Hi, I was wondering, Has anyone replaced their 77 tilt/tele steering column with an older one with the longer column? every other mod seems possible, so thought maybe this would be, also? or maybe this falls in the dumb question/ or too expensive to be worth the trouble, category, and i should just buy an older car...lol

 

Not really clear why you would want the wheel even closer to you. But it will certainly fit.
Your biggest issue is of course what are you going to do about a wiper switch and high / low beam switches?

 

I wouldn't mind getting rid of the tilt-tele for a steering column that doesn't have play in it.

Do some 76 columns do what you want? I thought that when a 76 (Vega) steering wheel ended up in a 77 or later car, it was because that was the non tilt-tele column. Then you just need to change the wheel (with an adapter).

Perhaps you just need to find a Vega wheel column from a 77 or later car?

 

One of the biggest improvements in '77 IMO was taking 2" out of the column.

Unless you have T-Rex arms it's a much better driving position....

 

i can reach the wheel, haha, but this one is loose, and i liked the way my 73 wheel kinda sat in my lap..

 

And it's your car! And you can do whatever you wish.
And yes a earlier column will fit into your car.
But you do need to give serious thought to what you will do about switches the earlier column doesn't have. And your car doesn't have provisions for elsewhere.
I would think this would also devalue your car as well.

 

Are steering wheels from year-to-year interchangeable?

 

Yes, all but the red-headed step child, 1976.

 

I may have a Vega steering wheel, but mine does say Stingray on the side...

 

Yes, the 69-76 tilt tele column will fit. As mentioned above, you'd have to figure out some way to make your wipers and lights work, which would likely also require some substantial changes to the dash harness. I can't think of anyway to easily install wiper and light switches in a 77 dash, short of replacing the front dash panels and center gauge cluster with parts from an earlier year? As far as expense, have you priced a restored 69-75 column? The going rate these days seems to be in the $2500-$4500 range, and even unrestored ones going for $1500-$2000.

Column's can be rebuilt to remove that looseness. Chances are if you found a 69-76 column that hadn't been rebuilt it will be just as loose as the column you have (68 columns are completely different and shouldn't even be considered). The looseness in columns comes from a combination of using the tilt/tele function, and the stress put on the tilt knuckle and other moveable parts inside the column from years of pulling on the wheel to use the column as leverage when climbing in and out of these cars.

All 67-82 Corvette steering wheels have the same screw and spoke pattern, except 1976 columns, and 1977-79 straight columns. Both 76 columns and the 77-79 straight columns use the so called "Vega" wheel, but there is a kit to easily convert the 76 T&T column to use the 69-75 hub and 69-82 steering wheels. I believe the 76-79 straight columns can be converted to, using a hub, horn contact, etc from 69-75 straight column, but there's no kit to do this and I've never looked into exactly what parts would be needed.

 

Thanks for confirming! A 77-79 straight column is exactly what I need. Then an adapter to fix the steering wheel.

Speaking of which, couldn't a buddy with a lathe and a mill make an adapter to move tthe OP's steering wheel closer?

 

Possibly, but the stock T&T hub that's hidden by the telescoping bell is already about an inch to inch and a half thick, and when the wheel is extended to it's full length the bell barely covers the top of the column. If the hub was thicker or had a spacer added to it, at full extension there would be a noticeable gap between the bell and the top of the column exposing the inside of the column. I guess a second bell could be cut up and welded together to make a longer bell, but when collapsed it would likely make contact with the flare in the column where the ignition switch sits. The other issue with adding a spacer would be how to extend the horn eyelet/spring/insulator to reach the contact/canceling cam to make the horn function properly.

 

If a steering column is wobbly...it might just be loose screws inside. Or it could be worn pin/bushings too.