When I had to do the dimmer switch on my7 '80 Newport tilt column, as it didn't click any more, the outside of the column looked just like what we had in the middle '80s Caprices, so I thought "no big deal", but I bought the items from the Chrysler dealer we got parts from. I was familiar with the innards of the GM tilt columns as there were many that needed various parts, back then. When I got the parts from the Chrysler dealer, they looked nothing like what the GM parts were, although Saginaw Gear built both of them. Ended up having to replace more parts to make the new parts work (as in new turn signal stalk!) than suspected.
By observation, the Chrysler tilt columns had a smoooother feel as they did their work than the GM-spec columns did. Which pointed out that although GM/Saginaw might have built the column for Chrysler, they built them to Chrysler's specs rather than GM-use specs. In the case of "smoooothness", it could just have been a better quality grease for the ball bearings sets which supported the inner steering shaft, for example.
Even in the GM/Saginaw columns, there were several different styles of those sector gears, other than just "tilt or non-tilt", by observation. Including the number of teeth and whether or not there was an extended tube the ign key cyl indexed with. They were not all the same, although some were more common than others.
Glad you found one that works! Not sure how the approx $9.00 that those gears retailed for in the 1990s might equate to modern money, but key thing is that you found one that will work.
Enjoy!
CBODY67
