Unobtainium alloy tilt manual column

[ssn696]

Check out what I pulled from U-Pull-and-Pay. This is the holy grail of manual columns as far as I am concerned. Tilt, manual release, wiper switch in the turn signal. Based on that last feature, I think the car had to be 81, but it was pretty well picked over when I found it. Got the pedals too. Now I have to clean it, paint it black and figure out how to wire it into my 1980 coupe which has the switch on the cluster and no delay wiper motor. Ironically, I don't even have to take it apart to tighten the tilt bolts!

 

[GP403]

What the heck did this come out of? '81 would (should) still have the wiper switch in the dash. I didn't think there were any stick cars built after '81, either. Maybe a Malibu or El Camino? Its an odd piece for sure.

 

[O. D. Showtime]

Nice find! As our fearless leader mentioned....should be 82 or newer with the wipers on the turn stalk. Tilt lever looks like Chevy...Malibu/Camino/Monte.

 

[455'ed80Regal]

I thought '80 was the last year for stick cars? Wiper switch was moved to the turn signal stalk in '82. Looks to me like someone took two columns and made one the way they wanted. Not hard to do. Definitely a nice find though.

 

[clean8485]

I'm thinking the same as 455'ed80Regal on this one. I've never seen any records that indicate that GM built any kind of manual trans A/G body after 1981, and the wiper switch didn't get moved from the dash to the turn signal lever until 1982. I've had 3 1981 Iraqi Malibus, with the 3 speed manual trans, but those cars all had non-tilt columns. I was finally able to purchase a factory tilt manual column after searching for about a year and a half, and even then, I ended up getting it by sheer luck, and it doesn't have the wiper switch on the signal lever. I believe that it originally came out of a 1980 El Camino with a manual trans. Once again though, as Regal has said, its a great find. Congratulations!

 

[ssn696]

The column matched the interior color of the Malibu coupe where I found this. It does not look like it has been repainted, so I doubt it is a custom. In fact, I had a guy build me a custom column about 10 years ago. He kitbashed a Chevy and Cadillac column together so I'd have a tilt/telescope column with the wiper turn signal. The downside is that he merely shaved/filled the auto stalk and linkage tab at the bottom, so it does not have the key release lever...You could still shut off the car and lock the steering in a single motion, at 100mph. :shock: It has stayed in its box for along time, but now I am going to use it in the wagon, since its interior is the camel color. I just have not had the motivation to install the clutch pedals and cut the floor/new carpet for the shifter. And, since the automatic aspect has been cut off this column, I have to do all that first.

 

[Bonnewagon]

That's a great find. While maybe no manual trans cars were made, console shifted cars abound. That's how I got my mint Regal tilt column minus the shifter arm but with column mounted switch (which was burnt up :evil: ). Then I just swapped in a new column mounted delay wiper switch, and added a delay wiper motor to the firewall. Be aware that your '80 is a negative switched system and the correct column mounted delay wiper switch is pretty pricey, but available. Search RockAuto. The key is the fifth green wire, that's for the delay function, you will need to run one..

 

[ssn696]

Since I have to change the wiper motor as well, perhaps I can trade the cost out for figuring out the new wire harness to make the negative system work. I'll have to search through the site, but any diagrams or other advice would be welcome. Thanks!!!

ssn696

 

[Bonnewagon]

You can use what you have, by extending the dash wires to the column. You have the column harness, right? It should be peeking out at the bottom of the shroud, 5 cavities, pink, black, grey, and purple, with either a green, or a spot for the green (the pulse wire). Luckily, with the old system, you just add the green wire, extend it to the pulse wiper motor, and you're good to go. Be careful, there are 4 different column switches: standard wipers-non tilt, standard tilt, pulse non tilt, pulse tilt. Of course the one you want is the hardest to get and most expensive. You can also swap to the newer positive switched system which is cheaper and more available, but that requires more wiring changes and Jack (Longroof 79) says the positive switched motor doesn't quite fit the older firewall exactly so a bit of fudging is required. Pics are: negative w/pulse, negative standard, positive w/pulse.

 

[ssn696]

Oh, you are THE DUDE! Thanks!

ssn696

PS: what is it you are fixing in your signature? That's quite a reach back to the radiator. 1970's big car?