Steering column from an 80's van

-
fredsmedina

fredsmedina

6 Dart 7 MOPAR OR NOCAR
Joined
Aug 29, 2009
Messages
880
Reaction score
2
Location
Sacramento / Elk Grove CA
So the previous owner of my dart put in a steering colum froma 80's van. It's manual steering, and the colum seems to fit in there okay. has anyone else done this? is there any reason that I should replace it for the correct steering colum?

I'm have no need to go to the original parts on this car, its already cut up and stuff, so if the steering colum works, then it should be good enough. the only thing that a bit of a pain in the a$$ is that the ignition switch on my 67 dart is on the dash, but the steering colum also has a spot for a key. so what I have to do is put one key in the colum(to unlock it) and then use the other key to start it.

I guess in a way its just an extra "security" feature on my car. its like having a steering wheel club. lol

any comments on this subject are welcome. thanks!
 
lol thats kinda cool. pics would be cool cuz one of those columns would be a lot cheaper then a good floor shift column for an a body
 
here are some pics of the steering colum

IMG00561.jpg


IMG00567.jpg


IMG00565.jpg


IMG00562.jpg


IMG00570.jpg


IMG00573.jpg


IMG00575.jpg


IMG00577.jpg


IMG00578.jpg
 
previous owner told me. lol. and yah if he hadn't told me, I probably wouldnt have noticed. I would have just thought it was a steering colum out of a different A-body.

do you also notice that the colum has a shift lever?

well I don't use that lever either, so i'll robably take that off. the lever isn't hooked up on this car. I have a floor shifter though that i'll be using
 
No its not a tilt colum, there are 2 bolt on the side though that lead me to believe that it may be adjustable. As far as like pulling the steering wheel in more, or pulling it towards you. i'll get a pic of that later though
 
That oughta cornfuzzle the thieves! I like it. If it works I'd keep it. Sure helps you find your car in a crowd.
 
anyone done this?! any reason that it wouldn't work? the only complication That I have come across is when I just orderem my front end kit from PST. it didn't even cross my mind about which idler arm I was going to need. so i now have a 67 idler arm. but with the K member that I have some people seem to think that I have a 70's v8 k member..check out this other thread that i started as well please..http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=79013
 
why would the steering column affect the centerlink/pitman arm/idler arm
 
RPMmachine said:
why would the steering column affect the centerlink/pitman arm/idler arm
Click to expand...

would the steering box be the same from the van or the stock one from the dart?

I looked it up and identifies mine as a small sector steering box..

I guess if the steering box is the same for either column, then it wouldn't affect the centerlink pitman and idler..
 
I also would be interested in this column swap.
If a shifterless column from a van would fit in a
Dart and possibly have tilt it would be like the
holy grail of swaps.=P~
 
longarm said:
I also would be interested in this column swap.
If a shifterless column from a van would fit in a
Dart and possibly have tilt it would be like the
holy grail of swaps.=P~
Click to expand...

i'll update this forum once I finish everything. right now though, I have a shift column with no tilt. But a tilt colmn with no shift should fit the same if its from the same year of a van..right?
 
Hmmm i wonder if a mid-80s 5th ave would work also.That should give a tilt option.Theres still lots floating around at the wreckers.
 
I picked up a tilt column from a 92 jeep wrangler that I am going to put in my wife's 72 dart. It looks to have the same dimensions as the dart column and it is for a floor shift car. her dart has p/s and it looks like it will line up just fine. I am changing her car over to a floor shifter too so 2 problems fixed. Got the column with the key from pic a part for about $50.00. beats $300 plus for a flaming river tilt column.
 
I am using an 80s van floor column to convert my existing 74 dart column shift. I am using my original power column and just the 3 piece column sleeve from the van. It works the internals are the same. I do need a spring for the three piece collet on the column. The first piece on a column shift is held by a pin, on the floor shift it is held to the shaft by a spring that fits around the shaft. Mine is junk, I need one. Also my column lock works but I believe there is a sping to hold pressure on the locking mechanism. Again mine is junk.

My column works fine I just need a couple of springs. An exploded view of the column would help. Anyone know how to find one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top