Ok got this 1979 cutlass not long ago
the steering wheel I wish could be shorter torwards front of car. Looking around today I noticed I might just do that. I’m thinking it’s telescopic





it’s got a lever type thing
I push it down. Nothing happens

anyone know how these work ?
I don’t think it’s tilt steering

 

The lever is to allow you to turn the key to the LOCK position. You're supposed to hold that lever down while turning the key. It is not a telescoping column.

 

If it were a tilt column you would have a (screw in) lever on the left side of the column next to the directional signal lever.

 

yup. I was hoping it would be telescopic lol
oh well
one day I will change it for something smaller
or try a smaller steering wheel

 

It's a bit hard to tell from the pics but that column looks awful long coming out of the instrument panel; are you sure that is the correct one for the car?

 

it’s about 10 inches long
mostly likely not the one for this car

 

More to the point, that vintage Olds did not use the locking lever to turn the key to LOCK. That column likely came out of an F-body, probably to replace the original column-shift column for a floor shift.

 

Probably that’s what it is

I would like to install a telescopic one if I can at some point

 

GM never offered a telescoping column for the A or G-body cars. Any full size column will likely still be too long.

 

really wow.

 

2x on Joe P's note, I would suggest finding a correct tilt column, I have one in all 3 of my 79's and it's a great assist to a more comfortable ride. My black/silver Brougham and my H/O already had one, and I installed one in my blue Calais. It's a bit of a chore but it's entirely do-able.

 

I don’t think I need a tilt column
mine is already at its max height anyway

I’ll probably look at a smaller steering wheel as mine is 15 inch