Can’t get steering wheel back on

[Gerald Morris]

everything went back into place nicely....well i thought so. I do have the snap ring that I have not put back in place yet. I will double check all the parts and try that. Thank you!!

The "snap ring test" is a good one. If everything else is in place, you'll have room for it. Hey, turn signal replacement is a Black Art, the first time you try it on any given column. Once you learn that type's quirks, you can master it. I suspect you really have a hard bastard to deal with there too.

 

[Big_John]

What you probably have is some minor burring on either the shaft or the wheel or even both.

What to do is first look at the splines where they slide together and with a small triangle file, clean up each individual spline. A magnifying glass may be your friend here. Then clean really well and maybe a drop or two of a light oil.

Do not try to hammer it on.

 

[Gerald Morris]

What you probably have is some minor burring on either the shaft or the wheel or even both.

What to do is first look at the splines where they slide together and with a small triangle file, clean up each individual spline. A magnifying glass may be your friend here. Then clean really well and maybe a drop or two of a light oil.

Do not try to hammer it on.

One can see that the shaft is certainly dirty; NEVER a good thing. I might add a fine wire brush, steel or brass to our OP's toolkit for this job, and a foot or 2 of 280 grit or finer sanding cloth belt of the sort plumbers use. I have mine for dressing shafts. I like to use a felt tip marker since mimeograph ink no longer is so readily available, and I mark the shaft, then buff it off with fine abrasive. When restoring electrical motors, this is really a MUST, and the same goes for pneumatic, hydraulic et cetera...

Collars, bearings and such should SLIDE onto shafts, as we know, unless some sort of pre-load is required to hold it in place. Mine do.

 

[70furyiii]

One can see that the shaft is certainly dirty; NEVER a good thing. I might add a fine wire brush, steel or brass to our OP's toolkit for this job, and a foot or 2 of 280 grit or finer sanding cloth belt of the sort plumbers use. I have mine for dressing shafts. I like to use a felt tip marker since mimeograph ink no longer is so readily available, and I mark the shaft, then buff it off with fine abrasive. When restoring electrical motors, this is really a MUST, and the same goes for pneumatic, hydraulic et cetera...

Collars, bearings and such should SLIDE onto shafts, as we know, unless some sort of pre-load is required to hold it in place. Mine do.

Can these be fixed? looks like i messed them up trying to get the steering wheel on. I cant seem to get a file into the steering wheel spline.

 

[Big_John]

Can these be fixed? looks like i messed them up trying to get the steering wheel on. I cant seem to get a file into the steering wheel spline.

View attachment 727981

View attachment 727982

I know you said you aligned the spline, but I have to ask just to be sure.

Did you align the master spline? See arrow.

 

[70furyiii]

I know you said you aligned the spline, but I have to ask just to be sure.

Did you align the master spline? See arrow.

View attachment 727985

Well I thought I did, but from the burring, it looks like I may not have had it aligned correctly.

 

[Toolmanmike]

Well I thought I did, but from the burring, it looks like I may not have had it aligned correctly.

It is pretty easy to do. If the master is lined up it slips on pretty easy.

 

[70furyiii]

It is pretty easy to do. If the master is lined up it slips on pretty easy.

It is definitely not going on easy for me. lol. From the photos, do you see burring that would cause an issue?

 

[Toolmanmike]

It is definitely not going on easy for me. lol. From the photos, do you see burring that would cause an issue?

Both splines look pretty rough. You may be able to straighten out the splines with some small files and finesse as suggested above. If it were me, I would look for another column and wheel.

 

[HWYCRZR]

You need something like these Menards special needle file set. Just clean up the burrs on the leading edges. Don’t make them deeper. Also if you don’t have access to these small files, take a hacksaw blade out of the saw and wrap the no teeth side with Emory cloth and use that as a make shift file. Do not use the teeth side.

Emory cloth could also be used to clean up your steering shaft to polish the outside diameter.

 

[HWYCRZR]

I would also clean up your steering shaft where the nut threads on It looks like someone beat the piss out of it sometime in the last 50 years. You don’t want to cross thread or strip your steering nut. Also hammering on the steering column can break the plastic pin in the shaft (designed to collapse in an impact / collision) along with the plastic spacers that hold the column to the dashboard.

 

[70furyiii]

I would also clean up your steering shaft where the nut threads on It looks like someone beat the piss out of it sometime in the last 50 years. You don’t want to cross thread or strip your steering nut. Also hammering on the steering column can break the plastic pin in the shaft (designed to collapse in an impact / collision) along with the plastic spacers that hold the column to the dashboard.

sounds like I might be in the market for a steering shaft. any suggestions on where to locate one? Ebay seems to be the best option

 

[70furyiii]

You need something like these Menards special needle file set. Just clean up the burrs on the leading edges. Don’t make them deeper. Also if you don’t have access to these small files, take a hacksaw blade out of the saw and wrap the no teeth side with Emory cloth and use that as a make shift file. Do not use the teeth side.

Emory cloth could also be used to clean up your steering shaft to polish the outside diameter.
View attachment 727989

just picked up those files. thank you for the recommendation!

 

[Toolmanmike]

sounds like I might be in the market for a steering shaft. any suggestions on where to locate one? Ebay seems to be the best option

A parts wanted ad here.

 

[Boydsdodge]

Can these be fixed? looks like i messed them up trying to get the steering wheel on. I cant seem to get a file into the steering wheel spline.

View attachment 727981

View attachment 727982

You should take Johns advice and take a small triangle file to those teeth, clean them up and straighten them. I have had to do many times on cars that have been abused over the years with aftermarket wheels and or so called mechanics trying to get wheel centered

 

[Gerald Morris]

Can these be fixed?

With a lot of W-O-R-K and T-I-M-E. Not to mention TOOLS. You will need some GOOD*, SMALL, FINE triangular files for starters. BUT, BEFORE YOU DO EVEN THAT, CLEAN ALL THAT DAMNED RUST AND CRAP OFF!!! The rust and dirt were what caused the INITIAL difficulty, combined with your ham-fisted attempt at re-attaching the steering wheel. PATIENCE is NOT OPTIONAL when you work on machinery!!! Learn this lesson this time, and you won't come to such grief again.

looks like i messed them up trying to get the steering wheel on.

Yes, I'd say the appearances there are quite damning. Ah, live and learn. We all must start with a Lesson like this one. I did, in the Long Ago. Patience!

I cant seem to get a file into the steering wheel spline.

The kind of file you MUST USE WILL be small enough. You don't have them yet, but if you mean to do this job yourself, you will have to acquire them. when I made my ^ above about GOOD TOOLS, I mean NO DAMNED SPOTTY ASIAN PIG-IRON!!! Great swaths of east and south Asia abound in sulphur, which contaminates their coal, and even their iron, directly. Add to this physical fact, the cultural phenomena of the Suk/bazaar mentality, especially in the south, then an aversion to forging good steel which was expressly FORBIDDEN BY THE HAN DYNASTY AFTER THE WARRING STATES PERIOD, 2500 yrs ago, and you get civilizations which DON'T LIKE TO MAKE GOOD HARD STEEL, AND SELDOM CAN ANYWAY!

So, buy your files from a reputable vendor who sells GOOD NORTH AMERICAN OR EUROPEAN STEEL TOOLS, and nothing less.

You then must use one or several of those tiny triangular files to clear the burrs and rust out of the splines on both shaft and steering wheel. Again, do so only AFTER you CLEAN THEM UP with wire brushes, and a bit of fine emery cloth. Only then may you commence filing, when you have cleared all the rust and dirt off.

Mind you, you really mangled those parts pretty badly. IFF you have the $$, then save these as a Reminder to yourself of how "haste makes waste," then, start shopping for replacements. Looking at the steering shaft, I fear that it's almost, but not quite irremediable. The steering wheel itself is a little better, but only because you didn't have opportunity to abuse it so badly.

What is your Time worth?

 

[Gerald Morris]

It is definitely not going on easy for me. lol. From the photos, do you see burring that would cause an issue?

You HAVE TO get RID of ALL of that, if you proceed with those parts. ALL of it!

 

[Gerald Morris]

Well I thought I did, but from the burring, it looks like I may not have had it aligned correctly.

I dare say so! Get a magnifying glass for this sort of work, henceforth. Above ALL ELSE, CLEAN the parts BEFORE re-assembly. See how badly dirt and haste bugger you? No blame on you this time. We ALL must learn.

 

[70furyiii]

With a lot of W-O-R-K and T-I-M-E. Not to mention TOOLS. You will need some GOOD*, SMALL, FINE triangular files for starters. BUT, BEFORE YOU DO EVEN THAT, CLEAN ALL THAT DAMNED RUST AND CRAP OFF!!! The rust and dirt were what caused the INITIAL difficulty, combined with your ham-fisted attempt at re-attaching the steering wheel. PATIENCE is NOT OPTIONAL when you work on machinery!!! Learn this lesson this time, and you won't come to such grief again.



Yes, I'd say the appearances there are quite damning. Ah, live and learn. We all must start with a Lesson like this one. I did, in the Long Ago. Patience!



The kind of file you MUST USE WILL be small enough. You don't have them yet, but if you mean to do this job yourself, you will have to acquire them. when I made my ^ above about GOOD TOOLS, I mean NO DAMNED SPOTTY ASIAN PIG-IRON!!! Great swaths of east and south Asia abound in sulphur, which contaminates their coal, and even their iron, directly. Add to this physical fact, the cultural phenomena of the Suk/bazaar mentality, especially in the south, then an aversion to forging good steel which was expressly FORBIDDEN BY THE HAN DYNASTY AFTER THE WARRING STATES PERIOD, 2500 yrs ago, and you get civilizations which DON'T LIKE TO MAKE GOOD HARD STEEL, AND SELDOM CAN ANYWAY!

So, buy your files from a reputable vendor who sells GOOD NORTH AMERICAN OR EUROPEAN STEEL TOOLS, and nothing less.

You then must use one or several of those tiny triangular files to clear the burrs and rust out of the splines on both shaft and steering wheel. Again, do so only AFTER you CLEAN THEM UP with wire brushes, and a bit of fine emery cloth. Only then may you commence filing, when you have cleared all the rust and dirt off.

Mind you, you really mangled those parts pretty badly. IFF you have the $$, then save these as a Reminder to yourself of how "haste makes waste," then, start shopping for replacements. Looking at the steering shaft, I fear that it's almost, but not quite irremediable. The steering wheel itself is a little better, but only because you didn't have opportunity to abuse it so badly.

What is your Time worth?

You are correct! I will give it some time and see if I can get it cleaned up! Cant even find a steering wheel for this year so I will be spending alot of time fixing my mistakes! Live and learn! I have learned alot so far and I'm sure this wont be my first mistake thats for sure!

 

[Gerald Morris]

You are correct! I will give it some time and see if I can get it cleaned up! Cant even find a steering wheel for this year so I will be spending alot of time fixing my mistakes! Live and learn! I have learned alot so far and I'm sure this wont be my first mistake thats for sure!

Bro, I continue to make mistakes too, sometimes egregious, expensive ones. I delight in using my pedagogical and literary skills to inculcate Right Attitude in learning the dying Art of Automotive mechanism.

FWIW, there ARE after market steering wheels, with adapter kits, if it all gets too time consuming, but they CO$T. I think your steering wheel is salvageable. The shaft; I'd try to replace that. Take your time. Train your internet search engines to your specific needs. That took me about 2 years to get them working really well. (I compile my own OS code too, when needs be.) NEVER DEPEND ON ANY ONE SOURCE!!!

You'll learn. I predict that with great confidence now.