Steering shaft length

We had a similar problem. The shaft on my 73 Duster with manual steering had been collapsed and the nylon/plastic shear pins broke. But i was switching to power steering anyway. We shortened the shaft by pushing it in further (to 35 7/8 inch length). Then drilled 1/8 inch holes all the way through and re-pinned it using plastic screws and nuts. As SSBA states there is probably no need for the pins but I chose to use them. And also had to use a different coupler.