Steering column?

[Thomasleclair]

Hi my name is Thomas. I recently bought a 1971 Datsun 521w/ L1600. ill post pics soon...I have full use of my fathers shop, AriKooled Kustoms (airkooledkustoms.com) there's a lot of stuff that im doing to it, and i may have some original parts for sale in the future. I will also have full description w/ the pics....

anyways my question is, is there a way to shorten my steering column, or swap it out for a shorter one? if replace, what with?

[merlin]

Common issue, but not an easy fix. Someone will pipe in but cutting it 3 inches shorter and welding it back together seems to be the solution.

[datzenmike]

Theoretical shortening of the 521/620 steering column: The column and steering box are one piece. There is an outer tube with a solid rod in the center. If you remove it entirely you could unbolt the outer sheath and trim it shorter. The sheath may now need a hole drilled in it to mount the turn signal switches. The inner rod can now have an equal amount cut out of the middle and be welded back on to save the steering wheel mounting spline. All this will have to be done with the steering box attached.

 

I did not say to weld this no mater what is printed in the first paragraph. There are an infinite number of ways to fuck this up with disastrous results and probably only 2 or 3 ways to get it right. If you weld this, you are on your own. :)

[Charlie69]

If you just want to shorten it pull the box with the column attached.

 

Mark the top center of the column near the dash and at the steering wheel end, so you do not cut the mark off, draw a straight line between marks. This is to help orient the turnsignal alignment hole

 

Remove the column tube from the steering gear box exposing the shaft.

 

Measure down the tube from the steering wheel end the distance you want to shorten. Make a clean square cut I believe the last 521 we did the most you could cut out was 3.5" and still use the the stock plastic column cover.

 

Mark and redriil the hole in the shortened tube for the turn signal switch

 

Now support you gear box and clamp your column shaft in to a vise or what ever you have to hold it. Measure from the steering wheel end and make a

mark about 2' down the shaft & make a mark. Now measure down the same distance plus the amount you cut out of your tube & make another mark. Mark an orientation line down the shaft to line back up after the piece is cut outnow cut the section out. chamfer both ends that are going to be welded back together. If you have access to a lathe this is the ideal way to do this. If not tha a piece of 1" angle iron and clamp Both pieces of shaft ib the v of the angle iron. This will hold it straight for welding Besure to line up the orientatine line you made on the shaft before welding. Weld the shaft back together removing the clamps after cooling and rotataing to weld othe side. Grind the build up weld smooth, if you want you can weld a sleve over the welded section but I never have and have not had a welded shaft break. Reassemble and you have a custom shortened steering column.

 

My brother and I modded my steering gear box for a rag joint setup.

 

you can read about it here. Pictures also.

 

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/9197-charlie69s-66-520-build/

[Thomasleclair]

thank you, my dad, "Spook" makes kustom narrowed front ends for oldskool vws. if i can get his help haha im sure we can do it. i preicate it man. ill get pics up soon...

-peace-

If you just want to shorten it pull the box with the column attached.

 

Mark the top center of the column near the dash and at the steering wheel end, so you do not cut the mark off, draw a straight line between marks. This is to help orient the turnsignal alignment hole

 

Remove the column tube from the steering gear box exposing the shaft.

 

Measure down the tube from the steering wheel end the distance you want to shorten. Make a clean square cut I believe the last 521 we did the most you could cut out was 3.5" and still use the the stock plastic column cover.

 

Mark and redriil the hole in the shortened tube for the turn signal switch

 

Now support you gear box and clamp your column shaft in to a vise or what ever you have to hold it. Measure from the steering wheel end and make a

mark about 2' down the shaft & make a mark. Now measure down the same distance plus the amount you cut out of your tube & make another mark. Mark an orientation line down the shaft to line back up after the piece is cut outnow cut the section out. chamfer both ends that are going to be welded back together. If you have access to a lathe this is the ideal way to do this. If not tha a piece of 1" angle iron and clamp Both pieces of shaft ib the v of the angle iron. This will hold it straight for welding Besure to line up the orientatine line you made on the shaft before welding. Weld the shaft back together removing the clamps after cooling and rotataing to weld othe side. Grind the build up weld smooth, if you want you can weld a sleve over the welded section but I never have and have not had a welded shaft break. Reassemble and you have a custom shortened steering column.

 

My brother and I modded my steering gear box for a rag joint setup.

 

you can read about it here. Pictures also.

 

 

http://community.rat...s-66-520-build/

[mklotz70]

I know this is an old thread, but I was just sent a link to it with a similar question. Since I just spent the last 20 min typing out the answer, I thought I'd copy/paste the info here for anyone else. It's pretty similar to the above info.....and as stated......this is how I did it......you are modifying your steering....do it at your own risk!!!!

****************************************************88

 

 

**** important note**** If you are going to use an aftermarket steering wheel, get the adapter and wheel first!!!! They don't make 521 adapters any more. The 620 will fit, but it leaves a big gap between the bell under the wheel and the plastic cover. You can account for this gap and eliminate it in the process of shortening the column.....so mount it and measure the gap before you start!!!!! You also want to watch out for clearances to the blinker arm and account for that.

 

 

Basically....we did it the harder way. We took off the outer tube and cut the weld off, separating the flange and the tube. We shortened the tube, then welded it back on with it clocked exactly as before......so remember to mark things first. When it went back together, you couldn't tell we had touched it. It would be much easier to cut off the steering wheel end and make a new hole for the blinker switch.

 

The center shaft is by far the more critical part. You can take it out of the steering box, but the pitman arm has to be removed or have the tierod ends removed. Preferably, you'll take the entire box out of the truck first. Taking the shaft out......with the tube removed, it will pretty much just pull out. Pay close attention to where you have the steering wheel in it's rotation and where the pitman arm points when you get it out....you're going to want to put it back together the same way or you will have to reorient the pitman arm when you're done.

 

My buddy's lathe was big enough that we could stick the shaft through the center bore and have about a foot and a half sticking out of the chuck. We turned it slowly and his lathe was big enough to handle the recirculating ball assy being left on the end of the shaft. We marked where we wanted to separate the shaft and pulled it back out and cut it on the saw. You could cut it in the lathe if you have a parting tool. Next.....we machined a 1.5-2" section at the end of the shaft so that we'd have a know diameter with a perfect surface. Also...put a slight bevel on the end. Take the shaft out of the lathe and chuck up the small piece. Shorten it the amount you need to before you put it in the lathe, or with the lathe...you're call. We machined a similar 1.5-2" section to the exact same diameter we had turned the other to.

 

The amount you shorten it will depend on the adapter/wheel you use. If you're using a stock wheel, you can shorten both 3-3.5". If you have a 1.5" gap behind your adapter, you'd want to shorten the inner shaft an extra 1.5" to take up that gap. You'll have to do all your own math .....don't just use my numbers since it's been years since I did this. I did not account for the gap....I can put a stock wheel back on if I want. BUT....with the angle of the column in the truck, moving the wheel 3" closer to the dash puts the wheel down closer to the seat.....a lot!! I could barely squeeze my leg under the stock wheel. A smaller 13" wheel works perfect.

 

With the shaft ends machined and the butt connector machined.....it was machined for a press fit so that it would hold everything together in perfect alignment. He was able to tap them together with a hammer, then he welded each end of the butt connector to the shaft. I don't remember clearly, but he may have drilled a hole or two for plug welds as well.

 

There are discs up inside the outer tube. I'm not sure if they're spash guards or what...and there may only be one.....but the center hole in it is kinda small. It either needs to have it's hole opened up to allow the butt connector's diameter to fit inside, or the butt connector needs to be turned so that it will fit. We figured that out after we had it welded, so we put the whole thing back in the lathe and turned the connector's OD down to fit. We didn't have any way of reaching the disc.

 

I've had a spare column here that I've kept, solely for the purpose of doing a how-to with it....I've just never gotten around to it.

[mklotz70]

One more thing.....the box/coumn will not come out under the core support unless you have a lift and I'm still not sure there's room. You have to take the seat out and then lift the box/column over the core support.