'52 Pickup Steering Column Question

[trailrunner]

I picked up a steering column to install in my '52 pickup project. And I have a question on how to install it. It's out of a late 80's S10.



It looks like the section that goes thru the floor is 2" dia. I'm assuming that I can buy a floor mount to use where the column penetrates the floorboard.

My question is about the upper section that will hang below the dash. Below the gear shift, the column has a plastic casing around the column that is approx 3.25 - 3.5" in diameter. Do I need to remove that casing in order to use a column drop below the dash?

Thanks

Bill

[mr48chev]

There are a number of different mounts for the floor. I'd just pick the one that you feel suits your particular needs.

On the plastic piece, you may be able to remove them and then trim them to fit after you mount the column. Without the plastic the column is going to be rather ugly so you want to be able to trim it and reinstall it.
I think when I had a somewhat similar column in my 48 I used a muffler clamp to attach it to a bracket under the dash. A street rod style column drop won't work or be needed with that column.
Make sure that when you install it you have the wheel you are going to run so you can set it on the column and sit in the seat you are going to run and get the wheel set in at the right height. Put it in at the wrong height either way and it gets uncomfortable to drive real quick.

[OrrieG]

I used the 82 Eldo mounting bracket and a muffler U bolt for the top, yours might be similar. For the bottom I made a plate to fit the floor pan recess and after getting the column where I wanted it spot welded the column to it. Make sure you have the final seat location set, I ended up lowering mine when I made an adjustment to the seat later on, but I had allowed extra length in the u bolt so all was good. I made a cover to cover the column under the dash. Details are in my build thread.

[trailrunner]

Thanks for both the words of wisdom and the pictures. I like the idea of using the column mounting bracket with the u-bolt. I currently have the seat out of the truck, but will make sure to put it back in to get the steering wheel located correctly. Thanks!

[lazypineapple]

Dragster connecting rod. for my under dash mount.
I stripped all the plastic off, filled the holes. sprayed it black.
i think it the column was from a mid 70s gm that had a floor shift

[bob Scott]

Up until 94 the S10 floor mounting bracket is a bolt in on the original truck. 94 and later it is part of the body.

[trailrunner]

I can get the column mounted, but do have a slight issue where the brake pedal arm hits the low beam/high beam switch mounted on the lower column. It appears that I can either modify the brake arm or try to find a different brake setup, like from the late 80's S10 that the column came from. Any thoughts?

[ozzie50]

I ran into the same issue with the dimmer switch. I ended up taking it off and will use a floor mount.

[booger1949]

you shoulod not have to take anything of the steering to install it, use the mounting of the column then the mounting for the dash, just use to pieces of flat plate an bolt it rite up

[_Ogre]

i welded a plate onto the dash reinforcement on my 58 and used the column mount on my column to attach it
mine is an astro van column, same as s-10 with the addition of a floor mount plate
i cut off the floor mount plate and welded it to the column to match my floor
fortunately my brake pedal goes thru the floor
i used the bolt holes on the outside of the column mount to fasten my column cover

[BlueJeep]

Ogre, what do you have for wipers and were you able to re-use the column wiper controls?

I basically did the same thing as Ogre did, I used my s10 column, cut the original floor plate off it and welded a new one on to match the angle of my floor.

[slimneverdies]

Do any of you guys think theres a real big difference in drivability when using the original steeing wheel with the modern power steering? I remember someone saying the original steering is a bit to large for the power steering. I know its off topic but i needed some opinions before I buy a steering wheel and this seems like a similar topic...

[_Ogre]

you could resize the steering wheel to make it fit better.
i believe the mount is different too, check out orrieg's build, he is reusing a stock on new column.

@ bluejeep, i have a stock electric wiper that uses the cable operator
with my shaved dash i lost the hole for the stock operator
i used a choke cable to operate the wiper from the hole next to the headlite switch
out is off, in is on. a little in is low speed
they work, but i've never used tham. rainX is your friend

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

Do any of you guys think theres a real big difference in drivability when using the original steeing wheel with the modern power steering? I remember someone saying the original steering is a bit to large for the power steering. I know its off topic but i needed some opinions before I buy a steering wheel and this seems like a similar topic...

You will definitely want to loose the big steering wheel and get a smaller one. Look in Projects and builds section for "Sweet 16" and for a good idea on how to shrink yours. It's cheaper than buying one and looks more correct than an after market wheel to me.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by trailrunner

I can get the column mounted, but do have a slight issue where the brake pedal arm hits the low beam/high beam switch mounted on the lower column. It appears that I can either modify the brake arm or try to find a different brake setup, like from the late 80's S10 that the column came from. Any thoughts?

Well, that may not end up looking as nice as you might want when you are done but what I would suggest is taking the pedal off and cutting the tube that the bolt runs through so that you would move the pedal to the left so that the pushrod mounted to the right side of the pedal arm.


That would let the arm clear the switch if you use 90 degree female slide terminals on the switch. it hopefully will leave you room to slip some sort of cover over the column or you are stuck with a bunch of scabs hanging down for everyone to see. The floor dimmer switch is still an option and would allow you to put a cover on the column that was a lot closer to the column and a lot cleaner in appearance.

[slimneverdies]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

You will definitely want to loose the big steering wheel and get a smaller one. Look in Projects and builds section for "Sweet 16" and for a good idea on how to shrink yours. It's cheaper than buying one and looks more correct than an after market wheel to me.

Thanks, theres a lot of talented people on here and I wouldnt even thought to do this. Im thinking this maybe the route I'll take. Just have to find an original steering wheel and maybe a 67-72 steering column for a floor shift.

[mr48chev]

Not too small of a wheel though as too small starts looking out of place. The main thing is to match all of the pieces so that when someone walks up and looks in the cab of the truck it all is one complete package and not a batch of different components fighting with each other an not flowing together in one presentation.

The other thing and probably as important as appearance or more so is that it has to be comfortable to drive with for miles on end and sometimes for days on end on a road trip. I had an aftermarket wood wheel with he exposed rivets on it that was popular in the 70's on my truck for a while and everyone who looked at it said how great it looked but if you drove the truck more than twenty miles at a shot the holes around the rivets ate your hands up something terrible. Previous to that I had a 59 Corvette wheel in it that looked even more awesome in the truck than the wood wheel but the skinny rim was hard to hold for long periods of time. I figured out why sporty car drivers wore gloves to drive all the time with that wheel.