John,
My son and I along with Aaron Cropley, another lurker on the list, just
accomplished this task on our respective cars. BTW replacing all those
bushings, washers and felt and tightening everything back up will make a big
difference in the feel of your steering. Are you doing the rubber coupling
in the engine bay while you're at it - a perfect time with everything all
apart - it is a lot easier to line up the holes with everything loose.
Remove both the speedo and the tach, so you have plenty of room. If the
tops of the anti-theft bolts were sheared when it was installed, you will
have to make a notch in the top of them and use a stubby screw driver to
screw the bolts out. A Dremel and cutoff wheel appear to be the tool of
choice. I have a flex shaft for my Dremel that makes it a little easier to
use in tight spaces like this. I would recommend against drilling them out
from the bottom - we bought a used unit at the salvage yard just to get the
outer housing for the steering shaft and it was impossible to drill a
"straight hole" in the bolts even with the thing mounted in a vise on the
workbench. To put it back together, I recommend allen head cap screws with
their special lock washers that are the same size as the head of the bolt.
Good luck - I hope your hands are the size of a 10 year old child,
Jim Farris
Montgomery AL
|