1967 Lincoln tilt column rebuild

[LithiumCobalt]

One of my more recent projects has been working on a tilt column for my 1967 sedan. Since my car came with a fixed column originally (how peasant-like) I have to have the seat position unusually low to fit my fat ass under the steering wheel in order to get in and out. I decided early on the fixed column wasn't going to cut it. After months of searching, I found a tilt column from a vendor and bought it. At $300, I thought, what a bargain! Come to find out, this tilt column was Ford's first attempt at engineering and building one. The 1966 Continentals had a GM-sourced "Saginaw" tilt column. After talking with John Cashman, he has expressed that this first tilt column is junk and he used to throw them away. I didn't ask what in particular plagued them, but what I have all seems to be intact. In 1968, only one year later, in usual fashion, Ford re-engineered the column and made it better, supposedly. I don't know exactly what was changed because I don't have one to compare to. John also mentioned 1968+ column would not work in a 1967. I didn't know why, but didn't ask questions. So, I'm essentially stuck with a one-year only steering column if I wanted to upgrade my car. After doing a lot of research, I also learned that this column design was used in Thunderbirds, Cougars and Mustangs, and possibly others.

Here is the way the column came to me. Rusted in many spots, horrible paint, caked on dirt and dried grease, and what I would find out along the way, with A LOT of missing parts! The thing looked like it had been sitting behind someone's shed for 40 years. I haven't added up all of my receipts yet, but I think I will have roughly $700 into this column by the time it is complete and ready!

[LithiumCobalt]

I'll spare everyone photos of the tear-down process and skip right to the refinishing and assembly phases.

Various pieces/parts getting a few coats of etching primer after being stripped:

Column shell getting primed

The totally pain in the ass part to find. This is the one-year-only removable access plate on the lower cover. It can be removed to change the gear indicator light bulb. 68+ columns had a one piece lower cover that simply pulled off and had no need for an access cover.

Lower cover access plate

Stripped and refinished shift tube:

Refinished shift tube

Somewhat cleaned up steering shaft and upper knuckle amongst a bunch of other crap on the workbench:

[LithiumCobalt]

Costs so far to re-fresh this old column:

$300 Column core
75 Strip all parts
79 Custom-matched interior paint
13 Emergency switch bezel
21 Nylon flange bumper
20 "Dick" plate
20 Lower cover access plate
6 Gear lever spring
18 Replacement pivots pins with locking clips
3 Upper cover screws (universal)
135 New tilt column turn signal switch
11 Bulk closed cell foam to replace the firewall seal

$701 Total so far. Guess I am good at estimating.

Planning to rebuild the ragjoint while it's all out too. Since my usual supplier of green coolant is closed due to COVID, the car won't be going anywhere for a while anyways.

[LithiumCobalt]

Color applied and ready for reassembly:

Column shell:

Column shell refinished

Shift tube centering washer:

Shift tube centering washer

Centering washer installed

Shift tube plastic lower bushing. I'm surprised it is still intact. It has some chipping along the edge of one side, but still in one piece otherwise.

Insertion of shift tube. Notice bushing placement is incorrect. It should be closer to the end of the opening.

Actuating lever for neutral safety switch removed in order to insert shift tube:

Neutral safety switch actuating lever reinstalled:

Slide the the clamp reinforcement on and tighten. I missed taking this in to the stripper so it remains black. No one will ever see below the dash.

Slide on the lower cover without the removable plate:

Slide the shift collar on and secure with screw:

[LithiumCobalt]

Continued....

Secure the gear pointer with its screw onto shift collar. This should be done prior to the lower knuckle being installed as seen here. Ideally, the gearshift lever and spring should be installed now. I plan to use the lever that is currently in the car, however, so that will have to wait until the old column is out.

Attach gear indicator dial onto lower knuckle. There are three very tiny set screws. I'm not sure how this was a good design. Make sure to insert the clear plastic gear indicator plate before this step or you will have to take it back apart like I did:

Use three of these guys with bolts to attach the lower knuckle to the column tube. You can see one loosely placed just above and to the right of my fingers ready for a bolt behind the ear of the lower knuckle. Bolts are installed from behind.

Here is the shift collar, gear indicator dial and lower knuckle installed. Notice the white nylon bumper in the lower right corner. This is called a flange bumper and is missing from many of these columns. As indicated by the West Coast Classic Cougar youtube video, without one of these, damage to the flange can result from the force of the wheel adjustment after unlocking. They are available for purchase, but not cheap.

Install the tilt transition piece loosely around lower knuckle:

Slide the steering shaft and upper knuckle into place. Secure with pivot pins through the holes of the tilt transition piece. You can see the top of one of the pivot pins oriented upward here:

More to come....

[stevedrums]

great post. very nice technical details. thanks

[TonyC]

I second the assessment: Very nice refresh and guidance! If I ever decide to refresh the column I installed in Frankenstein, this would be the supplemental guidance to the shop manual that I'd use (remember that I retrofitted a '67 column into a '66).

I wouldn't know either why Cashman would call this junk to be tossed; aside from the two dowels sometimes working their way out, a flaw which somebody has since engineered out (I've yet to pursue a pair), I don't really consider it junk. It has worked fine ever since I swapped it in, save for occasional maintenance to the aforementioned dowels, and issues with turn-signal switches, which really aren't all that serious. Nor do I know what the difference would be between a '67 and a '68 column, except for the "controlled-crush" collapsibility of the latter; but I can't really see that as being the sole reason for incompatibility. On the other hand, I had noticed subtle, yet significant, changes in the brake booster's pedal pushrods within that series: '65 had a particularly short eyelet rod; '66—8 were identical and interchangeable; and '69 had a longer eyelet. So, maybe, there is something different between columns that might be incompatible. Cashman does have more expansive experience in these cars than I do...although I'm fairly sure I could educate him on a few things myself.

---Tony

[LithiumCobalt]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I probably could have replaced the upper bearings, but I simply forced some fresh grease into them. I hope I don’t regret that decision. So far, deconstructing and reconstructing this thing hasn’t been too bad at all. The hardest part was finding all the missing pieces. If John was complaining about the jaw pivot pins working their way out, I took care of that little problem. Here is one of the problem solvers:

That should prevent any misaligned jaws and broken position teeth.

Here is the link to those from McMaster-Carr: https://www.mcmaster.com/93890A560

The most challenging part of the disassembly is removal of the pivot pins for the upper knuckle. I had to find a screw that was small enough to thread into the pivot pins and also ones strong enough not to break when I put force on them. I had to improvise with several nuts and washers to create a makeshift tool to get those pins out. Finding the original Rotunda tool is impossible.

[LithiumCobalt]

Bill Prince did a lot of the legwork and helped my tear down with his detailed photos and observations on his ‘67 Thunderbird: https://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/ ... =4&t=52640

[LC67Vert]

Thanks for the detailed pictures and tips! This will be a great reference for '67 owners with a tilt wheel. I have spent way too much time fishing wire up and down the column to and from the turn signal switch and cruise control stalk on my '67! You did a great job refreshing yours. It looks like the costs sure add up but it looks terrific.

[LithiumCobalt]

Thanks! I’m sure looking forward to fishing the turn signal switch wires with the column out and on the workbench. What a pain with it in the car!

[LithiumCobalt]

After I got the upper knuckle and steering shaft in place, I realized that the shift collar would not move smoothly. The same problem that Bill had with his Thunderbird column. The Selector dial set screws bases were scraping on the inside of the shift collar, causing it to bind. Took it back apart and repositioned the screws to get it exactly centered. Much better now.

Next item of business was to reassemble the spring load. Make sure the tilt mechanism is in the top position first. Pretty simple then - place the rod back in and hook it onto the ears. Then, place the spring base, spring, plastic cover over the rod, whilst holding the rod stationary, and then place the retention clip on top to hold it all together.

After that, I inserted the shift indicator light bulb assembly and ran the wire down the built-in channel. Leave plenty of slack in the wire to allow for movement of shifter. The wire is commonly broken in this spot from flexing. I am going to put some shrink-wrap around it to try to reinforce it. Another shitty design of this column.

Lastly, I wanted to test-fit the turn signal switch to check for wiring routing. I have an old one from my ‘67 convertible to use for mock-up purposes until my new one from Lincoln Land arrives. This job is a hell of a lot easier with the column out and on the workbench!

In this photo you can see a makeshift wire harness clip since the column did not come with one. This helps keep the wiring from chafing and getting caught. The lower cover will hide this.

And, as you may have noticed, I already have plenty of scuffs and scratches on the column tube. Fortunately, they will not be visible with the column installed. I may give it another shot of paint before the swap.

[LithiumCobalt]

Almost there.....

Fitting of the new turn signal switch and routing of the wiring through the Various column pieces I wrapped the wires with cloth tape at friction points to avoid shorting/chafing.

Upper cover, turn signal access cover, hazard switch bezel and hazard switch knob installed:

Lastly, the elusive lower cover access plate is snapped into place:

At this point, I have four things left to do before install time.

1. Make a new foam gasket for lower flange where it meets the firewall.
2. Install gear shift lever from old column And decide if I will install NOS cruise stalk
3. Solder on connectors for turn signal switch
4. Transfer neutral safety switch from old column

[LithiumCobalt]

Firewall seal custom-made out of closed-cell rubberized foam:

[TonyC]

So...Lincoln Land sells new T/S switches! Awesome, that will be my outlet for a new one then! I'm still having malfunctions with the brake lights which are at the the switch, and the switch has already broken near the spot that the reinforcement plate (which has been through several bends in its time) is riveted onto the plastic. I've super-glued it back in place, and the two anchor screws will probably help keep it in place, but the splitter at the cam assembly is just always cutting off fire flow to the brake lights (but not the turn-signals) at random times...which I don't care to be worrying about every time I drive. I just checked, and wow—their price is a good $100 less than CCU's going price on E-Bay (where I got this last switch)! If LL offered a PayPal option I'd get one now...but I can build up my Visa in a few days to get one from them.

---Tony