Hello all. I am working on my steering column in my 81'. It was always kind of loose in the joint, and I didn't like it that way, so I decided to tear into it, and I probably shouldn't have. :eek: I was so careful to make sure I took it slow and mark everything as to how it came out and goes in and all that, but now I discovered an extra part during reassembly. I put the outer housing back on that goes together with the part that the turn signal lever is inside of, it is held in with three larger size screws, then the turn signal mechanism, (the white plastic part with all the wires coming out of it that actually turns when you move the lever) goes inside of that. Well, when I went to put that all back in it was hanging from the wires because it is too hard to take them out. So I put the outer housing on, then I go to put the turn signal switch mechanism back in there and there, underneath the mechanism lies a little spring steel spring thing. It is about an inch long, and kind of crescent shaped, about 3/16" thick. Anyhow, i need to know where that goes. Does anybody have a good schematic of this part that would show where this goes? It would probably have to be more than your normal repair manual for detail like this. Thanks.

-Justin

 

Dalannex,

Several excellent articles by Jim Shea at Corvette FAQ that cover the steering columns.

http://www.corvettefaq.com/steering.asp

 

From the sound of what you say there I THINK it's a turn signal cancelling spring...acts as sort of a one way clutch against the white/cream colored turn signal cam wit horn brass contact on it....the spring mounts in the white switch itself between a fixed and a movable part....there are actually 2 of them....referr to Jim's diagrams.....

GENE

 

I see that there is a lot of good information in there, but my computer doesn't like to open any of them for some reason. Anybody got a schematic on file that they could email me?????

-Justin

 

I think that there are two flat springs that work on the turn signal switch. One brings the switch back to neutral and also detents it there. The other spring loads the hazard warning portion of the switch. They are over on the 3 o'clock side of the switch and they mount at 90 degrees to each other. I have sent you a scan of the switch to your eMail address.

 

Do these help? click for larger images





I have my 71 column into every single part possible. I'm gogin to be sure to take a bunch more pics and forward them onto Jim. Maybe he can use them in conjunction with his papers on the column. A picture is worth a 1000 words when it comes to vette restoration :D

 

OK. Here's what I found. I logged onto Corvettefaq.com at work and printed off three pages of schematics and found that my little spring thing was actually the key warning buzzer switch clip.......so I put that in and continued. I found out that I was missing the upper bearing inner race seat (Bubba has been here too :smash: ) and the shaft lock cover, so i need to find those two items. Anyhow, I got past this hurdle. I have been communicating with Jim Shea via email and just want to say that he has to rank right up there with Lars'. Jim is certainly a man that we can be proud to have as part of our community. Thanks to the rest of you as well.

Monkeywrench, thanks for the pics. What is the problem with your column? Mine was that the column was loose and sloppy, I think that the upper bearing inner race seat was gone and not holding the race inside of the bearing. Now to find the missing pieces. :lol:

-Justin

 

Similar problem here. It was loose and sloppy. Once I got it apart I found many of the plastic parts cracked or in several small parts. I ended up finding a donor colum at a swap meet pretty cheap and canabalized it for some parts. Without Jim's papers I don't think I'd have gotten this far.

 

The inner race seat is available through GM dealers it is 7804909 and costs about $10.00. A pretty obscene price. (But of course it is brand new!)

T&T columns didn't have shaft lock covers. The picture description posted at corvettefaq.com was showing both tilt as well as T&T blowups. I will correct the picture.

Jim Shea

 

Thanks Jim. I'll call up my local chevy dealer and get it on order.

-Justin

 

Terry Rudy has already posted my corrected Disassembly Instructions - Page #1. It now sports the revision date 23FE03 so you know if you have the most up to date posting. We are trying to put revision dates on all new postings for that reason. I just wish that more people would take advantage of http://www.corvettefaq.com :thumbs:

 

Yeah, it is a great site. Everybody here should check it out. My local Chevy dealer got that little part on order. Now I have to wait until Friday to get it. :yesnod: And I'm just itchin' to get it all back together and feel my nice tight steering column. :cool: I made a tool to press the column lock plate down so that I can get that C clip in. I'll have to post some pics of that when i get a new battery for my digital camera. (rechargeable this time) :D

-Justin