Conversion - Steering
Since the steering wheel was coming out anyway, I decided to swap to a tilt column in order to make header changes and engine pulls easier in the future. Butch Davis gave me a tilt column from a ’77 Astre with no ignition lock and a cracked upper bowl. I pulled the upper bowl and lock with key from a ’78 Sunbird wagon, bought a new turn signal switch and harness, and rebuilt the column. The bearings were in good shape, so they only required a liberal coat of lithium grease. It’s pretty straightforward; if you have a Chilton’s Vega book you can figure it out easily. Also, there’s a good article in the July 2000 Chevy High Performance on rebuilding your steering column. I kept the aluminum Flaming River quick-ratio manual steering box. Many H-body owners I’ve talked to discovered the real source of excessive play in their steering is worn center link bushings, so I replaced my center link before the car went back on the road.