I have a '58 Buick custom. The spring that controls the tension on my steering column shift lever broke years ago, so now if you bump the lever you could easily push the car into Neutral which I would like to avoid. I pulled the shift lever out of the column and found an NOS replacement spring, but I can't figure out how to put this spring back in through the slot because it is in the open position. It somehow needs to be clamped and I tried doing so with pliers but to no avail. I'm thinking I'm doing it wrong. Anyone have any experience with this? Do I need to pull the column apart rather than trying to squeeze through the slot? Thanks in advance. Here's some pics...
a short pin, the right diameter, that was cut to short so it could be put in the arm with the spring attached, and slide into the hole. use a piece of sheet metal, cut so it acts like a "shoe" horn to guide the loose ends of the springs as you slide it in. then push the short pin out using the original pin. i never did it......just a thought.......and wear safety gl***es.
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