So I was driving to work the other day and noticed either the steering wheel was getting closer, or the assembly with the turn signal and flasher unit was getting father away. Turns out it was the latter.



Am guessing a circlip or something has busted allowing the assembly and that part of the column to slide down into the outer column. Have tried looking at assembly and other manuals I have but couldn't find a useable exploded view of the column.

Anyone out there know whats broken and able to give me any clue on how to fix it?

Azza

 

Looks like the upper bearing is trashed- The race appears to be the silver colored piece right below the cancelling cam.
Where did the ball bearings go?

It's been a while since I've looked at the early style (no key) columns but it does appear that outside of the bearing, something else is missing as the sleeve assembly shouldn't be "free-floating". Do you have the GM Shop manual for the car? Those usually provide a fairly detailed exploded diagram of the steering columns.

 

WOW....I'm glad that you and the car are still in one piece! Being a rookie I have no suggestions.

Under the hood.....does it look as though anything in that area has come aloose?

I would guess it's about a 4 hour repair (with a good repair manual)

And if you do the repair---TAKE PICS/NOTES AS YOU DISASSEMBLE THE COLUMN!!!!

 

Jim Shea has forgotten more about steering columns than most of us are ever going to know. He's the man.

FWIW: you have the optional telescoping column.

 

Looking at my 68 Olds Service manual (GM columns are all pretty much identical expect for length), it appears there are 3 long screws that attach the turn signal switch to the bearing housing and thread into a "lock plate" below the bearing housing, which appears to be what holds this whole mess together.
My guess is that either these 3 screws are missing or have backed out all the way causing the assembly to slide down OR someone has been in that column before and the lock plate is broken/missing altogether and the sleeve was only being held in place by the upper bearing-

 

This is something I found on Jim's papers. Might help.
http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/wp-co...v03SE20121.pdf

 

Given it's a 68 I can guarantee that someone has messed with the column in the past, along with almost everything else in the car. I'll take a look into the steering papers and see if it's possible to replace the apparently missing bearing.

 

Ok so checked and that is the bearing housing still intact, albeit with slightly crunchy bearings inside it. Now I'm guessing it is supposed to be attached to the outer column housing somehow, maybe a press fit?. Given I'm going to have to replace it anyway I guess I'll find out when I take it all apart. I'll check on the status of teh lock plate, if it exists, then.

 

I have been out of state for a short time. So I just got back.
The upper bearing on a 1967-68 GM steering column is typically pressed into the housing (#8) and a lip on the housing spun over to lock the bearing in place.

One problem that bothers me. The steering shaft (#20) is made in two pieces so that it can collapse in a severe frontal collision. There is pretty generous overlap between the solid upper shaft and the tubular lower shaft that extends down under the hood to the coupling on the steering gear. The upper shaft should also be staked to prevent it from pulling out from the tubular lower shaft.


I would think that you should not be able to pull your steering wheel, upper steering shaft, and bearing out of the rest of the column as far as you are showing if the stake is proper. Also there should be a clamp on the tubular lower steering shaft on the lower end of the column. Possibly the clamp is loose and you are able to draw the shaft back up into the column jacket.


Here is the location of two papers on the 1967-68 Corvette Steering Column.
http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/?p=975

I just noticed in your picture that you have a 1968 telescoping column. Since they are quite rare, I just didn't look closely enough at the picture to see the telescope locking ring just under the horn cap and assumed your column was the standard non-adjustable type. I am going to have to revise the above because I thought we were talking about a non-adjustable column. (The two types of columns are somewhat different.)

I have a doctor appointment shortly and will have to get back on this tonight.
Jim

 

Thanks for your input on this Jim. And yes, finding info on yet another one year only 68 part is always challenging. I think where you mention that the bearing should be pressed into the housing is where I should start on this. While it is still pressed onto the actual inner column, it has separated from the housing that attached to the upper outer column. As it is a telescoping column, this outer column looks designed to move back and forth anyway, but while still attached to the inner column via the upper bearing it would seem.

Below is a pic with the lower covers removed and the housing pulled back up to where it should normally be. You can see where the upper column and cabling is actually designed to slide in and out of the lower/wider housing which is the bit that is bolted to the underside of the dash.

So what I think is once I get a replacement upper bearing, pull the steering wheel hub assembly, and the housing apart I'm hoping to find that the upper housing will press up over the new bearing and those tabs you mentioned can be folded over to lock it in place again.

 

Here is the address for two papers that discusses the 1967 and 1968 Corvette telescoping steering columns. I suggest that you download at least paper #1.
http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/?p=975

Now let's also start with the correct blowup of the 1978 Corvette telescoping steering column. (The blowup is also in the paper above.)

On the telescoping column, the steering shaft is in two pieces (#30 & #31). They are designed to telecope over each other and allow the driver to set the steering column (and steering wheel) several inches toward and away from the driver.

As they telescope, the bearing housing #5, turn signal switch #4, signal switch cover #6, and upper tube and flange #8 all telescope with the upper steering shaft #31.

First of all, does your upper bearing need to be replaced? Missing *****, gritty feeling as it rotates, corrosion, etc could mean a new bearing is required. If your bearing looks and feels good possibly you can reuse it.

The telescoping column has the upper bearing that is supposed to be a press fit into the bearing housing #8. The bearing was originally pressed into the housing and a small lip on the housing was spun over and was supposed to retain the bearing. (Obviously not on your column.) You could try carefully gluing the bearing case into the housing with epoxy glue. You can also attempt to peen over any remaining housing material that might lock the bearing into place as well.

The ideal thing would be to purchase a new or refurbished aluminum housing with a new bearing already installed. Paper #1, page #6 has a supplier listed. Hopefully he still has a new bearing and/or bearing and housing available.

In your picture the blue column unit that is sticking out of the instrument cluster should be free to slide (or telescope.) It appears to be about 1 inch toward the driver from the cluster. Can you make the unit slide into and out of the cluster? When you reinstall the bearing or the new housing and bearing that unit should telescope with the steering shaft.

Hope that this helps,
Jim

 

Thanks Jim, It helps a lot. I was working my way through the paper but I was looking at the non/telescoping diagram wondering why mine looked different. A new bearing is definitely needed as the existing one is a bit crunchy and I'm guessing the extra resistance is maybe what helped it work its way out of the housing. Or maybe a previous owner has a mess round with it at some stage which is likely as when I purchased the car the telescope lock ring and related components were installed in the wrong order effectively clamping it locked when the steering wheel had been fitted!

Cheers,
Azza

 

Checking it over at the weekend the lip on the housing that held the bearing in had mostly sheared off and there was a thin sliver just still hanging on. Have ordered a new bearing and rather than try and find a nos or good used housing with enough material left on it I'm going to try and modify mine slightly to work. Plan is to drill and tap a hole or two in the side of it and use screws to hold the new bearing in place via the indentation around the side of the bearing. Maybe a bit of epoxy glue in the housing first wouldn't go astray either given how loose the fit is around the current bearing.



Cheers,
Aaron

 

If things don't work out, I have a friend with a NOS 68 tele column, around $900 but, it's brand new never used.

 

How did your repair go, I am struggling with same issue....

 

Repair has held up fine over the years. I did end up carefully drilling the housing in 2 places and tapping the holes to put little cone point grub screws in to hold the bearing in place. Due to the recess in the side of the bearing it held it in there nicely.

 

Good to know! By any chance, do you have any pictures of how you solved it? In my thread, I have attached a YouTube video on what my situation looks like. Feel free to check it out: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...elescopic.html