Modifying Auto on the Column Steering Collars - NO Welding Required!!

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360Scamp

360Scamp

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Modifying Auto on the Column Steering Collars - NO Welding Required!!

Im gonna show you how to modify your auto on the column steering collars to convert to an auto on the floor or 4 speed column. I got these pieces from davescuda to do my 4 speed column in my Scamp. I didnt get any before pics of the collars together, but we all know what they look like

Here is a list of basic tools you will need.
Grinder with a 60 grit flap disk
Cut off wheel for your grinder or an actual cut off tool
Assorted files for smoothing areas that are hard to get to
Assorted grits of sandpaper 80,180,220,320
Paint stir stick to help in sanding the collars once filler has been applied.

I chose to do the shifter part of the collars to do first, so I could think about how I was going to tackle the indicator pieces. I marked the shifter where I wanted to cut so I didnt have to grind alot. Be careful on all of these pieces because they are round and you are cutting with a flat disk, thats what you will use the grinder for. Also be careful with these collars they are ALUMINUM!

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Here is a pic of the piece cut off.

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After grinding the shifter part off, I ground a little more to allow for filler.

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I cut a piece of metal I had laying around to use as a backer for the shifter piece to be filled and JB Welded it in place.

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Here is the ignition part of the column collar.

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Once I cut it off I used the grinder to smooth it out and try not to use alot of filler.

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Now its time for the final collar to be modified. If you look close you can see that I had already cut one side to give you a reference point where to cut.

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Here it is all smooth ready for filler.

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I got carried away today and didn't get any close up pics of the collars with filler individually. Here is a pic of All Metal filler applied to all 3 collars. You can use fiberglass or regular filler, its up to you. I only had to skim coat every thing to get rid of some grinder marks and to fill the shifter hole.


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I used 220 grit sandpaper to sand the collars original paint to smooth it out.
I used 80,180 & 220 to sand the filled spots on a paint stir stick to keep everything smooth. If you use your hands to sand filler you usually tend to "dig" into your filler and have to reapply it.

Once I get everything how I wanted it, I sanded the collars with 320 grit sandpaper to make sure I got every square inch to get ready for primer, I wiped it down with a grease and oil remover to get good adhesion for the primer, let the grease/oil remover dry before applying primer! I spray bombed the collars with two medium coats then I let them dry. Once dry I inspected them for any imperfections because primer shows stuff you cant possibly feel or see. After that I spray bombed them satin black. Here are the pieces individually.

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Here is a pic of it all together, but not in my car yet.

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Here is pic of what you would see when sitting in the car.

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Here are the pieces I cut off to give you an idea.

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I hope this how to will help someone to do theirs in their car in the future. Its taken me about 5 hours total from beginning to end to do this conversion.

I hope this How-to will be worthy to be moved to the Tech Archive and become a sticky for someone to learn from.
Thanks 360Scamp
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Sweet! I will be needing to tackle this on mine. Going to Bucket seats and floor shift at some point.
 
Sweet that looks like it was not at all hard to do . but you would have to take your time . looks like I got some work to do this spring.. Thanks.
 
Nice results. I am thinking of making a yellow lense for the gear position indicator and using it for a shift light.
 
I'm trying this on a spare that I have in hopes to replace the worn out and broken one in my console shifted Charger. Only need to modify the ignition portion as thats whats busted on the inside.

Thank you for this thread Scamp! Much appreciated!
 
It looks great but how do you get shifter column from turnining when its back in car
 
That Im aware of it screws to the existing column pieces and it will stay in place. These were extra ones that I got and havent got a chance to install them yet, sorry
 
Thank you great idea just started mine.

Steering Column Collars-No Welding 20-1.jpg
 
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Great thread and info. Thanks for sharing. I may tackle this myself. Not as much work for mines a 67,no ignition on my coloumn. Very well done i like it alot:cheers:
 
Pretty similar to how I did mine.

I only had two pieces to do since my car is a 68 and the ignition switch is on the dash.

Here's a finished pic.

Steering Column Collars-No Welding 23-1.jpg
 
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thanks. i am planning to convert my 67 bb coronet to a 4 spd. and now i can fix my column without having to try to find a manual column..
 
yanno, if you bought a bunch of collars and did this mod I bet you could make bank selling them.
 
Thanks guys for the good words. I finally got a steering wheel I liked so I will be posting pics of this mod being installed very soon.
 
You should probably tag this thread and your original post as "no welding required"

VERY nice write up I will be tacking this in my Demon as I plan to go plastic racing bucket seat and a non-console auto for an "all business" look haha
 
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