move steering wheel and column towards dash

[made2drag]

1st thing i did was take the rag joint loose, the firewall bracket on the eng side and cab side down low and the column bracket under the dash

[nekkidhillbilly]

thats as much room as a new chevy really that little 2 inches or so really helps out with room it seems and looks great.

[made2drag]

then take all the connectors loose under the dash that are connected to the column

IMPORTANT STEP: REMOVE THE SHIFT INDICATOR NEEDLE OR IT WILL BREAK WHEN YOU MOVE THE COLUMN TOO FAR

[made2drag]

next i drilled the nylon plastic bump out near the middle of the shaft.....in hind sight i should have drilled another one and also drilled all the way thru. what i didnt know is the plastic plugs went all the way thru the shaft.......if you drill all the way thru the next step would be to mark 1 and 3/4 inches up and tap the end of the rag joint to collapse the shaft 1 3/4 in make a gap where the rag joint bolts in....then move the column in and reconnect and tighten all your connections and plugs and modify your column bracket


unfortunately, after some taps and the plastic plugs keeping the shaft from moving......i did the next steps

[nekkidhillbilly]

also i think when finished it will look like its factory

[gramps77]

I NEED to do this to the 77 ASAP. I had started to think grandpa has something done to the truck to make it easier for my 4'11" grandma to drive more comfortably. At 6'2", it sucks for me. I dont think I have as much of a wire harness as it looks as you have. Although Im sure its because I have power nothing with the exception of brakes and steering

[made2drag]

i took the column out......remember this isn't needed!

[made2drag]

here is my 2 inch mark...i should have done 1 and 3/4 because of how tight it gets near the firewall under dash

[made2drag]

[made2drag]

took about 10 taps with a regular hammer....this is where i found out about the 2 plastic plugs that went all the way thru the shaft.....arrrrgh!

[made2drag]

[made2drag]

when i put it back in and put the nuts back on the rag joint, i noticed the column bracket wouldn't fit around the round beauty cover and i didn't know of another way of cutting some off except a wood saw/hack saw....it did the trick and i removed the 2 pot metal slotted pieces in the bracket because i couldnt get the nuts started with them on

[made2drag]

here is what it looks like bolted back up, i used wide washers to make sure the bracket slots would stay put

[made2drag]

this is the step where you would finesse the bracket or figure out a way to modify the bracket to accept the 4 bolts that screw into the column.....you'll also snug up the firewall nuts on the eng side and cab side.....once it all checks out and fits like you want it, you will have to loosen it all up to be able to put your dash bezel back on and put all your pieces back on to make it all look stock again

DONT FORGET TO RE-INSTALL THE SHIFTER INDICATOR NEEDLE BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR DASH BEZEL ON AND SAY......AHHHHH MAN, I HAVE TO TAKE EVERYTHING BACK APART!

[made2drag]

im happy with the mod but if you are a perfectionist or really care about everything fitting factory dont do it...once you tap the shaft in....there may be no way to extend it back out....beware

[made2drag]

Originally Posted by nekkidhillbilly

thats as much room as a new chevy really that little 2 inches or so really helps out with room it seems and looks great.

it seems like its exactly where i want it now not too close or too far and my back is in a more natural position too

[made2drag]

again, not a fun mod and it will challenge you to overcome a few obstacles but in my opinion.....well worth it....i would say it should take 2-4 hours but if this is a daily driver for you.....start on saturday in case you need the whole weekend to work out any bugs...AND IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE COLUMN OUT... DONT SNAG ANY WIRES AND FRY ANY WIRES.....hahaha