Steering Column removal

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread here. I removed the column from my 73 Dart Sport, PS, auto on the floor. When I got the car, the coupler was trash. I replaced the missing lower bearing with the aftermarket bearing mentioned on a FABO post. Also rebuilt the coupler and got 3 new nylon sliders for the under dash bracket. I put the column back in, all under dash mountings point adjustments maxed out, and it's too short. With the coupler fully extended, it will go over the first set of threads on the steering gear but not far enough to engage the roll pin. And I know the coupler cannot be fully extended when installed so I'm about 2 inches too short. The column has not been crushed, the pins are still in place. I have cussed words I never knew. Any ideas? Is it possible some dummy put a non-PS column in and made it work?