Having a problem disassembling my column. It is a 69, no tilt or telescope, floor shift manual. I'm at the point of removing the turn signal housing. The upper bearing will not slip over the last part of the shaft just after the retainer clip groove. I am following the directions in the service manual and all was going well up till this point. The lock cylinder, turn signal switch are all removed according to service manual. I'll try to post a photo, hope it works. Can anyone help? The photo didn't work, I'll have to find another site to host the photo, then I'll post it again. Thanks.

http://midlife_cruiser.tripod.com/mytoybox/id4.html
[This message has been edited by Midlife Cruiser (edited 12-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Midlife Cruiser (edited 12-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Midlife Cruiser (edited 12-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Midlife Cruiser (edited 12-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Midlife Cruiser (edited 12-30-2002).]

OK, the link works. Sorry for all the edits. You can see the bearing is out of the housing but won't go any farther than in the photo. Hope someone can help. Should this be posted in another forum, no one seems to be answering?

Is there a snapring in the groove?

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Don~ ZZ430DropTop (http://hometown.aol.com/zz430droptop67rs)
~~~~and~~~~
70 RS (http://hometown.aol.com/performancespecs)

No, the snap ring has to come out before you can even get at the turn signal mechanism.

Were you able to move the bearing to this point and it got stuck? If so there may be a small ridge on the shaft. Move it back and polish the shaft lightly with some emery cloth.Warming the bearing may also help. Acouple of soldering guns placed directly on the bearing should expand it enough to help slip it off the shaft. Hope this helps.

The bearing can be moved freely on the shaft but sticks at that point. I already tried emery cloth on the shaft as you described, no go. I have not tried heat on the bearing. I'll give it a try.

I imagine it's cold where you are. Put the column outside in the cold. Put the bearing in a warm oven. Not too hot though. I'd warm it up to a couple hundred degrees, then shut it off and put the bearing in. When you're ready pull the bearing out with an oven mit or glove and see if it doesn't drop right on the cold shaft.

-dnult

It's actually not too bad here this week. Lows are in the single digits to teens, highs are in the 20's. That's actually pretty warm here this time of year. There is about 14 inches of ice on the lake (Lake Mille Lacs) and within another week there will be about 5000 fish houses on the lake for ice fishing. It's a very large lake.
Anyway.....the problem is not to get the bearing on the shaft, it is to get the bearing off the shaft. It won't come off.

[This message has been edited by Midlife Cruiser (edited 01-01-2003).]