need advice on a tilt column

[buds truck]

What tilt column would work in a Pilothouse truck? I have a dakota frame under it, but the Dakota column and the Chevelle tilt column I have are about 6 to 8 inches too long. I could use some ideas. I do not want to shorten the stock column as this is being built for the wife and she wants more modern conveniences in it. Bud

[Dave72dt]

Used to be pretty common to use a column out of a van but now they have to be older units that still have a full steel outer cover you can work with. I shortened one from a '82 Ford truck that had a manual trans. All the newer stuff has a bunch of plastic around it that looks out of place.

[Dave72dt]

Should ask what kind of modern conveniences she wants in it. Aftermarket like Idiit an Flaming River have some I believe you can get with cruise built in. the Ford had column lock, turn and emergency built into it.

[51 Fargo]

Hey Bud I got mine out of mid 80s dodge van .... works great

[buds truck]

I did some research on the hamb and found a thread on how to shorten a column. I like a good challenge, so.... nothing ventured, nothing gained. I have a nice column, just too long.... we will make it short. I will update as I get er done.

[48Dodger]

hey bud...I have my dakota collum torn down. If it helps...I could post pictures of it.

48D

[buds truck]

Tim, I prefer the looks of the chev column to the Dodge Dakota. I will try the cut on the Chev first, if I screw it up, I would have a great backup at that time with the Dakota column. I am still trying to figure out if I should use the 904 trans or the 727. seems a toss up to me. Bud

[buds truck]

Ok, so I tackled the task of shortening the chev tilt column for my 53 Truck this weekend with great results. I had a mid 70's impala tilt column that I wanted to use, but it was too long, the Dakota column was about the same length but would have had the correct connections to the Dakota rack and pinion that is connected to the Dakota frame that is under the 53. What I decided to do is use the best of both worlds. I used the Chev column, but when I cut the outer, middle and center shafts off the Chev column, I replaced them with shortend dakota parts. Now I basically have a chev top end and a dodge bottom end. All 3 of the pieces I needed to shorten on the chev were the same size around as the Dodge. This way I was also able to use the dakota floor mount (since I have a Dakota floor in it too). after I build a column mount for the dash, I will upload a pic or two. Bud

[48Dodger]

Can't wait for the pictures....should be very cool.

48D