the jumbo 66 column saver

hi everyone just wanted to post and say thanks to jumbo66 i will be using my stock column in my 64 nova with an aft mkt clip and ls1 swap.about a month ago i asked here on steves if anybody had an idea on saving the stock column and how to retain the shaft in the column after cutting it from the gear.of course jim chimed in and sent me a custom brg saver he fabbed up himself said he made one for himself and was so happy with it that he made a few extra.i was very impressed with the stout quality of this saver.i wont be needing to replace it ever.i removed the column and gutted it last night removing all shift linkage and tube.installed the bearing and outer stop with the wheel attatched then i removed the wheel and shaft and installed the other stopper on the other side in the tube.it works perfect and has no deflection turns smooth as glass.the best part of this story here is i wanted to let you all know i paid nothing for this.jim is the kind of person that makes steves what it is.hotrodders helping hotrodders as a matter of fact he paid the shipping too.any of you guys out there ever deal with the jumbo 66 lucky you

I too have delt with Jim. He is a customer of mine and he is every bit ,and more, the character that you describe. One stand up guy with a big heart:yes:

hi everyone just wanted to post and say thanks to jumbo66 i will be using my stock column in my 64 nova with an aft mkt clip and ls1 swap.about a month ago i asked here on steves if anybody had an idea on saving the stock column and how to retain the shaft in the column after cutting it from the gear.of course jim chimed in and sent me a custom brg saver he fabbed up himself said he made one for himself and was so happy with it that he made a few extra.i was very impressed with the stout quality of this saver.i wont be needing to replace it ever.i removed the column and gutted it last night removing all shift linkage and tube.installed the bearing and outer stop with the wheel attatched then i removed the wheel and shaft and installed the other stopper on the other side in the tube.it works perfect and has no deflection turns smooth as glass.the best part of this story here is i wanted to let you all know i paid nothing for this.jim is the kind of person that makes steves what it is.hotrodders helping hotrodders as a matter of fact he paid the shipping too.any of you guys out there ever deal with the jumbo 66 lucky you

Are you going to a floor shifter; if so how did you keep the outer shift housing from flopping around. I am in the process of doing my column and it doesn't seem that the shift collar will sit in place well.
Tom

Good question mine also is a bit floppy.the wife called me in at that point.im thinking a few machine screws with some washers or possibly tapeing the outer portion of the column. Yes i also will be using a floor shift.if you come up with a better idea on the fix let me know what you did.maybe we should ask jumbo.anybody recomend a floor shifter 4l60 with a bench seat. The prostick looks short like id have to reach for it.

I came up with a fix for floppy shift housing syndrom for those of us going to an after market clip or church boys steering rack set up while retaining the stock column and going to floor shift. I started by converting the end of the column to support the steering shaft via sealed bearing and locking shaft collar. I then picked up a 1/8" thick flat washer that had an OD of 2" that I ground down to fit the ID of the steering column that is 1-7/8" next I took the shift tube that controls the shift linkage and cut off the top 3-1/2" and squared the bottom end of the short piece. I then centered the short piece of shift tube on my washer and traced the OD of the tube onto the washer and drilled 4 small holes that will be used to plug weld the tube to the washer from the bottom side; this needs to be done from the bottom to avoid the shift housing from hitting any weld so it sits flat on this washer. Make sure the tube is centered on the washer before welding. After welding, place the welded assembly into the column so the washer will sit on the 3 dimples inside of the column then place the wave washer on top drop in your shift housing and assemble the rest of the column. This mod keeps the shift housing centered on the column because of the washer and where the shift tube fits to the turn signal switch; ther is enough tension to keep it put by it self but can rotate a bit under a firm twist of the hand so I would recomend that when doing your final assembly use a large bead of silicon in the column on top of the washer before dropping in the shift housing to keep it all solid.

http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv174/Thomas_B/Nova/2009135.jpg
Tom