140 Steering Column issue

Phil142S

Hi Guys,

I've notice my steering column covers are leaning to the right and against the dash as shown below.

Also, while the steering is in the locked position there is movement to correct the positioning of the center plastics modeling.

As is the car drives well with no steering issues.

Would any body have an idea what could be the issue as I'm going to replace the cracked dash with a refurbished one.

Thanks

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Major Ledfoot

From Drawing 10449, in Grupp3, Sida 77 of the 140 up to 72 parts book, on pdf page 257 of the file downloadable from GCP.se's website.

Looks to me like the column shroud cover screws [36] attach to the anchorage [31]. So if the shrouds are cockeyed, the column is cockeyed.

The bottom column shroud will vary, depending on your year model. Note also there are different column locks also, depending on year model - per [1], or [2], or [31].

Another view from Drawing 25989, seen in Grupp 6, Sida 7 of the 140 up to 72 parts book, on pdf page 471 (below).

The column lock is seen as [67] and the text refers back to Group 3, where the variations are shown.

IIRC (and I may not, since it's 35+ years since I had one of these pre-73 ones apart!) the column lock is attached to the underside of the dash via a pair of bolts with shear-off heads, and have a couple of plastic clips between the column lock and dash underside to allow the column to collapse about 1-2 inches in the event of a crash.

The parts book isn't really clear about how the column lock attaches to the dash - or even if it does in these older models. If the column lock does, my guess is one or both of the plastic clips have broken or otherwise been displaced so that the column tube isn't sitting at 90 degrees to the firewall, and is thus too far to the right.

If the column lock isn't attached to the dash underside, my guess is the column tube has rotated slightly, and so some fiddling about with clamps [55] and [59] while checking the condition of rubber bushings [54] and [58] may provide a solution.

Roinik

Not quite.

There are 4x bolts holding the column. These clamp via a rubber damping shim and are known to move.

In the short term, engage the steering lock and turn the wheel to the left to straighten it up.

In the long term, there are 2x shear bolts under the dash and 2x normal bolts down by the clutch pedal. I've replaced the ones under the dash with standard grade 8 bolts. You'll need to use a chisel to undo the original ones.

Phil142S

Thank you for your comments.