Old question again on steering wheels.

[Old Dude]

I'm in sort of a dilemma here. I've been toying with putting a tilt column and steering wheel out of my 86 or 93 Chevy truck in my 31A. For one thing, the gas tank has to go, so that will give me some room. I'll probably have to go with a flat steering wheel. It will also have the turn signal switch on it as well as the cruse control. Not to mention the auto shifter. In short it would solve most of my problems. The question is: Has anyone ever tried to do this in a 31? Archives can't help me. Thanks guys.

 

[zzrodder]

I think you'll find that column looks too modern and out of place in a 31, though it does have all the doo-dads. I like the columns from the 70's, they dont have all that plastic junk on them and are more streamlined. In my 34 Caddy I'm using one from a 76 Cadillac, it has tilt, cruise, shifter, ignition and is also telescoping. Another nice trim column I've used is from mid to late 70's Ford full size cars, vans and pickups, they also came with tilt though they dont have the built in ignition switch.

 

[Old Dude]

I do believe you are right. We used to run the Caddy column in our 55-56-57 Chevys. It got so you couldn't find one around Orlando. Big problem up here: No more junk yards. Everything got cut up for scrap when metal prices were high. I'll look around. Thanks for kicking my memory in the keister.

 

[zzrodder]

I hear you on the boneyards, most all of the old time yards are gone here too. There's a Pick n Pull yard near me, so I haunt it regularly to spot when the old stuff shows up and snag the good parts before they get picked clean and squished.
Trouble is there's less older cars out there too. Another thing that has led to the demise of small junkyards here has been urban sprawl - land prices have shot up plus junkyards are seen as unsightly and environmentally undesirable.
Young guys who inherit Grandpa's old boneyard don't see the point and the short term gain of scrap value and sale of the property are too tempting.