Finding tilt steering colum for '78

[Geo's66]

Guys, 4 speed car, no tilt wheel currently... What options do I have once I start tearing this car apart? What have you done ? Thx!

 

[clean8485]

You can check in the technical forums on MonteCarloSS.com. There is some info in the article on how to swap a T5 5 speed transmission into a Monte SS, by Marc Hichens. GM did offer a tilt column on the '78-'81 A body cars with manual transmissions as an option, but they are EXTREMELY rare. If you want to try to find to find one, probably your best bet would be to check for one in an El Camino. Chances are that there are more El Caminos out there with manual transmissions in them.

 

[ssn696]

I pulled an S10 manual tilt column to convert a Blazer, and kept it after the car was sold. I also happen to have a Malibu manual tilt column. I'm guessing the car I pulled it out of was an 81, since it has the wiper switch in the turn signal stalk, and my 80 has the switch on the dash.
The S10 column (black) is about 33" from the shaft end to the wheel flange. The Malibu column (blue) is hung up out of reach tonight, but I looks pretty close to 33". Then shaft end to the dash support bracket (silver slotted pieces) is about 21" - on the Malibu column it may be a little different. If you have a U-Pull-It close by, make the investment of $50 and give this a try. Get the rest of the intermediate shaft from another G-body - I think the 78s used a splines end vs. the 'D' shaped end in the 79 and later cars. The wheels mount just the same.
You'll need to swap the flange for the firewall - the S10 is different. You can swap the stalks to make them match the Malibu. The wiper switch gets complicated - the polarity in the wire harness changed at some point. Others may chime in with this info.

 

[Mike P]

A 78-80 (?) G Body column shift tilt column shouldn't be that hard to find......as mentioned above you need the one with the turn signal only switch, not the later combined switch.

It's a simple matter to remove the handle (and little spring inside), cut off the nub, fill with body filler, sand and paint. Instant floor shift column.

Here is how I did it on my El Camino

viewtopic.php?f=41&t=25429#.VEZ7Jxalzow

Also as mentioned, check whether you have the splined or double D end on your current column and if the column you pick up is different also grab the intermediate shaft.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Any A/G body column will work with a little finageling. As stated, all will bolt up, but the intermediate shaft on yours is splined, the rest are double "D". Also as stated, the wipers changed in '84 to positive switched, '83 down are negative switched. My '83 manual trans Bonnewagon is using an '86 Buick floor shifted automatic column with '83 intermittent wipers because the '83 pulse wiper switch and harness will interchange, but is getting scarce and expensive. Non-intermittent switches are much cheaper and available. If you want you can wire your dash mounted wiper switch harness to the later column easily enough. Headlight dimmer switch is same for all. Any floor shifted column will work, it just won't have the key removal lockout that manual trans cars have.

 

[clean8485]

The '78-'88 GM A/G body cars (and pickups, in the case of the El Camino and Diablo), were factory equipped with manual transmissions from 1978 to 1981. 1981 was also the last year for the wiper switch on the dash. In 1982, GM went with the wiper switch on the turn signal lever in 1982, but by then, there was no manual trans option available. The factory manual trans vehicles have a key release lever built into them, as mentioned above, so that the key could be turned back to the lock position when the vehicle is shut off, so that you can remove the key.
Geo's66, I'm assuming that you're looking for a tilt column that looks correct for your manual trans '78 Monte. If I'm correct, the way I see it, you have 2 options-you can find a correct tlit manual column for your car, or you can build something that looks correct and works like an original tilt/manual column.
Please keep us updated with what you decide to do. Good luck.

 

[Geo's66]

The '78-'88 GM A/G body cars (and pickups, in the case of the El Camino and Diablo), were factory equipped with manual transmissions from 1978 to 1981. 1981 was also the last year for the wiper switch on the dash. In 1982, GM went with the wiper switch on the turn signal lever in 1982, but by then, there was no manual trans option available. The factory manual trans vehicles have a key release lever built into them, as mentioned above, so that the key could be turned back to the lock position when the vehicle is shut off, so that you can remove the key.
Geo's66, I'm assuming that you're looking for a tilt column that looks correct for your manual trans '78 Monte. If I'm correct, the way I see it, you have 2 options-you can find a correct tlit manual column for your car, or you can build something that looks correct and works like an original tilt/manual column.
Please keep us updated with what you decide to do. Good luck.

Yes, this is correct.... Once I figure this out I'll repost... Thanks guys