Jet Jock is correct about the cost of overhauling and fabbing to fit a GM keyed column. I fiddled with one for months and never could get the thing to work right and look decent. The ignition and dimmer bars never would work smoothly where they went thru the column drop. Plus the mid column was just plain ole ugly. I bought the ABS cover from Julianos but it didnt work.

I finally gave up and bought a Flaming River stainless tilt column. Works great and looks great. My only problem is finding a polished hub adapter for the Nardi steering wheel. Black will have to work for a while.



MadFabber is right onabout the van columns--the simplier the better

Tim

 

Sorry guys! The pic I uploaded had all the column. Email me and I will sent you better pics if interested.

 

F1FG,

Ididit has extremely fine quality adapters in polished and brushed finish. Call them to see if they will fit the FR column.

 

AX
My problem seems to be the Nardi steering wheel. I have a gorgeous Flaming River adapter but the screws are wrong. I am thinking about a machine shop.

Tim

 

I found Ididit very helpful when I called them because my steering wheel was also an oddball. Once I gave them the model # of the wheel they checked their database and knew exactly which one I needed, seems they have a multitude of different ones to fit about any wheel out there. Since they CNC their own, I'd expect they can make one cheaper than a machine shop if they don't have it on the shelf, but Nardi is a popular brand.

 

The column I have in my truck is either a Volkswagen or BMW? Ok, everyone can stop laughing now. The turn indicator even says Made in Germany. Or was that a Mercedes column? It works but I'm going with the ididit billet column. I'm with AX on this one. The have tilt columns also. The billet sure looks sweet.

 

Mike,

If you look in my gallery you will see that I have a 1983 Ford Van Tilt column. This column I think ran from 83-90 or 91. The difference between it and the pre-80 Ford truck and van column is the ignition switch. 79 on back had the ignition switch in the dash in some form or fashion. A friend of mine cut the switch off and refinished that area and it was painted back. All the lock mechanisms were taken out. I went this route because the column had the detents already in the column for an AOD and it would bolt up "factory" to the 87 Crown Vic Steering Box. Not a big GM personally but Ididit and Flaming River make nice columns. I just wanted to stay as much FOMOCO as I could other than my Ch%vy Van Gas tank