I have power steering and power brakes in my 57 chevy. Now I'm looking at putting in a tilt steering column. I would like to get one at the auto wreckers. What year of chevy columns would be compatible with a 57 chevy? Thanks for your help.
I am wondering if one of the mid 70s Chevy van tilt column might work....would look period without the ignition switch etc
Try a tilt column out of a early 60's Impala ('62-66) , I put one in my '51 Fleetline (a '63 in my avatar) and I love it. , and it'll look period correct when you put your steering wheel on it...
72 thru78 chevy vans look great ,Cl***ic chevy offers a book that tells how much to cut It is somewhere around 8 inches.
The columns without the ignition switch are ok, Chevy used them on cars thru 68, trucks thru 72, and vans into the 80s. Expect to do some work to make it fit and work right.
Thanks for all the help. We put an aftermarket one in to start with but it sticks out way too far on the 57. My husband is short and can barely touch the pedals plus the wheel is right at his chest because the seat has to be back far enough for him to get in but close enough for him to reach the pedals. I just doesn't look right plus now there is no leg room in the backseat if we take someone along with us.
If a post ever required pictures, it's this one. We need to see the players. Why don't you shorten the aftermarket column?
I used a '66 Chevy (Caprice, I think) tilt/tele for one of my '57's, almost a bolt in...I used a '70's Corvette tilt for another '57 (sorry, can't remember what year it was) ..again almost a bolt-in on this one and the steering wheel was virtually that same distance from the cluster as the stocker was...you'll have to do some work on the column covers, but this one fit better than an Ididit... R-
This is the first time I've ever posted in a forum before. I just wanted to get some ideas on what kind of column would be interchangeable with our car. You can't shorten the aftermarket column in the place where we need it shortened. I AM into traditional cars which is why I want to change the column. I guess this forum isn't for me so I'm outta here. Thanks to those who actually gave some good suggestions.
Sure it can be shortened, your just looking at it the wrong way. 1 question before I go on, is it a colum shift ?
It can't be shortened, because the part that moves when you tilt it is too long, the dash sticks out so you can't move the column down and forward into the car. I'm pretty sure the aftermarket tilt columns are all based on the newer style with the key switch in it, which makes the tilting part pretty long.
R57Toy...IF you're posting a public forum, YOU need to develop a thicker skin...there's a lot of people that'll give you **** just to see you cringe and/or leave...at that point, they win and are bigger jerks for it... Stick around, there's plenty of others that'll give you good advice... R-
First thing would be know how much shorter you need it it without it touching the colum cover at the dash. Lets say its 2" for example. 1) make a new index slot in the top of the steering tube 2'' up the tube. 2) take apart the colum and take 2" out of the steering shaft, shift tube and outer tube. Some of these maybe done at the very end or cut mid way and welded back together. Stock colums are real easy to do because of the inner telescoping shaft.
yeah, 70's ish chevy vans work well. Or just pony up and buy an aftermarket one and cut out the hunting and modifications.
Who gave her ****? Seems everyone is trying to help. Any column can be shortened. Some are harder than others. Changing to a more flat steering wheel can help too.
Sorry, I guess I took the statement at the end of "badshifter's" comment to heart and thought he was telling me to find another forum. Anyway, it is an ididit aftermarket tilt column that we have and a retro fit 15" 57 chevy steering wheel replica so the car still looks original. From the cluster to the edge of the steering wheel is about 12½" and the part where the 4 ways, directional lights and tilt lever are is about 4½" . I'm aware that a flatter steering wheel will make some difference but we wanted the 57 wheel or originality. A friend, who builds cars, told us that one from the junk yard would probably be our answer. He has gone away on vacation, so that is why I was looking for some input from here.
The '57 is tricky to do compared to the 55 or 56. Alot of '57 owners used the '67-'68 Impala SS column. It has emergency blinkers, safety collapsible column. Must cut 2 1/2" off the shaft. Slip the flex coupler over the shaft at the steering box and weld it on or you could pin it. I pinned the coupler on my car in the Avatar.Will need to trim the gauge housing 3/4" to clear a support in the column. You will need to make an extra column support and bolt it or weld it in for the bolt holes in the front part of the column. If you don't do this the front part of the column will move around a bit because of the collapsible part of the column. Column needs to be supported under the hood at the firewall. A 2 1/4" v-bolt type muffler clamp and and piece of angle iron same length as the clamp is wide. Drill holes in angle iron and bolt it to firewall to act as a shelf for the clamp. drill holes in the clamp for the v bolt muffler clamp bolts. Also, need to match the wires in the column to the '57 dash harness. Add a blinker unit to the emergency light blinkers. Not a job for the novice. I've owned over six Tri-five chevys.
I think you mistook Badshifters comment. It's his signature line. Shows up on every post, like mine here. ----------v
As did I...perhaps a "signature line" should be in italics, or perhaps color so it can't be misconstrued...think...??? R-
You're right, I did mistake the comment. Thanks for clearing that up. Now to find a column that will work. We know a fella who is excellent and has built a few cars so I'm confident that he can make it work. The mechanic we went to initially messed some things up, not to mention that he overcharged us so we went to this other fella. We should have taken it to him in the first place. All I wanted was power steering and power brakes and for the car to still look original except with tilt steering column. Thanks everybody for all your help. Other suggestions are greatly appreciated. Could someone please tell me how I can post a pic on this thread of what the steering column looks like right now.
click on "Go Advanced", click on "Manage Attachments", then upload your picture. If the picture is too big, it won't work, and if it's too small, we won't be able to see much detail. There are other ways to deal with putting pictures on posts, see this subforum for more help if you need it http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=6
http://s1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff515/R57Toy/57 Chevy/?start=0 This link should take you to the pics of the car with the aftermarket steering column and the retro 57 steering wheel. Note how far over the seat the steering wheel goes and how far away from the dash it is not to mention that it just looks out of proportion.
That is as far down as it can go for sure now that I see it. Early small tube colum as you descibed in the begining is the easy way to fix it.
Call the tech support people at Flaming River and they will probably be able to fix you up. They will custom make columns for a little extra and they work great. You will spend more money searching junk yards and trying to modify stock worn out stuff. Been there and done that as they say.
Sorry spiderdeville, I don't know what o/t thread means. Could you please explain. I don't know all the short forms. We already have so much more money tied up in it than we originally thought we would have so I'm looking for a solution that isn't going to cost us a ton more.
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