JMortensen Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Never done this before, but need to get the upper part of the shaft out if possible to weld on an adapter for quick release for steering wheel. Looked in the FSM and it basically says take the snap ring off and then pull the shaft out. I took the snap ring off and the shaft sucked in, I see in the diagrams there is a spring in there, it appears that it is actively pulling the shaft down. Hoping to do this without having to pull all the steering linkage off again. Tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I've always done it out of the car. I think there's a ole in the side that you can jamb a screwdriver in to keep the spring from pulling the shaft down but I might be confusing a E356 column with a 240Z column (I've worked a lot on both). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 I did see a pretty small hole in the side of the housing. Do you recall how to disconnect the spring to remove the shaft? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 The shaft slides out the back end of the steering tube. The manual shows three small screws that hold the upper steering tube to the lower steering tube. You might be able to get to these by removing the clamp that holds the steering tube to the brake pedal box and dash support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 19, 2013 Author Share Posted July 19, 2013 Alright, I see it now. Step 1 (doh!). I guess I skipped that one... Looks like it will be easiest to pull the thing. Not a big deal, was just trying to figure it out without having to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 I screwed up my shaft and ordered another from ebay. Got my new one really quickly, but it felt like the bearings had sand in them. For anyone else getting into this, after you get the upper steering shaft out, the inner shaft is a bit of a press fit in the housing. Once you get it out, it is possible to remove the outer bearing nearest the steering wheel with a slide hammer and disassemble, clean, and grease it up. The ball bearings don't come loose until after it comes out of the housing and you remove a snap ring. I was concerned that after I removed the shaft the bearing would fall apart. It doesn't. The same type of bearing is used in the bottom of the upper shaft, but it felt smooth so I packed a bit of grease in from the bottom and called it a day on that one, but it looks like the same disassembly/reassembly procedure would work. All done now, Joe's Racing QR installed on the shaft. Not a direct fit but I had the stuff to make it all work and I got to keep my steering wheel, which isn't great but didn't need replacing. If I had it to do over, I would convert to 3/4" tubing and do all race stuff, but this worked out despite my screw ups and saved me trying to figure out how to go through the firewall and seal everything up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Threadkiller Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Start with this:Slide the mount off exposing three screws that hold upper half to lower half:Take out three screws and separate upper and lower:This is the steering wheel end with retainer clip still installed:Pull off the steering wheel taper shoes and the retainer clip:Once you remove the retainer clip, the upper shaft comes out the bottom end of the housing. The spring will probably push it out, but it might require some gentle persuasion in addition to the spring:Tap the bearings out of the housing if you dare. There is one at the top and one at the bottom:Bearing disassembled:There are thirty balls in the bearings so you can count what you have to make sure you didn't drop any: Note that the process and pics above are for 240 only. In 74 they changed the column design and I've not taken one of the newer "steel ball" styles apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Nice pictorial! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy85 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Jon - how much weight you think could be saved by converting the shaft to race stuff? Seems like a meaning amount but never weighed a column before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 I've got the box that my column was shipped to me in, and it says 12.4 lbs. I would guess that you could probably halve that, maybe a little more. I was thinking that the column must make the pedal box more rigid, but there are a few lbs to be saved there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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