my whacked column rebuild

[Raider L]

I tried the top plate and put the bolts in the holes and they were fine.

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You can see the elongation of the holes in the disc I had to do.

 

[Raider L]

In the above photo of me running the rat tail through the holes, I was using a medium speed and went back and forth through the holes. I would push the file to the side, Left then Right while going back and forth at the same time with the file. Also, the small size of this file allowed me to keep the holes about the same size of the holes that were in the disc new. I felt enlarging the holes may cause the disc to slide under load while steering. I don't know if that would happen but I have some intuition about these things from time to time. It has kept me out of trouble in the past so I listen to that little voice telling me, "You're about to screw up."

 

[Raider L]

Rag joint repaired. I'm waiting for the second rag joint kit to come so I can put the two posts in that are both large ones like the one I have put in here, but just for pics. The larger ones will be the ones I'll use.

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Top side this photo. This is the side the shaft bolts to.

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This photo,above, is of the bottom that faces the power steering pump.

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This photo, Left, is the side that faces the intermediate shaft. I reused the star washers that came off the factory rag joint. I don't know what they're for but I don't care I'm using them anyway. I like the bare metal look. I think I'll put some clear paint on these parts instead of painting them black. It's the black/shinny metal look.

 

[Raider L]

Bextreme04,

Yeah, the You Tube I watched, the guy had the pump out of the truck. Also, he was saying something about correcting slack in the Pitman arm shaft was set by the nut and allen head screw, and the input shaft the intermediate shaft connects to, it's slack was corrected by the big nut and the plug with the two holes in it. That made sense to me.

Is that how you understand it?

Yeah, I can't take my pump out. I'm to crippled now. I'll have to have the shop do it that will be building my front suspension. They'll be able to do it since they'll have most of that all off anyway. Plus they will be straightening out the frame on that side of the truck from being hit hard there back in 1984. It's been hard on suspension parts since. I had a guy pull on it with some chains he had buried in the floor of his shop but not all of it came out. That was in 1995.

 

[Raider L]

I got a whole bunch of parts today to start finishing the intermediate shaft and the rag joint rebuild. But in the new rag joint box I found this rag disc.

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This new disc is bent, curved. It wasn't laying in the package crooked or anything, it was bent.

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Looking closely at this piece it appeared it was cut out on the curve of the tire. On one side you could see cut marks where it was cut out and on the other side tread of the tire.

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Here's the tread or part of the side of the tire. I believe it was cut from the curve of the tire .

 

[Raider L]

My new gear indicator came in. The one in my truck had the pointer broke off. So I went to a wreaking yard and got another one, except I wasn't paying close enough attention to it and just chunked it in my box of my old steering column parts on the floor of my truck..The other week I got it out and was looking at it and realized the pointer was broke off of it to! So, I had to spend the bucks and get a whole new one but with it was a new loop that hooks it to the lower shifter housing and attaches to that slot. This is all new...YEA!

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[idahovette]

@Raider L Where did you get the PRNDLL indicator?

 

[Raider L]

Here's the two steering wheel adapters I have. The one on the Right is one I've had for some time. I knew it was wrong because it had a contact ring on the back I suppose it goes to some other kind of setup. That's okay. I can use the parts. So, I searched the internet more closely and found the one I needed.

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This photo below is of the Grant kit boxes like you see these adapters. If you need the adapter with the ring on the back the Grant kit is on the Right. The kind I have the Grant kit is on the Left

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[Raider L]

@idahovette,

I got it off of Ebay. But the address is from TRUCK Shop 739 N. Batavia St., Orange, CA 92868-1222 but you know how Ebay is, they don't like you to contact their venders. So let me see if I can steer you in how to find it. It's shown as 1973 1974 1975 1976 CHEVROLET GMC TRUCK SHIFT INDICATOR 3 SPEED AUTO #73-3510 Price $29.00 But there was a $10.00 shipping. I got it really fast to be coming from California though. I ordered it on Monday, Mar. 1 and it came today.

You may be able to find it by the price. You know I'm like everyone else, I'm not looking to spend any money for anything I need.

 

[Raider L]

Well, I got the intermediate shaft boot in today. It was to small! The vender said he couldn't confirm that it would fit. So, I'll have to call around to some of these people and find out what the problem is with these things.

Does anyone out there in the GM Square Body family know how to get the donut style boot? That's the type that goes to our trucks not the kind you clamp on the outside of the coupler on the shaft. I contacted a vender on line and told them that I looked on their sales site and looked through several hundred cars, and I mean to tell you it was every kind you can imagine.

And then when I typed in the year and all that, of my truck, it said, "this part does not fit your truck". REALLY?? It'll fit hundreds and hundreds of every kind of GM car but GM didn't make but a tiny handful of different boots for pickups?? And none of these venders carry not a single one that is exactly like the factory one I took off my truck? That's sure funny since all the ones I've looked at are exactly like the one that came off my truck.

Mine measures 2 3/16" in diameter. And the one I got measures 2" C'mon! Are you telling me that there isn't a single one that measures 2 3/16"?

 

[Raider L]

Well, here's the thing we're all wondering about, and what is going on with it.

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My coupler end measures 2 3/16" in diameter, or so.

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Here's the boot I got in yesterday. It measures 2". It's loose in the end of my coupler. I've left it in the bag so that I can get a refund, but it's easy to get a good measurement on it. And it is the donut type, not that bellows kind.

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You can kinda eyeball the difference in size here.

Let me tell you people, I will find something that will work. I'm known for my diligence in finding things. I don't give up, nor do I second best...ever! I'll make calls and I will go to where I believe I will find what I need. And when I find this thing or something that is exactly like it and it may not be for our truck or a car but it will be like what we need. And I will let everyone in this forum know who needs one what to look for and where to get it. I've already sent out a couple of emails to people to get them to take care of the needs of a customer.

 

[Raider L]

2 1/4" WHATEVER!! What difference does it make, it sure ain't 2"! It wouldn't matter if it's a sixteenth off, it ain't 2"!!

 

[Raider L]

Okay, tonight I was looking around and ended up on those guys from "67-72 Chevy Trucks" forum and there was a guy who got one off Ebay that he says fit his truck and it was for a 'Buick. So, I picked at random from the list of vehicles that this site showed and it was for a '72 Buick GS 350c.i. and it cost $27.21.
This site said it had 3000 vehicles on it. See, that's what I'm saying. There's no way our trucks have some kind of odd ball boot on them. There has to be one that fits that 2 1/4" size. I've changed my measurement to 2 1/4", not 2 3/16" I have taken a closer look at my ruler up against the end of the opening. Maybe for this car I'll get the right one.

 

[Raider L]

In the meantime I'll keep looking in the way I've had success at.

 

[Raider L]

@idahovette,

Tonight I was looking at my new Classic Parts catalog, for 73-87 Chevy trucks, ClassicParts.com, and came across the gear indicator you were asking me about the other day, that is in our trucks. Here's how it goes:
p/n 91-450 73-79 w/o overdrive * $34.95 ALL
p/n 91-451 80-83 w/o overdrive *(these are all the same indicator)
p/n 91-452 84-87 w/o overdrive *
p/n 91-453 82-83 w/overdrive
p/n 91-454 84-87 w/overdrive

I don't know what kind of truck you want it for so in case you want to go on their site you'll have the part numbers, that is if you want to pay the $34.95 for it. You can get it cheaper on Ebay.