1977 sloppy tilt wheel mechanism?

[John Mc]

Guys, the tilt wheel on my ‘77 Town Coupe will fall out of place if I tug on it. West Coast Classic Cougar has an answer for this by replacing the two pivot pins with new pins with “C” clips on both ends. Has anyone done this? Also, $60 for two pins seems a tad high, any alternatives out there?? Thanks!

[1Bad55Chevy]

I did it on my Wife's 71 Mark. When I took it apart the bottom pin had nearly fallen out. I know Nick had said he had found the pins online through a different vendor before for his convertible in the past. He might be able to chime in on the source.

I will say taking that thing apart was a real bitch! Dig through the forum here and look at the procedure for the 60s cars, it's not exactly the same thing but it's similar and will atleast show you what your getting into.

[LithiumCobalt]

Hi John, I have done this. Worked well. I got mine for McMaster-Carr. See my thread here: https://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/ ... lt+rebuild

First page has the requisite information

[John Mc]

I did it on my Wife's 71 Mark. When I took it apart the bottom pin had nearly fallen out. I know Nick had said he had found the pins online through a different vendor before for his convertible in the past. He might be able to chime in on the source.

I will say taking that thing apart was a real bitch! Dig through the forum here and look at the procedure for the 60s cars, it's not exactly the same thing but it's similar and will atleast show you what your getting into.

Yea…….
Looks like tons of fun!
I called WCCC and after complaining, they knocked 10 points off so I feel a little better, and they are exactly what I needed. I will post my procedure and thanks for all of the input.

[TonyC]

I too used the replacement pins Nick referred to; in fact, it was his experience that prompted me to follow suit. I found it very irritating to have to remove the wheel every few weeks to check on those pins and shove them back in. Not even super-glue would keep them in place. But the new ones with the retainers have been the perfect solution to remedy a design flaw in the tilt column. And though they're longer than the originals, they are still short enough to re-assemble the column with no complications.

Installation is easier than one would think. To install them, you don't have to remove and disassemble the column, unless you want to do that anyway. What I did was line up a new pin to an old one, then with a light hammer drove the new pin into the bore, which automatically drove the old pin out in the process. Repeated with the other pin, attached the clips, buttoned everything back up, done. I had a need to open up the column again several times afterward, but only to chase gremlins in the brake-light circuit of the turn-signal switch. Never once have those tilt pins failed, nor needed any more attention.

(Just to clarify something, I have a '67 tilt column retrofitted to my '66.)

---Tony

[John Mc]

Thanks Tony, I think the columns got a little more complicated by 1977, but I’ll go slow and take my time.

[TonyC]

Yes, you're right, John; they did get more complicated just with the ignition lock and rods shoved in there by then. But, do take it slow and steady; you have time.

---Tony