I JUST bought a 1982 Camaro RS for $900. The Car was 100 Miles away and i Drove it home. I was crazy for doing so because it was night time and it was raining. The Wipers were completely worn out as well. The Experience was EXTREMELY Frightening!! What i'm about to show you will help you understand what i was going through on the trip. My FIRST repair will be my Steering Column. I just liberated a good used one from a 1984 Camaro in an Auto Yard and that will be what i install. I'm going to try to take pictures of the Install along the way and post them as i do it. I'm NOT an experienced. Column Installer. In fact, the only other one i've done was in a 1986 Full Size Chevy Truck. That installation came out fine. anyway, i can be long winded. I'm going to let this video speak for me.

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...mpeg1video.mp4

This thing is INSANE!!!

 

Your bolts are lose inside the steering column, its nothing un common for our cars.

 

The First shot is of the donor car's column. This is from a 1984 Camaro.

The Second Shot shows the Inside of a Stock Steering wheel. I was not able to figure out how to get to this point without breaking the outer cover of the wheel. Anyone know something about that?

The Third shot is after i removed the 7/8 Center bolt. I tried to use the Puller that i got from Auto Zone, but the Bolts were too short. There are those Bars that prevent the Puller from getting closer to the block. I will have to wait until tomarrow to get some longer bolts.

 

The First Pic is after i FINALLY got the Steering Wheel Removed. This Exposed the Lock Plate. This has to be removed to get at all the Goodies below. I wouldn't even be going this far if i didn't have to Replace the Lock Cylinder. The Junkyard Column didn't have a Key

The Second Pic is me using a special Lock Plate Removal tool to (Big Surprise) Remove the Lock Plate. The Tool pushes down on the plate relieving the pressure on the Locking ring that you can then remove with a pair of Small Flat-Tipped Screwdrivers.

Once you remove the Lock Plate, The Turn Signal Assembly is Exposed. There's one Screw for the Switch and three screws to remove the Assembly. The Switch Screw is Different, so don't get 'em mixed up. the Whole Thing should Come out as a Unit. Since i'm not going much Farther, i didn't disconnect the wires, i just pushed the Assembly out of the way.

 

The First Pic Shows the Lock Cylinder nestled in the top right of the Column. After much research on the internet, i determined that there are two basic types of Columns. Those that have a tab to depress and those that hold the Lock Cylinder in with a Screw. Mine is the Latter. The Problem is that a couple of brass ignition contacts are covering the screw. Those have to come out. It comes out as a single unit. be careful though, it's a delicate part. there's a Small spring thing that holds it in. Don't lose it. you can remove it by jiggling it a bit and it comes straight up. Once that was removed, i simply removed the screw holding the lock Cylinder in place. See? You don't really need the key to replace a lock cylinder. it just takes a little more effort.

The Second Pic is of the old Lock Cylinder. Notice the small white plastic tab sticking out? This needs to be pushed in to replace the contacts that we had to remove to get at the Screw holding the Cylinder in place. You can push it in with the Key removed from the Cylinder. Once you're done. you just reassemble and you're good to go.

Once i have the new Column in and the old one out and everything works, i'm going to tear down the old one and rebuild it for the Experience. Since messing it up wouldn't affect me other than no longer having a Spare, i figure what the hell. This way i'm ready for the time when the other Column Loosens. I'll use some nice Locktite on the old column when i Rebuild it. We'll have to see how successful i am.

 

Well, after buttoning up all the Steering Column Innards, i Removed the Old Steering Column. Funny though, There was an unidentified Cable attached the Column. I pulled on it a bit and my Shifter **** Moved. What the Hell? If i have a Shifter ****, why do i need a Shifter Cable attached to the Column. The only reason i can think of for it to be there is if i had a Shifter on the Column.......... Weird.

After Installing my Column, i tested the Ignition and it WORKED!! Nicely done!

One Catch.......... I can't get the Column to Slide into the Intermediate Shaft/Rag Joint. Any Ideas to make my life Easier?

 

That cable is the shift interlock or something like that (not really sure exactly what it's called). Anyway, it should have a little wedgy kind of an end on it and that goes into a slot on in the ignition switch. The cable then only allows the ignition to move to the start position when the shifter is in park or neutral settings.

As for getting the column into the intermediate shaft, I usually just try to get it to go in just enough so I can get an awl into the hole and pry it onto the shaft. Sorry for the rather vague explanation... I also greased the ends of the shaft/column.