Yeah, sorry Frosty, once again later to the party. There is a easier way & you don’t need to use the threads, but I guess it doesn’t matter now. At least you’re good to go now! 

I have been struggling to get the key cylinder out of the column. I am not proud of myself. I got frustrated and ended up using the air cut off wheel. I started by disassembling the column even more. I stripped everything off the collar contain the key cylinder. I could not get the cylinder disengage like the manual said. I was about read to literally cut it out from outside!

I ended deciding to cut off the retaining shaft that held a tan gear. This allowed me access to the cylinder itself from behind. Turns out that the cylinder itself needed some "gentle" persuasion to move forward out of the cylinder bore.

More column carnage!

I cut off the shaft between the tan gear and the collar. I did actually start cutting the case but I didn't get very far.

Success! Finally!

Now this can go into the new tilt column and I don't have to re-key the car. It's beer me time! 

As this point, I am not sure what I am going to do with the remains of the old column. Do I pitch it? Save it for parts? Send it off to be rebuilt?

Tonight I was working on Lucy. I was reinstalling the intermediate steering shaft. I loosely snugged up the bolts to the rag joint. I decided to jack up the car so I could crawl under the car to tighten up the bolts because was easier to get to them from underneath than from on top.

Well, I screwed up. I put the jack under the crossmember to save time jacking either side individually. Well the thing is I missed the crossmember and I was jacking on the oil pan! Yup, I put a lovely dent in the sumbitch. No holes but clearly I need to replace it now! F*)#@*$)@( F)()(*@&$@&$ F*&#*&@)(*#!!!!!! The engine has to come out to replace the oil pan.

I think I've reached the point that I need to take Lucy to someone professional and fix all my messes. I am frustrated and she is not getting fixed any quicker at this point. Shit. 

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

Tonight I was working on Lucy. I was reinstalling the intermediate steering shaft. I loosely snugged up the bolts to the rag joint. I decided to jack up the car so I could crawl under the car to tighten up the bolts because was easier to get to them from underneath than from on top.

Well, I screwed up. I put the jack under the crossmember to save time jacking either side individually. Well the thing is I missed the crossmember and I was jacking on the oil pan! Yup, I put a lovely dent in the sumbitch. No holes but clearly I need to replace it now! F*)#@*$)@( F)()(*@&$@&$ F*&#*&@)(*#!!!!!! The engine has to come out to replace the oil pan.

I think I've reached the point that I need to take Lucy to someone professional and fix all my messes. I am frustrated and she is not getting fixed any quicker at this point. Shit. 

 

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

Tonight I was working on Lucy. I was reinstalling the intermediate steering shaft. I loosely snugged up the bolts to the rag joint. I decided to jack up the car so I could crawl under the car to tighten up the bolts because was easier to get to them from underneath than from on top.

Well, I screwed up. I put the jack under the crossmember to save time jacking either side individually. Well the thing is I missed the crossmember and I was jacking on the oil pan! Yup, I put a lovely dent in the sumbitch. No holes but clearly I need to replace it now! F*)#@*$)@( F)()(*@&$@&$ F*&#*&@)(*#!!!!!! The engine has to come out to replace the oil pan.

I think I've reached the point that I need to take Lucy to someone professional and fix all my messes. I am frustrated and she is not getting fixed any quicker at this point. Shit. 

oh thats not good mate!!! i feel for you!!

that is one of those duhh moments 

Frosty man - those threads...I'm sure I speak on behalf of all of us: I have threaded the sh#t out of many items over the decades, but THOSE threads took some real effort. It almost looks as if you intended to make the biggest mess you could! Oh well,  you're slogging through it. Beer will help. Remember the Golden Rule: do the job first, swear and bleed during the event and THEN beer. If you get the sequence wrong, there's just beer and a car that's still broken. How do I know?

I just saw the last bit of your story. I concur: shit.

yeah i think frosty could go a beer or four right about now.

if i win lotto tonight frosty i am buying you a hoist!!!! 

i will ship it over and personally install it ! 

Yeah - what he said. I will also come over and inspect Hooters...I mean help instal the hoist.

Thanks for trying to cheer me up boys. I needed that after screwing up last night.

We're here to give you a little lift  

12 hours ago, Frosty said:

Tonight I was working on Lucy. I was reinstalling the intermediate steering shaft. I loosely snugged up the bolts to the rag joint. I decided to jack up the car so I could crawl under the car to tighten up the bolts because was easier to get to them from underneath than from on top.

Well, I screwed up. I put the jack under the crossmember to save time jacking either side individually. Well the thing is I missed the crossmember and I was jacking on the oil pan! Yup, I put a lovely dent in the sumbitch. No holes but clearly I need to replace it now! F*)#@*$)@( F)()(*@&$@&$ F*&#*&@)(*#!!!!!! The engine has to come out to replace the oil pan.

I think I've reached the point that I need to take Lucy to someone professional and fix all my messes. I am frustrated and she is not getting fixed any quicker at this point. Shit. 

At this point I’m sure you don’t want to touch your face, but! You shouldn’t need to pull the engine. I would believe, like any of the GM V8s, if you drain the coolant & oil, remove the hose connections to the radiator & remove the motor mount bolts, plus clear anything that would restrict moving the engine upwards about 6”. Than make a wood cradle to go between the floor jack & the front portion of the tranny, you can raise the engine enough to remove the pan & install a new one. Of course you also need to get the whole car of the ground enough to get under it comfortably.

Well here is my glorious screw up. I know JUSTA wants to see it.

I've ordered a new Milodon stock replacement oil pan from Summit Racing and a new one-piece oil pan gasket from BOP Engineering. They should both be here tomorrow. I'm not sure about needing a new oil pickup just yet. I'm holding off on that until the motor comes out and the oil pan comes off and things can get inspected underneath.

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Well here is my glorious screw up. I know JUSTA wants to see it.

I've ordered a new Milodon stock replacement oil pan from Summit Racing and a new one-piece oil pan gasket from BOP Engineering. They should both be here tomorrow. I'm not sure about needing a new oil pickup just yet. I'm holding off on that until the motor comes out and the oil pan comes off and things can get inspected underneath.

Pickup tends to be more in the back part, so you should be good. That said, how  many miles on the pump that’s in there? Is it a high volume pump? Are you doing the work or some one else? 
I ask because since the motor is out, you might refresh what you can without getting to intrusive.

It’s a Melling high volume, high pressure unit.  Runs at 80 psi most of the time. 
 

I’m thinking of having someone do the work simply because I don’t have a cherry picker to pull the motor with.  The motor was rebuilt in 2005 and it has over 40,000 miles on it.

15 hours ago, Frosty said:

It’s a Melling high volume, high pressure unit.  Runs at 80 psi most of the time. 
 

I’m thinking of having someone do the work simply because I don’t have a cherry picker to pull the motor with.  The motor was rebuilt in 2005 and it has over 40,000 miles on it.

You should be good to go with a pan gasket & a once over

That's what I'm thinking. I will probably inspect the timing chain and perhaps the cam lobs but I was not planning on tearing down the motor unless there was something that warranted it.

So i went to work on the steering column this weekend. I decided to mount the steering wheel first, in order to align it before I slid the column into the steering shaft. That way the steering wheel would be straight with the gauges with the wheels straight, etc.

Boy, I didn't expect putting the steering wheel on to take over 3 hours. Yup. I tried to slide the wheel on over the shaft and the hub ring. No dice! F*ck! First thing is the white horning ring tab that comes through the steering wheel collar is too wide for the hole in the collar. Damn it.

So I get out a drill bit, a 5/8" bit. It is not doing the job widening the hole. I try putting it on 2 different hand drills, using WD-40 as a lubricant. No luck. 

I get out my steering column spring compressor and then fight to remove the damn retaining clip for the next 30 minutes. Once it is off, I can get the plastic horn ring off. I take it to my belt sander and trim the outer diameter of the horn connector.

 

Now it is a snug but manageable fit.

Now I have to get horn ring back on, re-compress the spring, re-attach and seat the retaining clip. Again, another 20 minutes of making sure I didn't screw things up. Now I can try to put the steering wheel back on. Okay I can start the wheel but it doesn't want to slide easily onto the shaft. Aw crap - what now? 

The white horn tab has start coming thru the collar, so that's not it. It is just tight on the steering shaft. I get the jam nut, start the threads by hand, and then use my 16v 1/2" socket wrench with a 7/8" socket to drive the steering column all the way on. 

Success. The steering wheel is now on the new tilt column over 3 hours later! I'm done. I called it a day.

I won't get back to it this week. We are expecting a major snow and ice storm this week. This weekend my wife is out of town and I will be at the Detroit Autorama on Sunday. So expect pictures Monday or Tuesday from Autorama instead of working on Lucy and Black Beauty.

Edited February 23, 20233 yr by Frosty

I thought I'd share with you all a blast from the past photo. This is me sorting through the swap meet areas at the 2004 GTOAA convention in Pontiac Michigan. This was the day AFTER I blew up the original 455 motor in Lucy (7/16/2004). I am literally looking for another date coded 1972 455 block......and I found it in the back of this pickup!

Here's another oldie but goodie. This is how we decorated Lucy on my wedding day in May 2006!

Edited March 7, 20233 yr by Frosty

Thats awesome man! 

Lucy is on the move again - this time on the back of a flatbed. She is going to a repair shop to get the steering column finished, the interior installed, fixing the dent in the oil pan, and generally getting her back on the road. We are targetting mid-September for everything to be done.

The repair shop is called Muscle Cars and More. The owner is huge into Oldsmobiles, especially 442s and Cutlass. So he knows all about A-Bodies. However he works on all sorts of cars. He is currently working on a '68 Coronet R/T with a 383. He is installing a Holly Sniper EFI system, plus a front disc brake conversion on it.

So I have my fingers crossed that Lucy will be back on the road again soon.

Best of luck to you and Lucy! Hope for solid and quick work  

I talked to the owner of the shop today. He gave me some interesting news about Lucy. The engine and transmission are out of the car so the damaged oil pan can be replaced.

He informed me that the torque converter bolts were loose! Two weren’t even finger tight and could have come off, possibly damaging either the flywheel or the converter itself. The bolts are being replaced with grade 8 ones and nyloc nuts.

Next he told me that the U-bolts on the driveshaft were bent or damaged and the driveshaft was close to falling off the differential yoke! Yikes! 😧 

Obviously these are being replaced too.

With luck, the car will be finished this week or early next.

Edited September 13, 20232 yr by Frosty

Damn Frosty, that could've been really bad man. Glad they caught it before you or Lucy got really hurt.

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

Next he told me that the U-bolts on the driveshaft were bent or damaged and the driveshaft was close to falling off the differential yoke! Yikes! 😧 

thats very interesting , did you see them ? 

 you know how we love pictures mate 

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

The bolts are being replaced with grade 8 ones and nyloc nuts.

please tell me your not using nuts and bolts on a flex plate that should have welded threads in its self ?