Tilt or Adjustable Column?

[ShelbyDogg]

Travis, do you mind sending up a pic?   I see Flaming River in Columbus, selling their columns at the Mopar Nationals but never saw one installed.  I would like to see what it looks like in an e-body.

Thanks.

It probably uses a SQUARE GM key too doesn't it? (I'm kiddinng)        I keyed mine to match my door locks and everything is good!

[Carlwalski]

Thanks Travis, good info. I was thinking about putting the ignition in the switch panel as I only have 3 accessory switches there. I'll probably only keep two. I will be putting my "go" switch for the exhaust cutouts (see below) there too so it won't look too out of place. Being correct is far from my mind so it doesn't bother me. I basically don't want to do any more R&D as Rob stated a few posts prior.

I'm not quite sure what you mean about: "Also it has GM style connectors not the stock Mopar connectors."
So what does that mean to get them to work? Do we have to clip the ends off and put the standard Mopar connections in their place or?

Rob - You wanna earn some money mate?  Make me up one of those columns you made will ya!!
Have it in show condition and ready to bolt and go. I tidy sum will be yours. 

 

[ShelbyDogg]

Carl,
I wish I could.  The junk yards around here smashed their stash of old Mopars.  I had my column in for at least 10 years now.   The car that it came out of was basically a console shifted 78 Chrysler Cordoba.  It was made by Saginaw to fit the Chrysler.  It has a Mopar keylock that pushes a rod and switches the GM style ignition switch that is mounted to the column shaft halfway up.  Off of the GM style wiring harness, there were 2 short (about 5") wiring adapters, like the kind that you buy to hook a new car stereo to an existing cars wiring without splicing.  These had the GM ends on one end for the column and Mopar ends for the ignition and turn signal plugs to the main harness. Basically just plug and play, with me having to do a little welding to mount it.   

  If I find anymore, the'll be in my Cuda or Vert before they go abroad, Sorry.   I think our chances of getting another one are slim.

Rob

[Carlwalski]

No worries Rob. 

[MoparCar]

Here's a link to a forum discussion on the flaming river item on Bill Reilly's site if interested.

http://www.reillymotorsports.com/forum/index.php?topic=13.0

I can't seem to make this a "link", so you'll have to cut and paste.

Wes

[Carlwalski]

Thanks Wes but I already knew the answers to those questions, thanks all the same. 


Travis - I have some questions for you.


1) Where does the column tilt? It has a universal joint down the bottom suggesting that the entire column itself moves up or down. Is that correct? If so, did they supply the brackets or did you need to make a custom one?
 
Or, does it tilt from the top only and the bottom 3/4's stays straight? Just wondering because I will only buy it if it tilts at the top 1/4. If the entire column moves you only gain about 1" before you hit the bottom of the dash and gauge area unless you start cutting that up.

2) Does the ignition you can buy from them bolt in from behind? Like, could I only use the key chamber itself and not their ignition mount, basically so I only have the key piece in my dash.


Thanks,
Carl

[MoparCar]

No problem NZ,
I've got similiar questions!  

[Travis72]

Good questions.... first off I'm no expert... in fact reading the link that Wes posted, I guess I just have the standard GM column from Bill Reilly (since I have the AlterKation front suspension and I bought it from him).  So perhaps the Mopar column has the correct connector?     You'd have to call Flaming River and ask.  Or even shoot Bill Reilly an email, since I bet he would know.  You can see the connector that's on my column in the pictures.

The column tilts only at the top 1/4.  You can see it in the pictures.  The ball bracket on the bottom isn't meant to swivel (it's a really tight fit), instead it's just meant to account for any differences in angles between where the column intersects the firewall given you a clean installation.  I made up a flat piece of sheet metal to mimic the factory firewall piece and then mounted the ball bracket on to that.  The only other modification I had to do was trim the sides of the 2" drop bracket to get it to mount where the stock column support goes (the studs from the dash frame).  Anyway that's how I mounted mine... I'm sure other people did it differently   

I wish XV Motorsports had some better pictures of how their install kit works, just to compare to how I did it.  Hopefully once someone buys their steering column they'll post pictures.  Oh..... and I also wish XV would ship the engine compartment brace I've been waiting for (and paid for) since September 2006........   

Travis
72 Cuda

p.s. These pictures are just from when I was mocking everything up.  After that I took everything apart to paint it.

[Carlwalski]

Thanks Travis, great info and photos. You did well with the explaining mate. I've decided to go with the XM motorsports provided they ship worldwide. It really does look like the complete bolt in kit with key/ignition in the column and mounting points as per factory, fingers crossed. Nice work too mate, & manual too, niicccccce.

Sorry to hear about your mishap with XM, have you tried PMing John from XM?
Obviously you've tried emailing them....hopefully I don't get the same trouble. 


Cheers,
Carl