I went from power steering to manual steering once, and I just locked a vice grip on the column and tapped down the shaft until it went into the "box". I didn't change a thing on the column. That shaft is on splines (like a drive shaft yoke).
Its possible that the previous owner simply defeated the sheer pins in the steering shaft and pulled it out approx' 3 inches to reach a manual box. It aint the proper way to do it but they'll do it anyway.