I've read Jim Shea's steering papers and think I have identified where the play is in my steering column, but I'm not 100% sure I've interpreted his diagnostic procedure correctly. Here's what I did.

I noticed that I had play in my steering wheel before I decided to remove my interior to change it to black. Once I removed the steering wheel, horn assembly and telescoping hardware I could see that I had about 1/8" total play in the steering column. I measured this by marking a center line on the hub that holds the steering wheel and then rotated the hub back and forth while holding a ruler over the mark.

Now if I'm reading Jim's papers correctly, radial play in the steering column is caused by loose/worn pivot pins. Am I correct in this and if so how much of a PITA is it to take apart the steering column to fix this? Also, is 1/8" of play even worth fixing as it doesn't really bother me but I'm concerned that if I don't fix it, more problems may arise.

 

I am trying to understand the problem from your description and I am getting confused. You say that you removed the steering wheel, horn parts, and telescope hardware. I assume your steering wheel hub is still on the upper steering shaft. You marked the hub and now it rotates 1/8 inch back and forth. Without the telescoping feature locked, (i.e. the star screw installed and torqued) you will be feeling clearances between the telescoping parts, (the upper steering shaft and the yoke shaft.)

If your problem is truly a rotational looseness then there are several places that could be the culprits. The first place to look would the the flexible coupling assembly. Check the condition of the rubber disc. Looks for cracks or fractures in the disc. Check the condition of the stop pins. Is there any noticeable wear on the pins?

Make sure the steering shaft is locked from telescoping. Now hold the steering column flange on the steering column steering shaft. Now try and rotate the steering wheel back and forth. Can you feel any looseness inside the steering column? If there is noticeable rotational looseness there are two places where it can occur.

One is at the plastic spheres where the steering column head pivots. Looseness can be eliminated by removal of the entire steering shaft from the column. Disassemble the upper steering shaft from the lower shaft at the tilt spheres. Tap the yoke ears with a mallet. Do not tap on them with too much force. The complete procedure is covered in D&R Paper #3 pages 7 & 8.

The other place that looseness could occur would be the injection molding process where the tubular lower steering shaft meets the solid yoke shaft. This is the connection of the two parts down in the area of the ignition switch. There is not a specified method of repairing the plastic joint. Here are my ideas: You could try injecting epoxy glue into the joint to fill any gaps inside. Or you could try to drill out the plastic injection sprue in the holes in the lower steering shaft. Then insert short plastic pins of the same diameter as the sprue to hold the two steering shafts together at their correct overall length. Length of the complete steering shafts (for various years) are provided in D&R Paper #3, page 8.

Please do not even think of taking the easy way out and inserting screws or metal pins where the two shafts come togther. This would truly lock the two steering shafts together and could cause the steering shaft to become a spear in a severe frontal collision.
Jim