I swapped a '66 tilt/tele steering wheel assembly onto my '67 column. Everything went in perfectly. I snugged down the center nut and inserted the '66 star bolt to hold the center cap ring in place. I screwed the star bolt all the way until it bottomed out, then backed it off about 1/4" so that it would again bottom out with the canter cap twisted to hold the wheel in place. However, the wheel doesn't stay in place. There is a slight resistance in and out, but it's freely traveling when it should be locked solidly in place. I thought I had all the pieces parts to make this work perfectly, but I guess I don't really understand how the wheel is actually held in place so I can troubleshoot this issue. I get how the twisting cap seats the star bolt and that should stop the wheel travel, but what actually holds the wheel in place?

EDIT - there is a mechanism inside the center shaft that is activated by the screw holding on the star adjuster.

Something has to be missing from my setup. Any suggestions are welcome - thanks!

EDIT - I don't think this part is correct - the star part is right, but the screw...?:



I believe that the distance this screw travels into the center shaft is not enough to activate the grabbing mechanism. The '67 piece has a screw that is about 1/8" longer than this. I think this is causing my non-locking problem.

 

Well, if that's a replacement screw in that star piece, I don't want to meet the man who put it there. I am under the impression that these bolts had a Phillips head, not standard. The above part looks like it's been modified with a replacement screw. That being said, I can't get it out. So second thoughts - what if I used a spacer of some kind between this star bolt and the actuator rod in the telescopic mechanism? Maybe a small ball bearing or a smaller piece of a screw... Maybe a soldered "extra" on the end of the bolt. I believe I need more pressure on the center actuator to hold my wheel in place. Any other ideas?

 

I've never been inside my '66 Tilt & Tele on my Toronado but CFair (Chris) posed this a while back. I do believe this is how it is supposed to look. Also, I have the link to that thread pasted below:



Link to thread (Thanks CFair!):
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...9/#post1523439

 

Yep - got all that. No missing pieces, everything oriented properly. I think the bottom line is that the center star screw isn't long enough to press the retaining post into position inside the column to lock it. Since I switched from a larger' 67 screw, the '66 isn't long enough to make it lock.

See the difference in the center star screw in CFair's pic and mine - very different. Looks like mine has been messed with and the screw replaced. But I can't get the screw out to change it. So I'm trying to think of ways to overcome this.

 

I had mine apart months ago. It looks like the picture above but I don't recall if mine has that screw or if it's flush. I remember that the star piece threads in using the center screw, and the side screws lock it in position. Does your center screw not thread into whatever is behind it?

 

I think you need to run the rotating mechanism either CW or CCW so that the center screw can initially grab. If it's been out of whack for a while, it might be out of range for the star piece screw to thread into it. Obviously it should thread in multiple turns too.

The adjuster wheel can turn many more turns than it needs to lock/unlock the telescoping. So much so that my theory is it can get out of reach for the center screw. If so, I believe it's a matter of bringing it back to the range it should be in, so that the center screw can thread in properly and then fine adjustment is done after.

 

That screw pushes on a rod which pushes a locking shoe (kind of a bent curlicue of metal) into a slot on the column. The shoe rides in a curved “track” which allows the corner of the shoe to be shoved up into the column wherever you want to lock the tele feature.

You don’t have to dig too far into the column to see the mechanism in my ‘66’s. See my thread with the painful detail on this column. There are definitely pictures there on how this feature is supposed to work.

Couple of thoughts:
1) I haven’t really settled on which way the shoe should be oriented. I recommend trying both orientations if the current one doesn’t work. With luck reversing the current orientation will get you where you want to go.

2) A lot of things changed in 67 as Olds (and GM) went to safety dashes and other stuff. My ‘66 columns may be very different from your ‘67.

3) If your ‘67 column does look different, hit up the Cadillac or Buick forums and see if they have some wisdom to share over there. A lot of the options Olds got along the way were shared with those divisions, so others may have come across a solution which will work for your column.

Hope some of those ideas help
Chris

 

Rereading your initial post, an easy way to determine if a longer screw will work is to just go get one at the hardware store with the right thread size and pitch. If the part above is too short, it will easily fail to push the rod down onto the shoe which will cause the tele lock to not work.

 

Keep in mind that 1967-later T&T columns have a lever-actuated locking mechanism. No surprise there'd be differences in internal components from the 1966 ring and they don't interchange.

Bob, are you saying that after you put the star bolt in, you can't loosen it now? Been decades since I went into either type so I'm not much help.

 

Thanks for the input, everyone... and cfair, your threads on this column are incredible. You have a great idea about just going to the hardware store and getting a longer screw to test out the theory. Rocket, the issue is that no matter how much I tighten the '66 star screw, it doesn't lock the wheel in place. It's too short to press down on the rod to lock the shoe in place. At maximum tightness, it just barely holds the wheel in place, and only in the maximum collapsed position. But a little tug pulls it free. I'll test with a longer screw and confirm. If that works, I need to figure out something to make the '66 star screw "longer", either by attaching some sort of puck to the end or spot welding a bit that I can shape to fit - I only need an extra 1/8" at the most, it seems.

 

If you have access to a lathe you might consider boring a small hole (1/8" diameter or so) in the end of the bolt so that you can drive in a steel pin.

 

With a 5/16-18 bolt I was able to confirm that yes, the column locks properly with just a bit more depth of bolt. Trying to imagine the simplest way possible to gain literally less than 1/8”, I decided that a little dab of JBWeld on the end of the star headed bolt was worth a try. I’ll let it fully cure until tomorrow, then I’ll shape with a file and try it out. This allows me the ability to dial in the added thickness needed so the bolt will sit fully and the star washer will line up with the twisting ring as close as possible. There is very little play room from lock to unlock positions.

 

Just for reference my columns lock and unlock with just an 1/8 turn or so. With the right length screw tip, set the scallops so that Unlock (i.e. “loose”) setting is _just_ shy of locking it. Play with it a bit and go for the smallest amount of turn you can get would be my advice.

But above all, make sure that when the screw is in the Lock (i.e. “tight”) position that the wheel is really locked in place to your satisfaction. It doesn’t need a helluva a lot of locking torque, just snug & secure.

Glad that tilt & tele thread helped.
Cheers
Chris

 

Worked like a champ. I added a touch of lithium grease to the end just to make sure I was getting the right tightness, and after a couple adjustments, the ‘66 wheel lives where the ‘67 used to and works perfectly 😊



I still have some wiring issues and a broken blinker cam to repair, so I didn’t install the center cap yet. Just happy this ended up as an easy repair/replacement.

 

When you get to cosmetics on that column - #0000 steel wool shines the chrome nicely and you can respray the flat black as satin black if you don’t mind spending the time masking off the not-to-be-painted bits….

Cheers
Chris