When I brought my 71 Home the steering column felt like it was about to come apart, I thought the screws that held the shift collar on came loose or something. I pulled it apart and noticed there's someting missing in there Underneath the turn signal cam there are 2 large phillips head screws that are supposed to hold the collar on, there is nothing below for the screw to go into What goes underneath??? Are there any popular colum upgrades out there while I have it torn apart, I'd rather swap it out for a known good column, any other columns fit?? This 71 is the first swepty I've seen since I moved here ((2 years ago )) so parts aren't going to be readily availible.
moparman1975 wrote:When I brought my 71 Home the steering column felt like it was about to come apart, I thought the screws that held the shift collar on came loose or something. I pulled it apart and noticed there's someting missing in there Underneath the turn signal cam there are 2 large phillips head screws that are supposed to hold the collar on, there is nothing below for the screw to go into What goes underneath??? Are there any popular colum upgrades out there while I have it torn apart, I'd rather swap it out for a known good column, any other columns fit?? This 71 is the first swepty I've seen since I moved here ((2 years ago )) so parts aren't going to be readily availible.
Perhaps you can start by posting your need for the column [automatic, three spd, 4spd?] and where you're located
in the "Parts Wanted" section and see what developes.
John
You are only supposed to loosen those screws slightly. Apparently someone loosened them too far and the parts that they screw into fell into the column. Not the best design in my opinion but that's the way it is. You might be able to turn the column upside down and shake them out if the column is removed.
"the parts they screw into" are simply square nuts. There are slots in the column tube that the nuts catch to tighten the head to the column. You could probably find square nuts at the local hardware.
Underneath the turn signal cam there are 2 large phillips head screws that are supposed to hold the collar on, there is nothing below for the screw to go into 
What goes underneath??? Are there any popular colum upgrades out there while I have it torn apart, I'd rather swap it out for a known good column, any other columns fit?? This 71 is the first swepty I've seen since I moved here ((2 years ago )) so parts aren't going to be readily availible.
