The original plan for the steering column was to build just a basic straight column using a 3/4 shaft, some bearings and a piece of tube for the outer part. Milling the 3/4 shaft to fit the DD u-joint was as far as I got with that project:
The reason for abandoning that strategy was that I stumbled upon this column instead. Think its out of a mid 70's van, its somewhat convenient since it has the signal and hazard stuff in it but lacks the key and column lock. Its not as cool looking as a old time-y bare bones column, but it solved alot of problems for me so i ended up shortening it down to fit my needs. Here's the column before i started on it:
I scooped this wheel out of the trash as it was on its way to the dump, its actually in fairly decent shape. Don't judge.
I regret not taking any pictures of shortening the column, but I still have to take it apart again so I can finish it off. Ill get some pics when that time comes. Basically I just cut the lower shaft to the length i needed and milled .100 off of either side of the shaft to fit the DD u-joint. It took a little bit of playing around on the lathe with some scrap 3/4 bar stock to find the correct taper to machine the upper shaft to fit the wheel, but once i had a good fit i committed to cutting the upper shaft. Sill need to add a key once i figure out where it needs to be.
As a result of putting the steering box where i did and having to place the column where it needed to be, I ended up raising the gauge cluster to make room for the column. I think I raised it an inch, maybe an inch and a half. Here's a few pics of that, can see the column in the midst of being shortened as well. Was before I machined it to fit the wheel, fits pretty good now:
More to come