Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

[Richard M.]

.... with respect to the Instrument Cluster/Seatback on your C2 or C3? Side to side angle not up/down angle.

If you add a post within this thread it may help to know if the body was ever removed from the frame or not.

I'm researching a question relative to the information in a related thread HERE. Getting a good sample of cars may shed some light on this.

Thanks,
Rich
PS Feel free to take some photos of your car and post in the other thread in the above link or in this one, either way. thanks.

Edit... See John Hinckley's info within the above Post HERE Even though it has been clarified there was no design criteria for this "feature", it will be interesting to see what the Poll results will be over the long term.

[Frank D.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

My steering column was darn near dead straight when I got the car and still is after removing the column twice for various reasons.

[Richard M.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

My steering column was darn near dead straight when I got the car and still is after removing the column twice for various reasons.

Frank thanks. I forget, was the complete body ever removed from the frame. I recall not.

Rich

[Frank D.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Frank thanks. I forget, was the complete body ever removed from the frame. I recall not.

Rich

Nope, not ever - and even after the front got tapped the only frame tweak was a front frame horn slightly off; easily fixed with a come-along and the above pic was before that.

[Tom E.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Rich,
completed frame off restoration in Sept 2020, car had one very minor parking lot tap on right front fender. I spoke with the original owners wife who was in the car at the time and the damage was very minimal.
The wheel appears straight in the photo below.
97243CD9-1647-4FBA-A52A-E8927D330A7D.jpeg

However, I laid a piece of straight copper pipe from the corner of the vent windows as seen below. I then Measured from the steering wheel rim to the center of the pipe, as you can see the wheel is canted to the right by about a half inch. That is not surprising when you look at the angle of the steering shaft as it leaves the rag joint and goes through the firewall, it has maybe a 2-3 degree angle to the right. My door gaps and body alignment are all within the AIM specs and were carefully followed during restoration. I suspect they are all like this. I’ll be interested to see your survey results.
PM or email me if you would like more data or more photos.
BA6F5231-4A25-404F-BB10-5BF5571AC4F7.jpg
7346832E-E44F-42AB-84E3-B84E094D9473.jpeg
F5D964FE-A716-4452-AE56-2C2B9200017E.jpeg

[Frank D.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

I should have added that I had an original rag joint in the above picture and as it got tattered I replaced it with an NOS rag joint (rare and not cheap anymore)!

[Richard M.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Thanks Gents....

Tom, Yes one more please, just like Frank's shot looking down at the rag joint?

Rich

[Mark F.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

.... with respect to the Instrument Cluster/Seatback on your C2 or C3? Side to side angle not up/down angle.
Thanks,
Rich

Rich,

Using Tom's ingenious method, I laid a broomstick handle across from vent-to-vent as shown in the photos.
Mine is a '67 N36 Telescopic Column...so, I was able to release the tele lock and pull the steering wheel out to where it just touched the broom stick. The first touch point was on the left...and just like Tom's, mine is ~1/2 inch in toward the cluster on the right hand side. PS - Steering wheel was clocked at 12 (wheels straight ahead).

It was slightly difficult to get the shots straight on, so there may be some parallax - particularly in the second photo from the passenger side...
Car Info: no body off frame...I've had it for 22+years and have never removed the steering gear box or column...no frame damage I am aware of.

Dunno if tele can have an effect on this, or not...also, the steering wheel itself can wobble slightly if any of the spokes have been tweaked in one spot or another.
Hope this helps on your research project...thx, Mark


1 Steering Wheel alignment '67 Telescopic Column one half inch in on right side.jpg2 Steering Wheel alignment '67 Telescopic Column one half inch right side.jpg

[Tom E.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Rich,
as requested here is a shot of the steering shaft and rag joint. Both of which are original.
Tom
3320A1F2-320E-47CE-8C2E-5CF2D241FD57.jpeg

[Leif A.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Rich,
My '67 that had a body off frame restoration back in 2012. Measured from the dash cluster to the spokes both sides. Also, measured with a pole between the two vent windows...distance from pole to steering wheel. Finally, a picture of the steering box, rag joint and column entering firewall.

[Peter M.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Rich,
I have had the body off the frame on my 67, however I don't think it was any different before. I also had the column out years ago and it seemed to go back together the same way.
When I put the body back on the frame I made locating pins for the body mounts and carefully measured the spacing side to side to center the body.
My wheel is angled to the right.IMG_0588.jpgIMG_0591.jpg

[Richard M.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Thanks everyone. I have much to review and will do that soon and also post more info that I've received via emails.

This is fun.

Rich

[Frank D.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Thanks everyone. I have much to review and will do that soon and also post more info that I've received via emails.

This is fun.

Rich

Well - I guess I can't trust my old eyes looking at pictures; on a whim I went out and measured my steering wheel last night and there is 1/2" difference 11" outboard and 11-1/2" to the dash inboard (e.g. things are canted to the right) and I can visually see it now that I know what to look for.

To wit, my response to the poll above should be opposite of my original submission...

[Richard M.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

Well - I guess I can't trust my old eyes looking at pictures; on a whim I went out and measured my steering wheel last night and there is 1/2" difference 11" outboard and 11-1/2" to the dash inboard (e.g. things are canted to the right) and I can visually see it now that I know what to look for.

To wit, my response to the poll above should be opposite of my original submission...

Thanks Frank. I'll keep that in mind for the Results and reverse yours in my head.

Rich

[Richard K.]

Re: Is Your C2 or C3 Steering Wheel at a angle .....

My 70 Coupe never had body off. Column was lowered for gauge replacement. Measurement is 5/8 inch closer on right side. This may explain why I park crooked. And I thought I was just getting old.