Evening Gents I need to build a column drop for the pickup. I like the look of the connecting rod column drop. Does anyone know what rod is 2 1/4" diameter? Maybe you have one thats shot or theres 7 under yer work bench? Thanx Tiny
I think BBChev, as thats what I used for my tailpipe hangers. Cut um rite in half, I did!!!!!.......OLDBEET
Small block 302 Ford = 2.000 Ford Cleveland - 351 & 400 = 2.310 Big Block 460 Ford = 2.500 SB Chevy 350 - 2.100 BB Chevy 454 = 2.199 350 Olds = 2.123 455 Olds = 2.498 430 & 455 Buick = 2.250 Depending on the column diameter and if you use exhaust tubing you may find a bit of slop between a 2 1/4" tube and a 2 1/4" rod. That due to exhaust tubing diameters aren't always right on the money. Beer cans cut into shims and placed between exhaust tubing and rod bore work fine for exhaust hangar stuff and would probably work fine for steering columns. (Exhaust pipe diameters change if you clamp them near a bend.) I used a 2 1/4" aluminum rod to clamp a 1 5/8" aluminum column. An adapter collar was required. Mine is solid aluminum and a barely slides fit. It will get JB welded in place later on and the OD of the collar is the right size for the aluminum rod to clamp it. Depending on where you're at in the construction process and what you're building you'll find it advantageous to make a bracket with several holes properly aligned so you can move the column to the side. You don't always end up with the column where you thought you wanted it first time around and the drilled holes make it easy. Helps too in the seating ergonomics when the steering wheel can be moved a few inches to either side. Note the horizontal plate tacked to the dash cross-bar in the pic. Disregard the circular aluminum plate just below the con-rod. It's the finishing piece for the floor and undrilled for mounting as yet.
Just for the heck of it, here's a different style column drop made from 1/2" flat aluminum. I have one of these in a 32 and it works well.
While we are on the subject of drops and aluminum BBC rods, anyone have a spare? I'd like to use one in my PU, but I want to mount mine the other way around. Use the small end to carry just a bare steering shaft and use the big end without the cap as the connector under the dash. Any extras out there?
The extras I have are planned/spoken for. Aluminum con-rods can almost always be found at swap meets of the larger hot rod gatherings. March Meet, CHRR etc. Most times, price = $5.00 Give some thought to using a regular con-rod. Seems like a shot/worn/n.g. flathead con-rod would do what you want and look pretty good at the same time.
Hey C9 and Oldbeet you guys rock!!! I like the way you mounted that to the dash but is a a 50 Ford truck so the dash isn't removable. I'm hoping to bolt down through the dash into the rod. Maybe I can find a rod at the Vallejo swap this weekend.
I'm guessing the F1's mount the steering column the same way the 50 Ford p***enger cars did. Once upon a time I mounted a Moon aluminum column drop in my 50 coupe and was able to use the two bolt holes in the lower part of the dash to bolt the column drop to. The column drop was bored out on a lathe to fit the 1 3/4" chrome scavenger pipe, but that's beside the point here. What may work for you is to cut the con-rod below the writst pin bore and get a flat piece of aluminum welded to the top and use that to bolt to the original F1 mounts.
Just a thought here...most guys are talking about journal size, not the big end diameter, so if you have a bbc 2.2" journal then add 2x the bearing shell thickness...maybe 0.1 or so and the rod big end is 2.3". Hopefully not too sloppy on a 2¼" od tube, and may be just right for 2¼" id tube. For the 1¾" tube you can try a Honda b18 rod; journal = 1.77" and the big end = 1.88" (48mm) more or less. .
i meant the journal size. lookin to make a steering column clamp, and just cut the wrist pin end off.
The Jalopy Journal
