69 tilt-away steering

[kasearch@ix.netcom.com]

I have never had a car with a tilt-away column, so I don't know about the nuances of this unit. I had my column professionally restored. Now that I have finished the restoration of the car and driven it, I find that when the steering wheel is in the lock position, there seems to be a lot of side-to-side play of the steering wheel itself. Is this normal, or should it feel as solid as the traditional column?

[TLea]

It would be more than fixed column but shouldn't be something that feels sloppy. Not sure who did your column, did they ship it with spacer and nut so the knuckle would stay aligned till installation?

[Lincoln tech]

With tilt away locked in there should almost be no play , if there is any play it should be the same in all positions .

[J_Speegle]

" a lot of side-to-side play of the steering wheel itself. "  So when you move the steering wheel the column does not move with it.

Up- down, side to side or in all directions?

[TS69GT500]

I had the same issue of way too much side to side play.
However, mine was due to a dumbbell mechanic strong arming the wheel not due to a restoration.
I dug deep into the mechanism and found that there was excessive play between the parking pawl and the collar.
You may want to check this.
I know it can be a frustrating problem and very few are experts with the tilt mechanism.

[gt350shelb]

 upper bearing were always bad in those ........ they(the bearings)are  same as a thunderbird  tilt column .....

[Royce Peterson]

There should not be any play. Thunderbird columns share some parts but they are a breed in themselves. Mustang / Cougar are the same for a given model year. There are changes from 1967 - 69.

Tony Augustine is the man for rebuilding these columns. Yours sounds like it needs to take a trip to Tony's shop. PM me for contact information.