Re: 1967 steering column ID help
I would like to comment on Kurt Neiman's original picture of his flexible coupling assembly in his early December 1966 built C2.
First of all, 1967 was the first year for energy absorbing steering columns with collapsible steering shafts. General Motors (and Saginaw) were quickly learning about the dynamics of this new steering column and its reaction with the flexible steering shaft coupling assembly.
From information provided by some Saginaw engineering drawings (and revision information) along with Joe Lucia's service info this is what I can figure out on the flexible coupling history.
The original flexible coupling assembly in the 1967-68 (C2/C3) was 5699250. It had short rivets (not long ones as shown in Kurt's picture.) Saginaw updated that coupling assembly to include long rivets 8-24-67 (way after Kurt's build date).
The original assembly ..9250 also had attaching bolts with conventional hex heads. Kurt's picture shows attaching bolts with round projections (extentions) above the hex heads.
The original assembly ..9250 had rubber rivet caps for a short period of time. They were added on 1-24-66 and removed on 3-21-67. Again, drawing revision dates are not production dates. You might expect that rivet caps were included at start of 1967 production and were removed sometime mid year. Probably Kurt's assembly should have those rivet caps.
Now according to Joe Lucia's information, a somewhat different coupling assembly (7806391) was introduced in 1969. This assembly was specified for service back to 1967 and 1968. Kurt's picture is most likely the 7806391 assembly. It has long rivets and attaching bolts with hex head extentions. Rivet caps were never part of this assembly.
The intent of the rivets was to provide a mechanical overlap with the column flange and always provide a metal to metal steering link from steering column to steering gear.
The longer rivets and bolts with head extentions were introduced in 1969 and specified for earlier service when it was discovered that the new collapsible steering shaft could retract back into the steering column (during minor frontal collisions) and would pull on the flexible coupling causing the rivets to lose engagement with the column flange. The extended head bolts also added to this metal to metal safety condition.
This 1968-69 manual steering gear assembly drawing shows an updated flexible coupling assembly with bolts with extended heads and long rivets. Those are not rubber rivet caps on the rivets. They are plastic alignment spacers that were to assist St. Louis in aligning the steering column to the steering gear. Those plastic spacers were to be removed after steering column installation.
So from my information, Kurt does not have an original flexible coupling assembly but a service part. And yes, it should be replaced ASAP. One last comment on the picture. You can see obvious wear on the rivet itself. (Also some probable wear on the column flange.) From my experience, this type wear is not caused by "horsing" around with manual steering. This type of wear is always the result of the steering column being misaligned to the steering gear. This also causes rapid deterioration of the laminated rubber and cotton cloth disc in the coupling assembly.
Jim
I would like to comment on Kurt Neiman's original picture of his flexible coupling assembly in his early December 1966 built C2.
First of all, 1967 was the first year for energy absorbing steering columns with collapsible steering shafts. General Motors (and Saginaw) were quickly learning about the dynamics of this new steering column and its reaction with the flexible steering shaft coupling assembly.
From information provided by some Saginaw engineering drawings (and revision information) along with Joe Lucia's service info this is what I can figure out on the flexible coupling history.
The original flexible coupling assembly in the 1967-68 (C2/C3) was 5699250. It had short rivets (not long ones as shown in Kurt's picture.) Saginaw updated that coupling assembly to include long rivets 8-24-67 (way after Kurt's build date).
The original assembly ..9250 also had attaching bolts with conventional hex heads. Kurt's picture shows attaching bolts with round projections (extentions) above the hex heads.
The original assembly ..9250 had rubber rivet caps for a short period of time. They were added on 1-24-66 and removed on 3-21-67. Again, drawing revision dates are not production dates. You might expect that rivet caps were included at start of 1967 production and were removed sometime mid year. Probably Kurt's assembly should have those rivet caps.
Now according to Joe Lucia's information, a somewhat different coupling assembly (7806391) was introduced in 1969. This assembly was specified for service back to 1967 and 1968. Kurt's picture is most likely the 7806391 assembly. It has long rivets and attaching bolts with hex head extentions. Rivet caps were never part of this assembly.
The intent of the rivets was to provide a mechanical overlap with the column flange and always provide a metal to metal steering link from steering column to steering gear.
The longer rivets and bolts with head extentions were introduced in 1969 and specified for earlier service when it was discovered that the new collapsible steering shaft could retract back into the steering column (during minor frontal collisions) and would pull on the flexible coupling causing the rivets to lose engagement with the column flange. The extended head bolts also added to this metal to metal safety condition.
This 1968-69 manual steering gear assembly drawing shows an updated flexible coupling assembly with bolts with extended heads and long rivets. Those are not rubber rivet caps on the rivets. They are plastic alignment spacers that were to assist St. Louis in aligning the steering column to the steering gear. Those plastic spacers were to be removed after steering column installation.
So from my information, Kurt does not have an original flexible coupling assembly but a service part. And yes, it should be replaced ASAP. One last comment on the picture. You can see obvious wear on the rivet itself. (Also some probable wear on the column flange.) From my experience, this type wear is not caused by "horsing" around with manual steering. This type of wear is always the result of the steering column being misaligned to the steering gear. This also causes rapid deterioration of the laminated rubber and cotton cloth disc in the coupling assembly.
Jim
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