72' Betty
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- Reaction score
- 2
- Thunderbird Year
- 1972
Hey guys, ive been digging back into my tbird project this spring and I've found my steering wheel has fallen down to where it's almost touching the seat. Now the car wont start, I just get a click from the dash. I've got a new battery new starter and soleinod so no issue there. From my research online it seems the pins that hold the tilt position are known to walk out so I'm assuming that's my issue.
For the previous 3 years I've had to push on the top of the steering wheel while turning the key to get the car to start.
My main question here is, is it too complicated for me to dig into the steering column myself and reinstall it all again. As I've seen a few videos now claiming with the 1972 and onward column models, the ignition is mounted in the column . They say once you pull out the ignition, you lose the index of where it's supposed to go back in, which makes me a little scared to pull it out if I cant get it back in.
Also it's worth mentioning it could be a ignition switch issue aswell but that seems far easier to replace than my tilt mechanism.
If I just replace the ignition switch I fear the steering wheel is too far down causing the rod that works with the ignition switch to not go far enough forward to initiate the start.
Sorry about the word salad, I wanted to add all the info I can so you folks can understand what I'm dealing with, I should also note I'm pretty young compared to many classic car enthusiasts but I've got (most) of the tools and handiwork to get a tough job done, im just missing that expertise and knowledge you folks have.
For the previous 3 years I've had to push on the top of the steering wheel while turning the key to get the car to start.
My main question here is, is it too complicated for me to dig into the steering column myself and reinstall it all again. As I've seen a few videos now claiming with the 1972 and onward column models, the ignition is mounted in the column . They say once you pull out the ignition, you lose the index of where it's supposed to go back in, which makes me a little scared to pull it out if I cant get it back in.
Also it's worth mentioning it could be a ignition switch issue aswell but that seems far easier to replace than my tilt mechanism.
If I just replace the ignition switch I fear the steering wheel is too far down causing the rod that works with the ignition switch to not go far enough forward to initiate the start.
Sorry about the word salad, I wanted to add all the info I can so you folks can understand what I'm dealing with, I should also note I'm pretty young compared to many classic car enthusiasts but I've got (most) of the tools and handiwork to get a tough job done, im just missing that expertise and knowledge you folks have.
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