I am looking into replacing the original steering column in my 53 K body. It has a GM automatic trans. Has anybody done this? If so, what vendor and part did you use? Thanks for your help.
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Be sure to use a "non-tilt" assembly...unless you want to modify the Stude shaft with a rag joint or other coupler of some kind.
I just last weekend replaced the column/mast in my 54 wagon. I changed the box to a later box which required the column to also be changed.
For such a simple assembly, those square headed bolts were a pain to get into place...!
Anyway, verify the diameter of the shaft vs. the diameter of the column bearing is compatable, along with the overall length. You also won't be able to use a GM steering wheel without cutting and welding the upper part of the shaft to GM dimentions.
Might just be easier to change the gear selector indicator to the GM pattern. Me, I'm using a floor shifter to make all that as easy as it can get...!
Have fun
Mike -
My Josephine had a 3-speed manual & now has a 904 auto & I just used one of the original things sticking out from the shaft for the gear-rod from the gearbox & then I'm gonna (haven't had the time yet) make my own little point-arm on the moving part & a window with markings on the other.
Or maby I go for some already made stuff from the junkyard, time will tell.
That's my kinda fun...
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If you car was a 3spd, you could swap out the column parts for a '53-'56 automatic column (but must be from a C/K, sedan are shorter). Then, the shift indicator from a early-mid 60s Jeep Wagoneer with AT will swap out for the stude one. The chrome bezel on '62 (maybe earlier) to '66 studes is the exact same part used on those Jeeps but the Jeep will have a plastic insert lens with PRND21 on it where the studes are PNDLR.
The hard part to find is the Jeep insert with the PRND21 on it. Took me a couple years to find a decent one. I toyed with making one from scratch from a sheet of lexan and programming a circuit board router at work carve the letters in before I found one.
More reading here:
Last edited by Jeff_H; 07-17-2013, 06:20 AM.
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