Greetings, Anyone know of a good company to rebuild an original (automatic) steering column. The selector mechanism is pretty loose and I'm hoping there is a cottage industry out there who does this kind of work?
A quick google search yielded these off the top: http://www.steeringcolumnservices.com/steering-column-rebuilding.php http://www.columnsgalore.com/rebuilt.htm http://www.accuratesteering.com/accurate-steering-services/34-test.html I haven't done business with any of these places so caveat emptor. I would also do a search on Hemmings under "services offered". You can also try your hand at it. They aren't too hard to take apart.
That's great and thank a lot Kevin. will check these sources out. I've been looking at parts sources on the web and it seems that some of the stuff for the Galaxy bodied cars is not available, but some internal parts are for the Thunderbird of the same year are. Wondering what parts are interchangeable at this point as well.
I can't speak to interchangeability on the Ford columns. Do you have a factory service manual? It probably has an exploded view of the column in there. I recall we had the three speed manual shift steering column in our '67 Biscayne apart half a dozen times trying to remedy shifting issues. They really are pretty simple inside. Just some tubes and shafts and bearings. Not much to mess up as long as you take your time. I am still not real clear on your original issue though. Is it just the shift lever that feels loose or is there more to it? Can you describe what you are seeing/feeling a little more? It may not even be in the steering column itself. It could be in the linkage from the steering column to the transmission.
Ok, looks like the initial fixes will be a new detent plate to keep it from popping out of Park and a new column cover to eliminate a lot of the wobble in the shift lever. More to follow,
