60 series steering column in a 40 series cruiser

[fj-rankenstein]

i have really wanted tilt steering in Rankenstein for a long long time so i thought this was going to be an easy mod and jumped right into it.. it didnt end up that way and i needed a little while to think about things.. i came up with this over the last week.. it was a pain in the ass but now that i have most everything worked out, i wont hesitate doing this again.. i hope you guys enjoy.


the "pocket" that gets bolted to the fire wall had to get the inside enlarged so the end of the steering column could get through.. the final hole ended up being cut around all 4 welded nuts in the pocket and resembled a cross.. this was so not only could i get the end of the steering column shaft through the hole but the u-joint from the column.. everything just squeeks through..

here is a little closer pic..

this is the template that i made using the base from the original steering column.. this will be the plate that gets welded to the end of the 60 series column..

this is the plate being built.. the 4 holes i think were drilled to 3/8's and the center hole was 2 inches..

this is the final product built.. i had to cut it in half so i could get it around the steering column end.. from here i put the 60 series column to where it looked like it would work and installed the two halves around the column shaft in the firewall pocket..

i will have to get a pic of what the steering column looked like before.. where the springs for the tilt column mechanism hook up, the whole area had a lot of excess metal that flared out making it tough to put into the stock colomn location in the firewall.. a lot of trimming was done to make this work and then that cross brace was rewelded.. this is a very much needed step to make this work.. this cross piece will also serve as a mount for the brake pedal return spring.. the original mounting hole was cut off when i enlarged the column mounting bracket..

you can see how much i had to cut out of the column support based on the shiny grinded metal.. i wasnt pleased with how low the column was sitting under the dash so i cut and trimmed in small doses till i was able to get it up enough to where it was in the stock columns location.. sorry, no before photos..

here is another..

and another..

here is the column removed again for final welding of my square base plate..

and another..

and here it is bolted up in its home.. i still have to sand blast and paint all the associated parts but i am still just test fitting everything at this point..

and one more from the inside.. although it doesnt look like much, its been a pain in the butt to get to this point.. i think that column has been in and out of the truck over 40 times..

and the result.. all the way down.

and all the way up..

 

[fj-rankenstein]

here is the piece of tubing that i used to extend the front nose of the steering column. i needed the column to be 1.5 inches longer

here it is all in place for yet another test fit.. i was quite happy to be at this point..

here is a small 1/4 inch washer that i welded to the top of the column so the spring for the tilt lever would have something to hook onto..

this is another test fit with the column in the dash.. you can see how tight everything is.. the other spring peeking through towards the back is the brake pedal return spring.. it will now get hooked onto here..

and here is one of the "wings" that i welded to the side of the column so it can be bolted to the underside of the dash..

pretty much the last test fit and final assembly shot.. very happy with how it turned out..

closer shot of the same thing

a good underdash shot of everything bolted up..

there is one thing that i didnt cover but will speak of briefly.. the steering shaft inside the column had to be extended 1.5 inches.. basically there are 2 plastic pins that i drilled out.. these pins hold the steering shaft a pre-determined length and are meant to easily break and let the column collapse.. there is quite a bit of shaft to easily and safely extend the shaft to almost twice its lengths of about 6 inches or so.. i only needed 1.5 inches of extension.. i then re-drilled two small holes and replaced the plastic pins with a couple of tiny roll pins.. i tested to see if they would indeed break and allow the shaft to collapse and then did with only a little more force..

 

[Shad0wTr0n]

Excellent write up!! I'm thinking I'll do this soon too with the power steering system as well. Hope it works out as well as yours did.

 

[incogrhino]

I tossed around the idea of this when doing that part of my project.Ended up just going with a 55 column to get the ujoint and collapse part using a scout box. What box is that? Me likey.

 

[73tlcv8]

How did you mate the combo switch to the rest of the truck wiring harness?

 

[hicruise55]

Funny, I was just looking into doing this last night. Very nice writup!

 

[fj-rankenstein]

the steering box is from a bj60 as is the entire rolling chasis..

the combo switch was a mish mash of both 60 and 40 series parts.. i basically took the pins out of the 40 series column electrical connector and took the connector off of the 60 series column and transfered the 40 series connector onto the 60 series wiring.. the pins in both columns worked out to being the same type and was able to install them where i needed them in the new connector. i ended up keeping the lights on the pull knob on the dash and the wipers are also left on the dash..
what i did make work in the new 60 series column was the key switch which was 3 wires i think, the high beams and the horn which was the grounding wire back through to the horn buttons and the signls and 4 way flashers.. i am going to pull off the wiper/washer motor signal stock out of the column sinse i left those things on the dash.. i didnt feel like extending all of those wires in the dash to the 60 series column and am happy to leave what i left on the dash.. as well, if i were to run the headlight circuit through the steering column it would end up burning the signal column up because the 60 series column headlight switch wouldnt be able to handle the amperage unless i slightly rewired it to have a relay in the headlight circuit.. the same thing goes for the wipers..

hope this all makes sense..

 

[grant5127]

Sit in that thing and have someone take a pic and post up, I'm interested in the clearance between the bottom of the column and your knee, as one would enter and exit....

You may have some advantage there with aftermarket seats and seat situated rearward, but it it were all stock I'm sure it would be too tight for most 6' & taller folks.......

 

[mwalls54]

Whats the dash look like with it all done now.

 

[fj-rankenstein]

hey! i just saw the last post.. give me a few days and i can post a few pics..

 

[TurboDiesel69]

this is super wicked.

I have a 70 column I could do this with, but I'd rather sell it as part of my LHD conversion kit.

 

[fj-rankenstein]

here is a couple of pics of me with the steering wheel both up and down so you get an idea of cab room.. my seats are acura integra leather and they are sitting on home made seat brackets.. i am 5'8" ..

 

[indianporfavor]

Nice clean looking upgrade intrested in trying this sort of set up on my 40 as I am 6'3" and the standard wheel/column is a bit in the way