Les:
This is part of an old post I put together on steering column work.
It describes removal and disassembly of the later colapable column, but it
shouldn’t be too differnt for the early columns:
Steering column removal.
1.Disconnect the battery. Remove the center ornament from the wheel
2.Remove the locknut and the nut from the column.
3.Pull the wheel forward to remove. As you do so, the two halves of
the “split cone” will fall away. Be sure to retrieve these. Tip: a dab of
rubber cement will hold the split cone to the shaft when you reassemble.
4.Remove the big locking cylinder by removing the lock ring and
unscrewing. Pet peeve: use a lock ring plier for this job. There is no
excuse for destroying the ring.
5.Pull off the right side of the plastic turn signal housing. It is
held in place with spring clips, and will just pull off to the right.
6.Remove the four screws which hold the clamps to the left side turn
signal housing. You must be very careful to note the positions of the two
halves of the clamp: The left clamp has a dimple, which locks it to the
housing, and the right clamp is assymetric, and has an (unmarked) ‘up’
side and a ‘down’ side. remove the left turn signal housing by sliding
it off the signal lever.
7.Unscrew and remove the metal clamp which retains the turn signal
switch. There
are two screws on this clamp, and they use some oddly shaped washers to
grip the ring. Do not lose these.
8.Unscrew the ‘plug’ which keeps the upper column from sliding out
of the center
column. This plug should be hand tight, so no tools. Do not lose this plug.
Slide out the upper shaft and the shaft retainer.
9.Slide the turn signal switch off the shaft, but do not unplug the
wiring.
10.Remove the two forward bolts securing the column housing to the
bulkhead. There will be a stack of washers on these bolts, be sure to note
locations and assembly
sequence.
11.Remove the two rear bolts securing the column housing to the
bulkhead. Only one washer on each of these.
12.Remove the u-joint, by undoing and completely removing the bolt,
and pulling the entire column forward.
13.The steering column is now out.
Disassembling the column
1.Peel off the plastic dust cover which covers the collapsible
section of the column housing.
2.Remove the “C” ring from the lower end of the shaft. Extreme care
should be
taken not to allow the shaft to unexpectedly slip out of the housing,as
nothing will
hold it in when the ring is removed. Carefully remove the washers under this
clip, and note assembly sequence.
3.Slowly slide the shaft out of the housing. (Note: the following
comments apply to later columns, with bearings rather than bushings) The
lower bearing cone is a very precise fit to the shaft, so removal is tricky,
but patient work will slide it off. Do not succumb to the temptation to bash
it out. Note the assembly sequence of the bearings. Be careful, as the
bearing races are delicate, and it is not easy to find replacements.
These races should be greased prior to reassembly.
5.The shaft is now out.
Hope this helps!
Mike Frank
1969 E-Type 2+2
At 02:01 PM 6/28/98 -0400, you wrote:
Thanks Barry. I have a 68 2+2. I do have the Jag workshop manual but
sometime they make somewhat difficult things sound like a 5 minute job!
You said “remove the column” do you mean the entire column, both inner
and outer pieces, or just the outer shell?Barry Cooper wrote:
Les,
You didn’t say what model but assuming you have the later nylon bushes
they are not difficult to replace. No special tools required. Remove the
covers from the indicator switch, disconnect all the wires, noting where
they go. Remove the bolts holding th upper column in the car>and remove the column. Probably easier to remove the steering wheel in
the car before you undo the column. Once you have the column on the
bench note how the indicator switch mechanism works so that you can pur
it back together. Note also that the upper and lower column bushes are
different and you may as well replace them both at this stage. This
description is very superficial and it will help if you have either a
workshop manual or spare parts manual to refer to. If you don’t, e-mail
me and I will expand.Barry Cooper
68 E FHC
67 TR4-A