STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND?
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND?
I have a standard colum in my vert and I am going to purchase a T&T column. Can either one of these columns be shortend? If so has anyone done so? Who is a good vendor? Thanx in advance.
#2
Team Owner
Re: STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND? (Oldguard 7)
I have a late vette TT column in my '72, swapped around housings and such to make it work..., I think i'ts a bit closer to the firewall than the original, but also changed to the late wheel...smaller/thicker/better, so I think that's about the way to go....shortening it further will not work too well, as then it's into the dash board....
GENE
GENE
#3
Burning Brakes
Re: STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND? (mrvette)
I just changed my std out this weekend with a T&T , The T&T was actually shorter at the bottom , but only by a quarter of an inch, ,I thought this was kind of strange. If you were trying to make more distance between you and the steering wheel , you would have to remove bottom plate(bolts to inside of firewall) reweld it closer to the steering wheel , but the most you could probably get would be maybe 1 inch , more than that and you will start to have bolt alignment problems at the dash bracket.
#4
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Re: STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND? (mrvette)
Mr Vette, would you give more info on what housing needs to be swapped? Will parts from my 71 standard column work for this? Also, I imagine this mod gives you an inch or so more room to the wheel?
Thanks
Thanks
#5
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Re: STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND? (Oldguard 7)
I'm curious to why you want to shorten the column. I have T&T in my 1974 Coupe and have always felt that the steering wheel is too close to my chest for comfort. I have looked around and not found a solution.
I am considering putting shims under the seat mounts. This would be similiar to reclining the seat back in a newer car. There isn't much room between the seat back and the back panel. I'm not sure if this will make a difference.
Any thoughts from anyone?
By the way, I'm not a big guy... 5'9" and 225 lbs. I do like driving with the seat all the way aft.
:) :)
I am considering putting shims under the seat mounts. This would be similiar to reclining the seat back in a newer car. There isn't much room between the seat back and the back panel. I'm not sure if this will make a difference.
Any thoughts from anyone?
By the way, I'm not a big guy... 5'9" and 225 lbs. I do like driving with the seat all the way aft.
I have a standard colum in my vert and I am going to purchase a T&T column. Can either one of these columns be shortend? If so has anyone done so? Who is a good vendor? Thanx in advance.
#6
Racer
Re: STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND? (Oldguard 7)
Sometime last year, a fellow named Jim Shea offered a listing of general information on swapping steering columns between different model years. Basically, all the columns between '69 and '76 are pretty much dimensionally the same. The columns from '77 to '82 are also similar, but around 2" shorter than the earlier ones. The 2" difference was in the lenght from what was referred to as the "breakaway capsule mounts" rearward. The distance from those mounts, which I think is where the column bolts to the bottom of the dash, forward to the firewall are all similar.
A search on steering columns might lead to where the information was offered.
A search on steering columns might lead to where the information was offered.
#7
Drifting
Re: STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND? (Oldguard 7)
Dear Oldguard7,
Genuine Corvette columns are no longer in production and it might be a good idea to go to the aftermarket to get a modern design built with all new components. Ididit and Flaming River make columns to suit almost any car and I'm sure that one of them offers a tilt if not tele column. That way, you can sell your original to a restorer or keep it if a future owner of your car wants to restore it. Just my A$0.04 worth.
Regards from Down Under
aussiejohn :cheers:
Genuine Corvette columns are no longer in production and it might be a good idea to go to the aftermarket to get a modern design built with all new components. Ididit and Flaming River make columns to suit almost any car and I'm sure that one of them offers a tilt if not tele column. That way, you can sell your original to a restorer or keep it if a future owner of your car wants to restore it. Just my A$0.04 worth.
Regards from Down Under
aussiejohn :cheers:
#8
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Re: STEERING COLUMN ....STD OR T&T CAN THEY BE SHORTEND? (Oldguard 7)
If you go to http://www.corvettefaq.com and look under Steering, you will find that the very first paper it entitled 77+ Steering Column in Early C3s. The paper has everything that I was able to discover about installing the later (shorter) steering column (1977 through 1982) in 1969 through 1976 C3s.