorter the steering column is now. I will be able to slide my crunched vertebrae into the driver's seat a lot easier now
(Too bad GM didn't design the column higher and shorter to begin with...big/tall drivers would have really benefitted)
(Also a good thing this car was a basketcase for me to modify)
Last edited by doorgunner; Feb 18, 2025 at 06:00 AM.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
