Steped in SH*** on this one. anyone done this?

[Earthmonster]

Hey eveyone. I have a little bit of a problem. I am Currently rebuilding the motor in my 1971 wagoneer (350 Buick) and while I have the motor out, I figure why not fix that busted steering shaft boot while the motor is out of the way. So I removed the bottom half of the shaft that attaches to the pump and loosened the joints, thinking I could slide it right off the shaft. Wrong answer. now I have it half disassembled with no Idea how to finish without pulling the whole steering column inside the cab. I have a picture of the joint in question in my photo book link below. I believe it is a tundrell joint - a smaller version of one that I just replaced on my drive shaft. here is a link to the pic; http://photos.msn.com/myfiles/folderview.aspx?Folder=4gPozhciq6ZTdypEPFXEQrHtigV 0WmnYf7ytqxf8QE8%24
it is the last pic on the page. The white wagon is my '91 and not the one I am talking about. It is the '71 that has the problem. I am in process of restoring my '71, The '91 only has 55k original! The engine compartment in the pics are :rolleyes: :mad: not as bad as it looks- thats not oil, its some kind of tar for salt/corrosion protection. I am currently in process of cleaning that mess up. It sucks, but good news is that it did its job and there is very little rust under it. Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks, Chad :rolleyes:

[ColeTrickle]

I dunno, but welcome to the board. Good to see a fellow Texan. We got a few. Keep in touch here and will...wheel that bad boy one these days.

[kyjman]

You will need to loosen and remove the bolt at the upper end on the shaft, above that ujoint, under the master cylinder. When you get that bolt out and the little metal ring thingie..then you need to remove the bolts holding the steering column under the dash inside the cab. Then you can pull that joint apart, and the steering column will slide towards the seat.. The assembly should be reversed.

[Earthmonster]

are you talking about removing the bolt for the transmission in order to do this? and also, are you thinking of pulling the whole assembly through the cab? or just getting it to loosen up So I can get it out through the engine compartment? I would be nice if I could get that Dam* pin out of the joint where it is, but I dont know how that is done.

[Tad]

WOW, I pulled the whole column from my 1970 and am reasonably famialer with it.
Your pic wouldn't load for me so I have no idea what you are actually refering to except the ball and trunion joint, which I do not think is supposed to come appart, at all, or at least without great effort.
Send me a pic if you like, I have the entire column from rag joint to steering wheel just sitting out back, if you can use some of it, it's yours, I upgraded the whole shebang to a 1985 column so I'm not needing any of it.