So I put my bench seat in my Model A pickup and the steering wheel likes to be in my lap now. The easiest solution would be to adapt a tilt column to the F 1 truck steering gear but I am not sure when ford introduced a tilt option on their cars. Ideally I'd like to be able to have the mast jacket clamp on like a non tilt unit and mate the tilt steering shaft to the worm gear input shaft. Is there anything out there that would work and not look too street rod? Don't really care for the looks of the flaming river/Ididit stuff. The cab is channeled and chopped pretty heavy but I fit fine since I'm basically a midget but its the angle of the column that's the problem. RLFFRL
I have a factory tilt in my 66 Lincoln, always thought it would be a good option for an older car because it is narrow, looks like it isn't a tilt. I will post a picture in a day or two.
If you have a you-pick yard handy that gets older cars, the easiest and cheapest option would be to look for a 1968 or so or older car to show up with a tilt in it and buy that for the $25-$40 they seem to go for. Then all you need to do is cut the F1 shaft to length and use either a double-D or have the shaft machined to the same spline pattern as the donor column. With GM columns you can cheat and get a U-joint out of a 71-95 Chevy van column rather than spend big bucks on an aftermarket one - but it requires the small GM splines at both ends. If you don't have that kind of yard around or don't want to wait, the more common GM tilts bring around $150 plus usually around $40 to ship. Floor shift tilts without the key are more and the Riviera and Caddy tilt-tele can be super big bucks. I've never priced the Ford stuff. Chrysler I don't think ever had one, in the 70s they were doing like AMC and using GM columns to have a tilt in their cars. In fact, Jeep used them up through the 90s after Chrysler had bought AMC - but of course the 69 or so and up are key on the column. Which you can smooth off, but it's a lot of work, especially on the 1979 or so and back that are cast metal instead of plastic.
This is the 66 Lincoln column, it is the same size going into the dashboard as the non tilt column, I also like the fact that the turn signal switch can be mounted off to the side (stiff cable operated) and the tube base flares to cover the hole where it goes through the floor board. Tube is standard size and is only about 4 inches dia at the steering wheel.
I put a 66 Rivi column in my 32 back in 70. I cut everything off but the tilt stuff. I welded on a piece of 1.5 tubing. I run the original 32 column drop. The transition piece from the 32 dia to the Rivi is an old coffee cup. It ended up fairly small. I was in style in the 70's with the chrome collar. It should have been painted black. It needs a 40 wheel now. The car has not been driven in years.
The f100 box has the steering shaft exiting more towards the top of the box then the f1 (box itself is a little bigger). If your going to cut your steering shaft for a u joint then you can run either a limeworks column or a postal jeep column.
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