It is a tight fit. Sometimes I need to smack that flexible collar, that's right there where the bolt goes in, with a hammer to get it on. In extreme cases I have had to remove the lower shaft,the part that bolts to the steering box, and try to get it on the column shaft with it outside the car. Just be sure when you remove the lower shaft, to mark how it was oriented to the steering box. There should be a dot on the input shaft of the box that lines up with a line on the clamp, but not allways,so mark it somehow. Trying to do it in the car can be very frustrating, no room to work, so doing it off the car is way easier. Once you get the upper and lower shafts to go together you then feed the whole mess in through the passenger compartment, through the firewall. Get someone to help you guide it through as it will hang up on the engine and control arms. I have also filed/grinded the male end of the shaft to bevel it a bit, just to get it started, then hammer it the rest of the way. Just be carefull you don't collapse the shaft. It is a shaft within a shaft designed to collapse on impact so the steering wheel shaft doesn't impale you in an accident. If you accidentally collapse it, all is not lost. It pulls back apart and there is a curved shim inside that creates friction to make it hard to collapse. If you accidentally pull it all the way apart that shim will fall out and need to go back in, it sits on a flat on the shaft. Good luck trying to do this in the cold, I shiver just thinking about it.
