Ideally, I would be using a custom ididit or Flaming River or something, but the
budget is probably going to talk me into using a late 70s GM van column from a
junkyard. It's not a huge concern for me right now, though, because I have a
while
before I have to decide.
Mark
Lee Glenn wrote:
> Wow, what a story! I've gotta ask though, what are you going to use as a new
> steering column?
>
> I've gotta figure out something fast for my '49. I don't have my old one, but
> that's okay as I would like key in the column, intermittent wiper and signal
> controls as well as column shift. Anybody have any suggestions? What is too
> long/short? Where do you measure?
>
> THanks a bunch.
> -Lee
>
> Mark Mintmier wrote:
>
> > Yes, get a wheel puller. I wish someone would have impressed this upon me
>when
> > I removed my steering wheel. I recently finished removing EVERYTHING from
>my
> > 1950; it's down to a frame and wheels. Over the entire project, removing
>the
> > steering wheel was probably the most difficult step. Granted, I made it
> > infinitely more difficult than it should have been, but I still wish I would
> > have just purchased/borrowed/rented/etc. a wheel puller to start with. I
> > shouldn't tell anyone this, but at the risk of being laughed off the list,
> > here's what I did. After removing the nut from the steering column, I
>tried to
> > pull the wheel from the column. I'm a pretty strong guy and the seat and
> > everything was out, so how difficult could it be? Well, apparently I'm not
>as
> > strong as I thought because the wheel wouldn't budge. Next, being the
>frugal
> > (read that as stupid cheapskate), my next bright idea was to make a "wheel
> > puller." I found an old door hinge that had holes about the right distance
> > apart. I thought that I could put two bolts down through the holes in the
>hinge
> > into the threaded holes in the steering wheel and as I tightened the bolts,
>it
> > would pull the wheel up. In theory, it's not a bad plan. Too bad I wasn't
> > removing my steering wheel in theory. I didn't take into account what might
> > happen when the bolts reached the bottom of the tapped hole in the steering
> > wheel. What actually happens at this point is that the bolt snaps off in
>the
> > steering wheel. I suppose at this point that I could drill the bolt out and
> > then get a wheel puller, but there has to be an easier way, right. Now no
> > longer a cheapskate but still stupid, I go to the auto parts store and buy
>the
> > wheel puller that I should have purchased in the first place and a set of
>screw
> > extractors to remove the broken bolt. In case you're not familiar with
>screw
> > extractors, they are supposed to grab on to a broken bolt or screw because
>they
> > are counter threaded, but in reality, they are a cruel, cruel joke. I
>drilled a
> > small hole in the broken bolt and then tapped the smallest extractor into
>the
> > hole. When it was tight, I put a wrench on it and started to turn it. Of
> > course the screw extractor broke off in the hole that I just drilled in the
>bolt
> > that broke off in my steering wheel. Thinking that maybe it was my fault
> > because I didn't drill the hole deep enough, I drilled another deeper,
>longer
> > hole down through the broken bolt and a piece of a very hard screw
>extractor. I
> > tapped a bigger extractor into the new hole, put a wrench on it, and
>started to
> > turn it to work the broken bolt out of the hole. Even though I'm the only
>one
> > in the whole world who didn't know what was going to happen next, I'll tell
>you
> > anyway. The bigger screw extractor broke off in the hole in the bolt that
>had
> > broken off in my steering wheel. After calming down to the point where my
> > vocabulary returned from incoherent random words mainly consisting of four
> > letters, I decided that maybe it was time to try the wheel puller. I
>proceeded
> > to drill out the broken bolt, but this was now a problem because the the
>bolt
> > had already been mostly drilled out, and now I had to drill through a very
>hard
> > broken screw extractor. There was no way to get a hole started in the
>middle of
> > the screw extractor, so the new hole that I drilled was slightly off center
>from
> > the old hole. The next order of business was to thread the new hole that I
>just
> > drilled. It's worth mentioning that the metal in the steering wheel is very
> > hard, and I have a very inexpensive tap and die set (see cheapskate note
> > above). Of course my tap would not cut threads into the hole that I
>drilled.
> > After much effort and several different methods, I was able to get one of
>the
> > steering wheel puller bolts to hold in the new hole. The problem now was
>that
> > since the two holes were no longer lined up, after a few cranks on the
>steering
> > wheel puller, it would slip off the steering shaft. At this point I may not
> > have been thinking clearly, but I whipped out the reciprocating saw. As I'm
> > sure you've now come to expect, all I had was a wood-cutting blade. Now
> > encouraged that I finally have an idea that might work regardless of the
>cost, I
> > head off to WalMart to buy some metal-cutting blades. I came back to the
> > garage, fired up the saw, and cut through top of the steering shaft and
>most of
> > the steering column. I knew that I wouldn't be re-using the original
>steering
> > column, but somewhat regret that I destroyed it. After I got the steering
>wheel
> > off, it still had a small length of the steering shaft in it. I put it in a
> > vice and tapped on it with a hammer. Obviously it popped right out. The
>moral
> > of this long-winded story? Get a wheel puller. After my ordeal, someone
>told
> > me that I could have tried putting the nut back on the end of the steering
>shaft
> > and pulling on the wheel with all my might while someone else smacked the
>nut
> > with a rubber mallet. They said that sometimes the jolt is enough to
>loosen the
> > wheel while pressure is being applied. I guess I'll never know if this
>really
> > works. I almost hope that it doesn't, though.
> >
> > Mark Mintmier
> > 1950 3100 (down to the frame, but missing a steering column)
> >
> > Eugene Powell wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > > Can anyone tell me if I have to use a puller to get my steering wheel off
>the
> > > column? My son and I are trying to get the truck ready for sand blasting.
> > >
> > > G. Powell
> > > 54 Chevy truck
> > > oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
> > oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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