Could a manual steering car get tilt column? If so would the wheel from the special interior (plastic w/wood grain) be the right wheel?

I can't say I've ever seen a manual steering car with tilt, not to say they don't exist. Having owned a manual steering car, and knowing what it takes to turn the wheel while the car isn't moving, I'd think it would be awful hard on the joint in the tilt wheel.

I don't know if there was a restriction on tilt columns with manual steering. However, I do know that all steering components (i.e. columns, I-shafts, flexible couplings, etc) were all laboratory validated using manual steering loads. So there shouldn't be any concerns about safely steering the car.

One common problem with tilt columns is that the four screws that attach the column head to the rest of the column have a tendency to loosen. That problem was not discovered until tilt columns were in production for a couple years. The solution is to Locktite the screws in place. I can imagine that manually steering the car through a tilt column would probably cause the screws to loosen sooner than normal.

JIML82

The cheapskates that did not opt for power steering probably did not spring for tilt either.;)

Thanks Jim. I have not seen you around a whole lot lately. Probably is just me.:waving:

I did take the wife on a Caribbean cruise a couple weeks ago. Otherwise, I have been looking in once or twice a day. Not too many steering column, steering gear, or pump questions lately.

Jim

As a follow-up, the bowl that locks my column is rubbing on the dash. Can I shim it down a bit at the supports or where is the adjustment. It is not quite centered in the opening.

The cheapskates that did not opt for power steering probably did not spring for tilt either.;)
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I've thought it might have been a horsepower issue for some. I wonder how many HP is lost turning a power steering pump?

Driving straight down the road, the power steering pump absorbs less than 1/4 horspower (all it is doing is recirculating power steering fluid). When making full lock turns with the car stopped it requires a lot more power, but straight down the road, very little.

I don't have a Chevelle AIM book. But I know that the Corvette AIM has instructions on aligning the upper end of the steering column so that it is central in the instrument cluster cutout. I would think that the GM A-body must have something similar.

JIML82