Mark,
I just "subscribed" to the list having purchased a '47 Chevy pickup (I'm
picking it up tonight), but had to tell you thanks for giving me a good
laugh. I must say I could relate to everything you said, having done very
similar things over the years.
Darrel Bunge
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Mintmier" <tenisguy@gte.net>
To: "Eugene Powell" <epowell@woh.rr.com>
Cc: <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 8:49 PM
Subject: Re: [oletrucks] 54 Chevy truck - steering column
> Yes, get a wheel puller. I wish someone would have impressed this upon me
when
> I removed my steering wheel. I recently finished removing EVERYTHING from
my
> 1950; it's down to a frame and wheels. Over the entire project, removing
the
> steering wheel was probably the most difficult step. Granted, I made it
> infinitely more difficult than it should have been, but I still wish I
would
> have just purchased/borrowed/rented/etc. a wheel puller to start with. I
> shouldn't tell anyone this, but at the risk of being laughed off the list,
> here's what I did. After removing the nut from the steering column, I
tried to
> pull the wheel from the column. I'm a pretty strong guy and the seat and
> everything was out, so how difficult could it be? Well, apparently I'm
not as
> strong as I thought because the wheel wouldn't budge. Next, being the
frugal
> (read that as stupid cheapskate), my next bright idea was to make a "wheel
> puller." I found an old door hinge that had holes about the right
distance
> apart. I thought that I could put two bolts down through the holes in the
hinge
> into the threaded holes in the steering wheel and as I tightened the
bolts, it
> would pull the wheel up. In theory, it's not a bad plan. Too bad I
wasn't
> removing my steering wheel in theory. I didn't take into account what
might
> happen when the bolts reached the bottom of the tapped hole in the
steering
> wheel. What actually happens at this point is that the bolt snaps off in
the
> steering wheel. I suppose at this point that I could drill the bolt out
and
> then get a wheel puller, but there has to be an easier way, right. Now no
> longer a cheapskate but still stupid, I go to the auto parts store and buy
the
> wheel puller that I should have purchased in the first place and a set of
screw
> extractors to remove the broken bolt. In case you're not familiar with
screw
> extractors, they are supposed to grab on to a broken bolt or screw because
they
> are counter threaded, but in reality, they are a cruel, cruel joke. I
drilled a
> small hole in the broken bolt and then tapped the smallest extractor into
the
> hole. When it was tight, I put a wrench on it and started to turn it. Of
> course the screw extractor broke off in the hole that I just drilled in
the bolt
> that broke off in my steering wheel. Thinking that maybe it was my fault
> because I didn't drill the hole deep enough, I drilled another deeper,
longer
> hole down through the broken bolt and a piece of a very hard screw
extractor. I
> tapped a bigger extractor into the new hole, put a wrench on it, and
started to
> turn it to work the broken bolt out of the hole. Even though I'm the only
one
> in the whole world who didn't know what was going to happen next, I'll
tell you
> anyway. The bigger screw extractor broke off in the hole in the bolt that
had
> broken off in my steering wheel. After calming down to the point where my
> vocabulary returned from incoherent random words mainly consisting of four
> letters, I decided that maybe it was time to try the wheel puller. I
proceeded
> to drill out the broken bolt, but this was now a problem because the the
bolt
> had already been mostly drilled out, and now I had to drill through a very
hard
> broken screw extractor. There was no way to get a hole started in the
middle of
> the screw extractor, so the new hole that I drilled was slightly off
center from
> the old hole. The next order of business was to thread the new hole that
I just
> drilled. It's worth mentioning that the metal in the steering wheel is
very
> hard, and I have a very inexpensive tap and die set (see cheapskate note
> above). Of course my tap would not cut threads into the hole that I
drilled.
> After much effort and several different methods, I was able to get one of
the
> steering wheel puller bolts to hold in the new hole. The problem now was
that
> since the two holes were no longer lined up, after a few cranks on the
steering
> wheel puller, it would slip off the steering shaft. At this point I may
not
> have been thinking clearly, but I whipped out the reciprocating saw. As
I'm
> sure you've now come to expect, all I had was a wood-cutting blade. Now
> encouraged that I finally have an idea that might work regardless of the
cost, I
> head off to WalMart to buy some metal-cutting blades. I came back to the
> garage, fired up the saw, and cut through top of the steering shaft and
most of
> the steering column. I knew that I wouldn't be re-using the original
steering
> column, but somewhat regret that I destroyed it. After I got the steering
wheel
> off, it still had a small length of the steering shaft in it. I put it in
a
> vice and tapped on it with a hammer. Obviously it popped right out. The
moral
> of this long-winded story? Get a wheel puller. After my ordeal, someone
told
> me that I could have tried putting the nut back on the end of the steering
shaft
> and pulling on the wheel with all my might while someone else smacked the
nut
> with a rubber mallet. They said that sometimes the jolt is enough to
loosen the
> wheel while pressure is being applied. I guess I'll never know if this
really
> works. I almost hope that it doesn't, though.
>
> Mark Mintmier
> 1950 3100 (down to the frame, but missing a steering column)
>
> Eugene Powell wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > Can anyone tell me if I have to use a puller to get my steering wheel
off the
> > column? My son and I are trying to get the truck ready for sand
blasting.
> >
> > G. Powell
> > 54 Chevy truck
> > oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
|