72 replies to this topic

[rodomo]

I serviced my son's UC a couple of weeks ago and found the steering coupling stuffed and the steering uni had thrust play. Over that time we found a coupling repair kit and a new uni at good prices. $50 for the coupling kit and $110 for the uni new.

I read a while ago a thread about difficulties in removing the cotter pins.

These pics are obviously with the steering column removed but worked in the car to get the lowest pin off at the rack end.

This is how I did it:
2 nuts were locked together on the cotter pin to give it strength and protect the thread. The nuts I used are tail shaft "U" bolt nuts as they are deeper than normal nuts.



A 7/16af 3/8 drive socket was placed over the nuts and a 3/8unf nut placed over the other end of the cotter pin. The cotter pin can fit through this nut. It is the same as a Holden 6 manifold nut.



A "G" clamp was then used to apply tension to the threaded end of the cotter pin while supporting the coupling at the same time. A couple of reasonable sharp taps at the handle end of the "G" clamp and the cotter pins let go.
The red arrow shows where to hit (out of picture) and the blue arrow shows direction.



These are around $20 each so a saving of $80 as all were reused, no damage.

The lower end bearing in the column was stuffed too, all the tiny balls had fallen out of one side and a few were missing from the remaining side. This was 2pm this arvo and after a look on the rare spares site I thought I was in deep crap as they don't seem to carry them.

A dig through the "I don't throw anything out box" found a "real" bearing that is a tight fit in the bottom of the column but a whisker too tight for the shaft.

This bit is real important!
The lower shaft is made of soft material that can be draw filed and linished. I draw filed and linished the end of the shaft with emery (approx. 50mm from the end) until the bearing was a slide fit on the shaft. About .25mm or .010" has to be removed. (This bit took me about 45mins, a machine shop? 5 mins) This is important as any impact on the shaft to fit the bearing could shear the collapsible column pins.



The shaft and bearing were fitted and the original lower bush retaining clip refitted. I then drilled small holes either side of the column and fitted 2 screws from the inside and nyloc nuts. This is to stop the bearing moving up the column/shaft.



I then made a cover for the cavity out of 50mm i.d. PVC pipe that "clips" over the column. This pic shows the "prototype" that later had to be trimmed to clear the grommet at the firewall. Ideally this would be made out of steel and be a neat fit over the column but time was the issue as this is a daily driver. The second pic shows the cut in the length of the cover so it can be clipped on. A hose clamp was fitted to clamp the cover to the column and help retain the bearing.





The bearing number is 6205-2R51? as far as I can read. It is a double sealed single row bearing and if all goes to plan should outlast the car.

Edited by rodomo, 24 March 2007 - 10:20 PM.

[TerrA LX]

excellent work rodomo

[Toranavista]

Nice Work!

[Struggler]

FWIW I have been replacing the lower bearing with a real roller bearing for years. The only difference is I usually push it right up the shaft till it is flush with the firewall and then trim off the unused part of the outer column. I just think it looks neater, in the case of fitting BBC's it also allows more extractor clearance. From memory the diameter of the steering shaft is 1", the ID of the outer 2" so bearings are quite common.

Hope this helps.

Good work on posting the pics and the detailed explanation.

[rodomo]

FWIW I have been replacing the lower bearing with a real roller bearing for years. The only difference is I usually push it right up the shaft till it is flush with the firewall and then trim off the unused part of the outer column. I just think it looks neater, in the case of fitting BBC's it also allows more extractor clearance. From memory the diameter of the steering shaft is 1", the ID of the outer 2" so bearings are quite common.

Hope this helps.

Good work on posting the pics and the detailed explanation.

^ Yep, in hindsight there is no real reason to keep the cutout part of the column and where you fit your bearing would be a better idea. Obviously this car has a floor shift, column shift would be different ball game. Thanks for the 's guys!

[rodomo]

[quote name='devilsadvocate' date='Mar 25 2007, 11:30 PM']
[/QUOTE]
I think the thread you mention refers to the difficulty encountered in removing the cotter pins, particularly the ones on the coupling(to be able to remove the coupling) while it is on the car........ [/quote]
"I read a while ago a thread about difficulties in removing the cotter pins.

These pics are obviously with the steering column removed but worked in the car to get the lowest pin off at the rack end."

What's your point?

[Dangerous]

Good work Rodomo. Re the bearing, I'm pretty sure the early Commodore (at elast up to VL) uses a lower ball bearing which fits perfectly without the need for mods.

I've used a VL bearing, and fixed it with the same method you used.

[rodomo]

I cant see how you could fit a g clamp the size you have pictured on the lowest pin on a steering coupling, the specific compact removal tool only fits on there by a micron or so.

What are you implying with this?

[rodomo]

JBird, my point is that I did use the same method on the car to remove the lowest cotter pin. I took the pictures after I removed the shaft and thought I made that clear in the original post.
I hope that clears this up with you at least.

I can also appreciate that some cotter pins may be more stubborn than others.
One of the ones on the uni was tighter than the rest. I never inferred that ALL cotter pins can be removed this way but I did write: "This is how "I" did it:

The whole point of the topic was to show other members that "I" did this job without special tools and that there are alternatives to original lower bearings.

Edited by rodomo, 26 March 2007 - 04:18 PM.

[rodomo]

They are a bitch to get out, but slotting back in is easy as! Too easy almost...

Something I didn't mention earlier was that I tapped the pins in then "nipped" up the nuts. Then I "rattled" the steering left and right. A few more taps on the pins and I reckon the nuts came up almost another 2 turns tight from there.

[LXCHEV]

Great topic rodomo.... what an excellent & informative read.... wish I had of used a proper bearing when I replaced mine a year or so ago... I recall paying a small fortune for a new standard Torana one... crap in comparison!

[rodomo]

I cant see how you could fit a g clamp the size you have pictured on the lowest pin on a steering coupling, the specific compact removal tool only fits on there by a micron or so. 

[Struggler]

Its not quite so easy when you have two extra cylinders !!!!!!!

[Dangerous]

Its not quite so easy when you have two extra cylinders !!!!!!!

You can still get to it though. You just start at the passenger side tail light and work your way forward ..........

[rodomo]

Impact is the missing link.

[fuzzypumper]

Hey Rodomo,

Did you by any chance measure the length of the steering shaft from top to bottom?
Because I'm just about to do the same job on my new Torana(which has a poorly assembly frontend from the previous owner & a completely broken flexible joint) but when I pulled my column out I noticed the shaft was actually push up and wasnt making contact with the lower(damaged) bearing anyway. I suspect the shaft has been compressed when it was all put back together.

[rodomo]

No sorry I didn't measure it. I would assume your column has collapsed more than likely from someone incorrectly trying to remove the steering wheel with a hammer?
Someone is making the sheer pins (they are plastic) but I can't remember who. Rare Spares?
Once you replace the pins, you will have the correct length.
Never substitute the pins with anything else.

[fuzzypumper]

The column exterior tube at the collaspable mesh isnt collapsed or deformed. This is why I suspected the telescopic shaft had compressed from being hammered under the bonnet when they tried to replace the broken joint and ended up leaving it in because the could get it all apart.

If the shaft pins are broken, i cant tell because the shafts wont come apart easily. Having said that there a small ammout of rust near and around the two sections. I used wd40 and put is vice and used a dent puller action to extend the shaft 10mm and its still tight and wont move by hand. The extended section showed evidence of rust. Obviously the pins are broken but I'de say the rust is more of a problem with it being stuck at the moment.

This I would say this is a problem on a lot of the older cars.
motto "Dont believe your column is collapsable"

Edited by fuzzypumper, 02 June 2007 - 12:19 PM.