Steering Column Rebuild

cudamark said
Those square headed bolts are what hold it together. You have to back them off quite a ways and then slip the housing onto the tube. Get it oriented correctly and when you tighten the nuts for the square bolts, they wedge themselves into the corresponding slots in the tube.

cudamark, Thanks for answering this question. I thought I did, but my response apparently disappeared in cyberspace. As I recall, the square headed bolts have one side a bit longer (look closely). That is the side that fits in the slots in the column tube. They don't actually wedge, but more tilt outward into the slots as you tighten the nuts.

pishta,
I didn't mean that the factory steering connector for a 65 was a "56 terminal" type. That was just one I bought as a possible replacement. I ended up getting the correct connector (below), which is similar to a Ford "mini-term" type (but don't know the name or find them anywhere). Most of our cars use the 56 terminals, which are more standard. They are found on most GM 60's cars, and even current appliances like washing machines (at least 1,2, or 3 pins), plus standard spade connectors sometimes fit. To release the male pins, squeeze along the long side, focusing on the bottom (curved needle-nose pliers help), while wiggling the connector. New-style male pins usually have a side latch. The bulkhead male pins are often melted into the housing, especially later models that routed the 12 awg ammeter wires thru the pins (stupid design, B-bodies didn't). Sorry to digress, but I am working on that now, redesigning my engine harness.