I see a lot of different steering columns out there, most of which are after market. I have had a whole lot of trouble with mine, main problem being the shaft sitting a little low in the column housing which chews up every turn signal harness I put in there (on my 3rd one now). There are "race" columns that look really simple and are just $100-200 and then there is the $400-500 ones from flaming river/Ididit etc. Some are "collapsible" and some aren't. I don't quite know what that is. I'm debating what items from my column I really need. I think a horn and turn signal area pretty important. I think I could do away with the ignition, or maybe I'll regret that decision later. The car is driven daily and I race it.
It's a safety feature. A collapsible column is designed to collapse when you get in a wreck so the column doesn't get pushed into your body.
dude, awesome 4 door! LOVE those cars. And turbo....nice. thanks for the info on that, I figured it was something to do with safety, didn't think a column could collapse enough to really do much in terms of safety but I guess it can.
I rebuilt my column and converted it to a floor shift style using parts from the column out of a 1989 F150.
Since the shaft is collapsible it will also pull out a bit, I just did so on my Comet after replacing the shift lever collar... To extend it out, I set the wheel back on the shaft and turned the nut on approx four or five turns, then gave the wheel a couple tugs bringing the shaft upward a inch or so(signal sw must be at least loose, mine was out completely)... Had to lightly tap it back in a bit to get it at the correct height, so the snap ring would fit into the groove in the shaft... Yours is no doubt missing the snap ring if the shaft is too far inward(or at least it isn't locked in the groove, which is what keeps the shaft at the correct height)... The signal assembly prevents the shaft from sliding outward too far, this again assumes the snap ring is in place...
