steering column, wiggle Options

[tomh]

my steering column seems to wiggle a bit,The big nut holding the wheel is tight and the 4 allen bolts holding the saddle are good,what other things should i look for or is a little wiggle ok?

[stewteral]

my steering column seems to wiggle a bit,The big nut holding the wheel is tight and the 4 allen bolts holding the saddle are good,what other things should i look for or is a little wiggle ok?

Hey Tomh,

Due to your complaint, I took BOTH steering columns apart from my (2) '73s.
Here's what I found:

-Upper bearing is a crappy design with a plastic inner liner that fails, causing the slop. I spent a couple hours on-line, including calling a "we can find any bearing" house to find that there is NO substitute for the German made 58080 bearing.

-There is NO sleeve used in the 914, so the 928 P/N piece must be for 928s only.
Replacing the failing plastic liner of the bear with a sleeve of your own could work,
but would require some method of keeping it in place....maybe expoxy glue or welding.

-In one column, the bottom bearing WAS BAD! Since it is a STANDARD 6003 bearing it can be bought anywhere. I bought on-line from www.bearingsdirect.com
and paid $4.75 ea (bought 2) + $5.80 shipping for both. Much cheaper than PP!

-To remove the column:
*1st- unbolt the steering wheel and then the steering shaft (I unbolted at the
rack&pinion end as it was easier to get to.
*2nd- Unbolt the 4 Allen-head bolts holding the column to the dash
*3rd- pull the colum out of the car
*4th- unscrew the 4 small machine screws holding the signal & wiper switch assy.
Then slide the whole dual-arm assy out and put aside.
*5th- Turn the column bottom side up and unbold the single allen-head bolt
opposite the ignition switch side.
*6th- Slide the entire steel column out of the black housing
*7th- Lastly, using circlip pliers you can get access to & remove both bearings.

Enjoy,
Terry