I'm going to need a bigger punch... that sucker will just NOT come out.

Wonder if there's any tricks to doing this beyond breaking it while it's in the shift fork...

 

The trick, Aaron, is a C clamp.
Get a socket that's bigger than the OD of the bushing, place it on the side of the arm you're pushing the bushing to. Get another socket that's a little smaller than the bushing's OD. Place that on the opposite side. Take the C clamp and squeeze the two sockets together. The smaller socket will push the bushing into the larger socket.

 

EOSZ-7341-B (replaced D5AZ-7341-A & B & C ~ C7SZ-7341-D and etc) .. Nylon Selector Lever Bushing is available from Ford, so it's no big deal if you break it.

 

Ooooooo, now there's an idea! Thanks Mike, you've given me some new hope for tonight.

And ND is correct, these little plastic bushings are cheap

 

Aaron:
Sounds like you already have a solution. Searching my photos, I have pic's of the components, but not the assembly process...so they won't help you. I do have my disassembly/assembly written notes so, if you find the need, I can scan and email them to you. They might amount to "hieroglyphics" but may be something I've written might help you get things apart and back together again. PM me if it will help you.

 

Nearly forgot, spray generously with WD-40.

 

Well, it's done for now! Got that shifter arm off the 2WD column and swapped in the 4x4 column one.

Mounted the column in the truck and drove it for the first time last night. Thanks for the help fellas!

Ended up using a punch, some blocking, and a second person to hold the column. I couldn't figure out a way to get a C-clamp properly mounted and was running out of daylight

 

Hey resonateur,

Do you still have photos of the disassembly process you used for the tilt steering column?

Digging up an old thread here, but I finally ordered a lower column bearing from Ryan at Bluetop… so I'm finally getting around to rebuilding my second tilt column to use as my "good" column.

Anyone have pictures/tips of how they reassembled the two halves of the tilt "collars" tilt flanges back together... upper and lower half (the two halves held by roll pins which have that huge heavy spring between them)?

I've heard zip-ties work, but any advice is appreciated. Apparently I didn't take very good pictures of this when I was disassembling.

 

Aaron:
I have some photos, and I'll check them, but they might not be complete enough to help you with assembly. I do recall that assembling the tilt mechanism with the locking spring. The first time I did this (hang on, I'll explain) I held the assembly together under the tension of the spring and had my wife insert the steel pins to hold it together. Then tapped them in with a plastic mallet. I assume that you already have the pins out. If not, they are internally threaded, so you can insert a machine screw and pull them out with pliers. While you have the assembly apart, take a special look at the U-joint. You may want to replace the little bolt and locknut. Well after my truck was back on the road, there was so much play in the steering due to the fact that the original bolt/locknut did not hold tension, I could hardly keep it in the driving lane. I had to take the whole thing apart again to replace the bolt. You can find these at a bolt warehouse. Back to the "second time" story. As I recall (and my recollection is always questionable) I assembled the tilt mechanism and inserted the spring afterwards by prying it in with a screwdriver. I don't think there's any one right way here....getting creative helps.

 

 

I have many tilt columns for the mid 70's Fords. One thing I would like to get as accurate as possible, is the coating on the 7302.
Galvanized? I want to restore as close as possible to original.
thanks