dodgestang

IMO the steering wheel play you are describing is completely independent from the shaft and worm gear. You can have no steering column on the car and the wheel will tighten down because it sits on on the shaft itself on the splines and the nut tightens to the shaft.

As seen below at the bottom of the splines is a ridge, when you install the wheel and put it over the splines and tighten the nut it pushes the wheel down and bottoms it out on this ridge (no not the spring, the ridge on the shaft itself). Sometimes when you install the wheel it isn't all the way down and sometimes it can never go all the way down. Other times it gets installed and slowly works down further.

2+2GT

Sounds like you are missing both the centering cone and the bearing preload spring. Do NOT drive it like that. Get the cone and spring right away and install them. Adding a little grease to the bearing wouldn't hurt, either.

unit91

ROGER THAT! Will do.......thanks. Now that I see your photos I don't recall ever seeing those parts when I took the wheel off about a year ago.

unit91

Did some more research and it looks like the parts you spoke of only apply to the tilt steering wheel, which I don't have. Still researching. Appreciate the reply. Did those photos come from Average Joe restoration or some other site, because I can't find a spring that is listed for a 1968.

dodgestang

The spring and centering bushing are standard for ALL steering column setups. If you don't have them your column wobbles and has side to side movement. You can see the spring in the photo of the 65 I linked in. The bushing is underneath the spring. The spring presses against the wheel and hold the bushing tight down in the column so the housing is always centered on the shaft.

unit91

OK. When I get home I'll look at your phots. Can't see them from my work site. Thanks.

jp1967stang

The column is adj by loosening the two nuts that hold ur column on the bottom of the dash. Once loose you can slide the column back and forth and the shaft stays in place.

unit91

It just dawned on me that I apparently have been using the wrong name for parts. The steering wheel sits on the SHAFT and the nut will not tighten down the steering wheel on the shaft. If I adjust the COLUMN (which I now understand is what the SHAFT sits inside of) that won't solve the problem. Am I still missing something? I apologize for my error in naming the parts involved.

unit91

So I drove to work today, now there's no play. ????????????