Hey folks,
I just raised my TR from a several-year-long slumber in the garage, and
remembered that the steering column bushings were original and shot, so I
pulled the column, painted it, replaced the inner rubber bushings and outer
felt mounts, switch plinths, and plinth decals for the turn sigs and
headlights, reassembled everything and topped it with a new Moto Lita wheel.
Everything went fine, except there is still some very minute but noticeable
play between the steering shaft and the inner rubber/plastic bushings (ie, if
I hold the wheel at 3 and 9 and push up and down, I can feel some play). Is
this normal? I've owned the car since 1982 and the bushings were never tight
when I had the car. The new ones are much better than the old, but still not
like a car with ball bearings in the column. I can live with it if it's
normal. I also discovered that the spring clip used to secure the outer
column in the upper column clamp allows twisting of the outer column even
with all-new felt mounts. I removed the clip and replaced it with a piece of
felt, and the outer column is now very solid, but would move if impacted hard
enough in a crash. I also found that common hardware store allen bolts
replace the ignition switch shear bolts perfectly. (I'm not concerned about
my 6 being stolen. I switch off the battery and put a "club" on the steering
wheel whenever I park it anywhere.) I plan to start a total restoration when
my BMW 2002 is finished in June.
TIA for any insight on the bushings!
Colin
'71 TR-6 (CC66680L)
'72 2002 (2585019)
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