My '73 does not have tilt/tele and has the stock steering wheel. I don't like the positioning and it is too close to me even with the seat all the way back. It is a 4 speed car so I have to move the seat forward a couple notches to push the clutch pedal all the way in. It is also kind of in the way when getting in and out of the car. I do plan on replacing the wheel with a smaller diameter fatter rim racing type wheel which should make it a little easier to get in and out but will still be too close. I would like to replace the column with a tilt/tele but got to thinking it might be easier (and cheaper) to just shorten my column. You can see in the photo below that there is about 3 inches between the dash and where the column fattens up. If I could push the column back those 3 inches I think it would be fine. The distance between the top of the steering wheel rim and the dash is 8 inches.



The shaft is a double D so seams like it would be easy to cut 3" out and reinsert in the joint.







My '79 does have tilt/tele along with a smaller wheel. It measures 6 inches from top of dash when extended and 5 inches when pushed all the way in. Much easier to get in and out and the wheel is in a comfortable position. Sometimes I think I should just convert the '79 to stick shift and sell the '73.

 

If I am understanding you correctly, make sure if you cut 3" off the D=D shaft that your fingers to not rub any part of the dash while making turns. A Machinist can re-cut the flats of the D=D shaft to make it function properly in case of an accident. The plastic shroud that enters under the dash can also be cut shorter, but be careful that it isn't too short (ask me how I know)
I would buy a smaller diameter steering wheel AS A LAST RESORT to solve the problem (unless you have dependable power steering).

There also is the matter of the lower steering shaft bearing that may need to be moved ""up the shaft" which is no big deal.

 

Guys, I rebullt my steering column last year and installed a Borgeson box. You can not shorten the steering column inside the car by cutting the "D" shaft. The column has welded mounts. There's a mount that bolts it to the bottom of the dash and a flange the mounts it to the firewall. The D shaft is also designed so that it can actually be tapped up into the housing to shorten it and is required when instaling a Borgeson box. It can be shortened in this manner but it won't shorten anything inside the car. Also, the lower bearing can't be driven up into the column as there is an inside shoulder that makes that impossible to do. The ONLY way to shorten the column on the inside would be to buy a shorter, universal GM column and fabricate some new mounts.