My steering wheel and column outer tube have been disassembled for WAY too long while I removed and recovered the dash, repaired butchered wiring, converted instrument lighting to LED with dedicated harness (long story there), etc, etc. Now it's time to put it all back together.

I've got the column tube back in with the turn signal and O/D switches installed and wires connected. Ready to put the steering wheel back on but I find that the shaft needs to extend further in order to have room for the signal/OD switch bezel and still have enough shaft to provide adequate spline purchase with the steering wheel. The spring at the lower end of the tube makes pulling the shaft up very difficult - what's the trick there? Should I remove the spring retainer clip from the shaft, allowing the spring to relax, and then reinstall the clip after the upper end is all assembled?

Now, can somebody tell me the order in which the parts are installed on the top end? I assume I start with a split seat (like the one at the lower bearing) that fits down into the I.D. of the bearing and fills the gap between the bearing and the shaft. Then, working up from there, does it get a thin washer and then the plastic signal tripper? It seems there will end up being a lot of friction between the plastic tripper and the thin washer or split ring once the lower spring is fully loaded.

Sorry for the creative parts names, but hopefully you are getting the picture.
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Current rides: 2005 Volvo S80 2.5T, 2003 Volvo V70 2.4NA, 1973 Volvo 1800ES (STILL not road worthy!)

Hello Chris,

The order of parts is:

spring seat
spring
thin washer
spacer(metal or plastic) aka, turn signal canceler
steering wheel & nut
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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502
hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com

Ron,
Thanks for the info. I had the link to GCP and completely forgot about it. That illustration is clearer than the one in the CVI catalogue - much more complete also.

Eric, What you're saying confirms what I gleaned from the GCP parts breakdown. So, is the "spring seat" the part that is a split ring with an "L" cross sectional shape that fits snugly inside the bearing and the spring rests on top of it?

I am still in a bit of a quandary though about the insufficient amount of shaft exposed to which the steering wheel slides onto. The spring at the bottom of the tube keeps the shaft too far down to allow all of the pieces to be installed at the top and still be able to get the nut started on. If I could get the nut at least started it would pull the shaft upward, compressing the lower spring, and engaging the shaft splines into the steering wheel splines as I tighten it. But I can't even do that. It's almost like I need to go under the hood and devise a way to extend the slip joint upward, compressing the lower spring, and exposing more shaft at the top end.

I'm using the same shaft (never removed from the car) and tube that were originally in the car. I possibly have about 1/32" more ignition switch showing on the front of the dash than originally, which would indicate the tube could be lowered a TINY bit, but that ain't much. I did replace the rubber connecting disc (U-joint kinda gizmo) with a new one but I can't see where that would be a problem. I'm going to go out and have another look at things.......
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Current rides: 2005 Volvo S80 2.5T, 2003 Volvo V70 2.4NA, 1973 Volvo 1800ES (STILL not road worthy!)

Hello Chris,

Your "short" steering column might be caused by the collapsable steering column section attached directly to the steering box.

The 2 piece shaft can slip and you might have to try to tighten the clamping/collet nut which ain't easy to do. I usually have to use a small pipe wrench to tighten.

Before you try to install the steering wheel, try moving the the steering column.

You might have to use a hammer and drift to make it move.




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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502

OK, we got ‘er now!

The main problem was that I had allowed the steering lock pin to extend into the column tube before the shaft and tube were in the proper relation to each other. Pulling the lock mechanism loose and getting the tube properly located first, THEN reinstalling the lock was the ticket.

Thanks again!
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Current rides: 2005 Volvo S80 2.5T, 2003 Volvo V70 2.4NA, 1973 Volvo 1800ES (getting ever closer to road worthiness)

Chris;

...I don't think I can help much, but speaking of "picture"...have you tried the exploded assembly drawings on GCP.se site?...It's always a good reference when not quite certain how an assembly goes together...or comes apart...

Cheers