Technical Late '50s Ford steering wheel to GM column?

Hey all, I decided the best route to go with my Edsel project is to swap the steering column, which would give me all new horn and turn signal mechanisms and already be prepared for the DD steering linkage. I've seen plenty of folks I know use the Speedway universal non-tilt columns, which I'd love to use here, but it only comes setup for the 69-94 GM wheel, or a Grant wheel with an adapter. Neither of those are viable options, the only wheel I'll use is the factory '59 Edsel wheel, which is splined.

So my question is; what can I do to get the late '50s FoMoCo steering wheel onto the GM column? Do I need to redrill the steering wheel to fit the GM pattern, or is there an adapter I just don't know about? I'm not married to the Speedway universal column, is there a Ford column that would work that I'm just not aware of? I can't be the first person to have this issue. Thanks for any guidance

 

Why not use a column out of a Ford or Merc. Just a guess but it's probably a bolt in swap for a 58/59 model.

Sent from my SM-N910V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

There's nothing out there for cross-make swapping of steering wheels, so you're on your own. Now, FWIW, Grant lists adaptors that fit the '56-62 Ford columns so I'd think that one of those columns should accept your '59 wheel. The main issue will be is in virtually all of these columns, the steering shaft is attached to the steering box and many are hollow (for the horn wire) so some fabrication/modification will be needed for the shaft.

There is an alternative; the '58 Edsel Tele-touch wheel has no 'center' in the conventional sense and modifying a Grant adaptor to fit the wheel will allow you to install the wheel on virtually any column you can get an adaptor for. You have to remove the push****on ***embly and come up with something to fill the hole it leaves, a cut-down Ford/Merc horn ****on should work.

 

I've subframed with car with a Fatman MII stub, so there's no box anymore, it's a power rack. Now I need a column that will accept the factory wheel, and also have a DD at the bottom so I can use the DD shaft to link to the rack. The factory column obviously has the correct spline at the wheel, but is wrong everywhere else. The aftermarket column is right everywhere else, but won't accept the wheel.

I don't want anything overtly modern in the interior of the vehicle. The Speedway column will look good in the car, either polished or painted to match, and basically looks like the column in my '57. Now it's just a matter of figuring out the rest.

 

I have seen the top of two shafts cut off, and the stub welded onto the other to get the correct splines. If you go that route, I'd make sure a good welder does the welding. Wouldn't want the stub to break off going down the road.....

 

I diagonally cut the shafts and then weld them back together, if your still nervous, put a collar on that will slide over the weld and weld it on also.

 

When installing the steering column in my Mdl A, had to do a bit of adapting. Steering column was Chevy Van Tilt with a 3/4" shaft with a flange for a flex coupling pressed on the end. Wanted to connect it to a 1" DD universal from a GM Astro Van.

Cut the steering shaft to the required length and made up a jig to turn it into a 3/4" DD shaft. Took a plate of s**** steel about 1/4" thick and tack welded two spacers to it 3/4" apart. Tacked a piece of sheet metal on top of the spacers as wear plates. Replace when they show wear when using. The top of the wear plates are 3/4" minus the depth of the DD on one side of the shaft. Column was clamped into jig and a angle grinder used to remove unwanted material. Shaft was removed and a spacer the depth of one side of the DD inserted between the shaft and the base plate. Shaft re-inserted with the ground side down and clamped again and other side ground. The spacer insures both sides are parallel. You now have a 3/4" DD end on the shaft.



Made a 3/4" to 1" DD adapter from a piece of another GM steering linkage with a 3/4" DD inside and a 1" DD outside (part of the slide between two U-joints). Cut a piece about 2" long and slit it down the curved side end to end. Ground a notch across the slit to accommodate the tightening bolt on the U-Joint clamp bolt. Drilled a small hole thru the adapter and a matching hole thru the steering shaft for a pin. You now have a adapter for a 3/4"DD shaft into a 1"DD U-joint tightly and safe.

Canuck[