wnmech

had my steering column apart to change the column locking cylinder and put everything back together I think properly but my telescoping steering wheel wont or either I dont know how to make it lock. How do I make it lock into position or possibly what did I do wrong? This is a 77 corvette.

Aflac

the telescopic should lock by turning the little wheel directly behing the center cap of the steering wheel to the right.

Vette Gator

Two things to check:

1. When you re-install the star screw, make sure it is tightened down, then align the outer ring toward its most clockwise setting (put the outer tab around 2 o'clock if your ring has one). If the star screw isn't tightened down enough when you install the outer ring, you won't be able to get it tight and lock the telescope.

2. Make sure that you didn't lose the small rod (4" X 0.218" diameter) that goes down the gun-drilled upper shaft that you removed (the section that actually connects to the steering wheel). If this is missing, the star screw has nothing to push against and you will never be able to lock the column.

You can quickly check to see which of the two problems might be yours by taking off the horn cap, horn contact and outer ring, then use a Phillips screwdriver to screw in the star screw. If you can now lock the shaft, just follow #1. On the other hand, if the star screw bottoms out in the shaft the and telescope still won't lock, you are probably missing the lock rod. If you can't find yours, send me a PM and I'll mail my extra one to you (the replacement part was 1/8" too short for my 76 T&T column so I made my own on a lathe).

wnmech

Thanks gator from what you just told me evidently when I had the thing apart I must of dropped the lock rod. Tomorrow I will look inside the car and hopefully will find it. Is there anyway that rod could of fallen internally inside the column to where it cant be found? The star screw bottoms out and the telescoping still wont lock. If I find the lock rod can I remove the star screw and just insert the rod inside that shaft or do I have to remove the wheel and column locking mechanism to reinstall the locking rod? If I cant find the rod I will PM you and purchase the rod from you. Thanks the troubleshooting info you gave should do the trick

Jim Shea

You will not have to remove the steering wheel or hub in order to replace the locking rod. Once you have removed the star screw, it will drop right in.

The reason that WNMECH's replacement rod was too short is most likely because he was sent a replacement rod for a 1977 through 1982 column. The rod for a 1969 through 1976 column was longer. His shorter rod should work in your 1977.

I will add a large CAUTION note to my T&T Disassembly and Repair papers to alert people to the possibly of the rod falling out when you remove the column from the car. Lost rods have been a fairly common problem.

Jim

comp

1971corvette

since I saw the rod size diameter in this post,I thought I would ask here

ok I am missing the rod and also the small ( wedge ) that the rod pushes on at the bottom.

I would like to know if someone can tell me the correct lenght for a 1971 column and also make a drawing of the wedge with demensions for it .

Thanks in advance for any help

Vette Gator

WNMECH - no, the rod can't drop further down into the column as long as the D-shaped wedge is still in the slot on the upper shaft. As Jim said, you don't need to pull everything out. Just get to the star screw, remove it and drop the rod in. Don't worry about buying the rod from me if you need it. At this point, my column is fixed and it's just a spare piece. I'm happy to send it to someone who can use it.

1971Corvette - I can't help you with the D-shaped wedge dimensions, but I made the rod 0.218" in diameter and started at 4.75" long from some quarter inch drill rod. The starting length was too long and made the star screw stick out too far. I cut off the end until the star screw was tight when 1/16" before bottoming out in the upper shaft. One trick I discovered was that during the adjustment, I had to put the rod in, check the length, then remove it for shortening. Normally, getting it out would require taking out the C-clamp. This is a pain. What I found was that you could hold a magnet at the end of the upper shaft, then pop the shaft in. The rod would "slip" and get caught on the magnet, making it easy to pull out.

wnmech

Guys I am at work now reading your replies. Last night I took out the star screw and inserted a punch into the hole that the star screw was removed from and the hole is not any deeper than the length of the star screw. When I get home in a couple of hours while I still have daylight I will look on the floor for that rod or maybe my rod is stuck far down the shaft and I am going to stop at the Chevy house and pick up a parts diagram. I sure appreciate the help I will keep you all advised on what I did wrong. Thanks for all help.

Jim Shea

According to the Dr Rebuild websight, there are three different length locking rods for T&T columns. There is one rod for 1969 to 1976 columns. A special length rod for 1977. Another length rod for 1978 to 1982. I can provide information on the last two rods.

1977 length = 3.4 inches
1978-1982 length = 3.7 inches

I think that I will be able to provide the length of the 1969 to 76 rod in a few days.

I can't provide any dimensions on the locking wedge.

It shows up on the Dr. Rebuild websight as;
69-82 Shaft Locking Wedge 6521176

There is also a small bumper called out on his websight;
69-82 Upper Shaft Locking Wedge Bumper 6521178

Looking at my assembly drawings, I don't see any bumper between the locking rod and the wedge.

Jim

wnmech

Jim I measured my locking rod to be3 3/4 inches long which appears to be between both measurements. I dont see your posts still on dr rebuilds site. Anyway when I tore everything apart again when I pull the main shaft out of the steering column I did some playing around and found if I turn the keyway around on the shaft rod I can tighten down the telescoping mechanisn but the star washer sticks out too far to put the small screws in. When I turn the key around to where the locking rod hits the flat portion of the keyway that the star screw bottoms out without locking the telescoping mechanism. I am sure that the column was working alright before I replaced the ignition key. I am sure this is somethingI am goofing up. Worst case senario I will have to make my own rod to fit my needs. Anymore suggestions?

Vette Gator

Hmmm. I wonder whether there is supposed to be a bumper between the lock rod and the wedge, as mentioned by Dr. Rebuild. This would explain why the rod lengths quoted are quite a bit shorter than the length of the one I needed. Since both my rod and bumper were gone before I got the car, I can't offer much more help. The system does work with a longer rod and no bumper, but apparently that's not the stock design.

wnmech

Gator. you are probably right either I lost something or it was missing. I think I am going to do is what you mentioned in your earlier post about getting a generic rod and cut it to size. The rod I have is about 3 34th in length I think if I lenghten a rod to 4 inches I should be alright. It will be trial and error and has been all along with this project car. I guess you must expect challenges when buy a project car. You guys have been great with all the help. I will post my final repairs.

Jim Shea

The Corvette bumper situation is quite confusing to me as well. I have closely inspected all of my Corvette steering column engineering drawings (1969 through 1982) and none of them show a bumper between the wedge and the locking rod. Yet several of the generic blowup drawings that are in Chevrolet shop manuals do show a bumper.

Here is what I am thinking; a steering column that was designed to use a bumper would have had a locking rod that was a bit shorter than a T&T column that didn't have a bumper.

Now I am sure that a lot of Saginaw T&T columns probably didn't have a bumper. With a bumper installed, it might have made the "feel" with respect to locking the telescope feature somewhat smoother. I would imagine that removing the bumper and just making the locking rod a bit longer probably saved GM some money. So my guess is that some of the early Corvette columns may have had a bumper, the later ones may not.

If you had a column that was designed for a bumper, it is quite probable that the locking rod would be too short if you put it back together without the bumper. I have had the bumper described as being small, made of rubber, with a thin metal case. I don't ever recall seeing one.

Even though the Dr. Rebuild websight lists the bumper as 1969-1982, I am quite sure that it wasn't used throughout all of those years.

At least creating a replacement locking rod out of an old 0.21 diameter drill and grinding it to the correct length is not all that difficult.

Jim

eseel

I am having this same issue with my telescoping wheel. I have a 76 and bought the column conversion kit. All my parts are new and seems to be going together fine. However when I tighten the start screw, with the adjustment ring all the way to the right, It never locks the column. Even when I tighten it as much as possible. In you reply you mentioned in number 2
"Make sure that you didn't lose the small rod (4" X 0.218" diameter) that goes down the gun-drilled upper shaft that you removed (the section that actually connects to the steering wheel). If this is missing, the star screw has nothing to push against and you will never be able to lock the column."
Do you have a picture of this rod? It is the only thing I can think of that may be missing?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mooser

Rather than tacking onto a 15 year old thread, consider starting a new one for your issue and get a fresh set of inputs
M

Sabre34

It would be better to start a new thread.