Steering: How do I spruce up the inside of the steering column?

[studefan]

I removed the steering wheel and slide the steering column off the shaft on a 64 lark with 4 speed.

What should I do to clean it up before painting and reinstallation? The plastic turn signal piece seems OK. There is a greasy material over the top section that has goldish speckles in it (could be metallic?)

How do I restore this column? Should I remove all that grease and regrease? Is there something to spray to clean this up? What grease should I use?

Sorry for all the questions but I never done one of these before. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks much.

[studefan]

Just a bump to see if anyone has any suggestions for me. Thanks

[jclary]

If you have your parts manual, it would be good to examine the parts break down and check for lubrication points. As a general rule, I think that cavities like the inside of the steering jacket are fairly safe except for surface rust from condensate. Where possible, slathering a thin film of stable non-flowing grease can add protection from oxidation. If you have metal to metal contact where you see metal flakes...that needs cleaning and lubrication. It has been a while since I have had any of these parts exposed. Therefore, I can only give general suggestions without studying the parts book. This is another reason why it is so important to invest in the manuals.

[Mike Van Veghten]

Note -

DO NOT take the two (3/8th I think) nuts off unless you want a real challenge during the reassembly... I just changed the box and mast on my 54 wagon from the Ross to a Saginaw box. Had to piece the mast together from many various pieces, previously not in intimante contact (lotsa different parts).
Anyway, unless you like work, just clean up what's obvious if you like, regrease the turn signal mechansim (I used some heavy oil), don't take the whole thing apart. Doing this does'nt really do much anyway.

Have fun...

Mike

[studefan]

Good tips. Thanks. I will keep most of it together and just clean it up a bit.