One hurdle after another with the barracuda. What goes between the steering shaft and the collar on my steering box? How does that collar come off ? It seems stuck !

And I don't have an exact alignment with the box and the shaft so I'm thinking I need some sort of u-joint in the steering. I can make whatever needs to be done but if there is a piece I can buy that would be easier.
Thanks !

What goes here ?

Nothing goes between the shaft and the coupler. There should be a pin in the shaft where the hole is. That goes into the coupler. Looks like the shaft is too short. From the looks of that coupler I'd buy a new one. The coupler has a pin that goes through it on the steering box end. You need to remove that in order to get the coupling off and you may have to use some force to drive it off. Soak the coupling where it goes onto the steering box shaft with PB Blaster to help get in loose.

Standard mopar steering coupler. You can still buy them complete.

You seem to have and alignment issue as well as a length issue, though. the shaft should be down inside the coupler. Do you have the correct steering column for your car?

P.S. The coupler is held on with a roll pin. As rusty as yours is it may take some spray and a big hammer to get it out.

Why can't I see your picture?

Thanks guys ! I have that diagram of the stock arrangement but since I have that gap I wasn't sure.

Chances are this is not the column that came in the car - I'm 100% it's not but its what I have to work with. I am solving mysteries daily on this thing. I am not restoring it so I just need something that is safe and works.

Any idea if there's a u-joint available that will fit the splines on the steering box shaft ?

And it looks as if the roll pin that goes in the steering couple is out but the dang thing is stuck ! I'll try PB Blaster and a hammer.

You might try shopping around for something like this.

https://mustangdepot.com/beta/product/mopar-coupler-shaft-kit-manual-to-power/

The shaft could be to short if... You have a manual steering box and the steering column is for power steering. With a power steering box the steering shaft is shorter, manual steering box required a longer steering shaft. So my guess is you have a manual box, with a power steering column...

That makes sense and is likely. This is what was in the car. There was a length of solid round stock welded to that end joint and attached to the column with a tubular sleeve which had a roll pin and bolt.

They installed a rack inside the k-member. Needless to say it was hard to even move the wheel. Note the aluminum tab that was used to mount the hemi.

By the way this was a drag car that I'm putting back on the street - a job not for the impatient !

Or if the collapsible plastic pieces are collapsed...

give it a tug and see if the lower shaft will slide out of the upper.

Unfortunately, there's nothing left of the original plastic buffer that goes between the shaft and the coupler on the gear box

I am going to make a link with a u-jount that has a smooth bore on one side and splined on the other that matches the splined shaft on the steering gear box.

Not what they are talking about.

Go back and reread it.

Oh, I see. So it may be collapsed on the end towards the steering wheel. So I need to see if it will pull out.

thanks !

Since I can't see your pictures I can't help much, but I can say that there were different couplers back then. So, before you beat and bang on your column, make sure what you have. My story, the shop that did my car lost the coupler..71... not knowing I buy a coupler off of eBay, but it is too long, and column wouldn't go in, so I bang on the column, which really I collapsed it, then I found out I had a 73/74 , instead of a 71 coupler, now it rattles. Just make sure what you have, and what you need before you do anything.

It's always something and sometimes it can be hard to make sure you have the right thing... I know.

I have never had to deal with this sort of thing with a steering column but I have taken a few in and out. But, of course, that was easy because I was using known, working parts.

Frankly, I have no idea what I have or what year column this may be. The car is a '73 barracuda, but it's got, what I think are '72 seats in it. And when I was upgrading the brakes to disc, I found that i had a B-body K-member and what I thought was '73 disc swap turned out to actually be later A-body disc set-up so I had some trouble getting the right lower ball joints, bearings and other pieces. I've got all the suspension and steering ironed out as far as I can tell but I won't know for sure until I try to get an alignment.

This car is a hodgepodge of monkey business so I am just trying to make the best lemonade I can with this bag of nuts I have.

I'm going to try to slide the steering shaft down and if I am lucky I won't have to do much to get it hooked up.

I really appreciate the help you guys are giving me. It means a lot.

Do you have a power steering box or a manual steering box? Pull the column and measure the overall length of the steering shaft.

I have a manual steering box

The manual box takes a longer steering shaft. You probably have a power steering column in the car. There is an adapter you can buy that will let you hook up a power steering shaft to a manual box. It's not cheap but you don't have to modify anything that way.

http://www.firmfeel.com/e_body_mopar_column_adapter.html

The coupler is different between power steering and manual steering as well. It looks like there is already a coupler on the manual box. I think you'll need a power steering coupler to connect to the adapter...if you go that route.

If you don't want to buy the adapter, you'll need to find a manual steering shaft.