There's a couple of good column rebuild videos on you tube. Search those out.
The HELP section at Advance or Autozone has a common part that fails in GM columns. The rack system that moves the rod that triggers the switches breaks and yours may have jammed things up if it broke. If thats the cause, the column doesn't have to be removed. The repair is a little more time consuming and involved if you have a tilt column. With a tilt, you will probably have to remove the nuts that hold the column to the lower dash and let the column sag down. Try not to let the weight of the column pull it all the way down, I think thats bad for the energy absorbing feature. In either tilt or non tilt, you'll need a tool that compresses the plate under the steering wheel. It screws onto the column where the wheel nut was. The plate is spring loaded. Press it down with the tool and remove the small snap ring thats popped into a groove on the column. On a non tilt column, that gets you access to the lock mechanism. turn signal switch, etc. On a tilt column, you'll need yet another special tool that removes the pins the column pivots on. Separating the top half of the tilt column from the lower half gets you access to the ingnition key switch/rack, and rod. The rod your friend mentioned is sitting on top of the column and runs from that rack down to the electrical switches. That key switch in the column does nothing electrically, just a mechanical device. The rod is bent in various places to clear obstructions in and around the column. The ends are hooked to pop into the rack at the top and the switches at the bottom. One or both ends may have popped out. By the way, if you have a tilt column and you've torn into it, now is a good time to check the large hidden screws in the tilt mechanism. If your tilt wheel is loose and you can move it up or down a bit without pulling the lever, those screws are the reason.
The tools you need and the rack are all available from the parts stores locally usually. I think I paid 10 or 12 for the tilt pin tool, no more than 10 for the replacement rack for my 80GP. II already had the plate compressor tool, but they're not terribly priced either. You may even be able to borrow them from AZ or Advance on their loner tool program if you buy the parts from them. If you got a welder, the pin removal tool can be made from a piece of conduit, a washer, and a small screw that fits into the end of the pins. I made a crude one first, then ended up buying one later when I saw them at AZ.
Took me about an hour and a half to put in the new rack, fresh grease, and reassemble. I watched the videos and referenced the shop manual and it went real smoothly.
