Collapsible steering column options ?

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Bill, I assume you meant the brake pedal from a '67+ for an automatic car? The car is still 3k miles away. I don't want to spend money unless I'm 100% sure I need it, and it will work.

Kurspalt, I think you made a point in there somewhere... LOL

Mike in FL
 
If you lookup my post, you will see photos comparing a 65 Dart and 74 Dart pedal assembly. I don't know about any other years. Just a caution that your 63 brake pedal MIGHT interfere with the later steering column. I also wouldn't try solving the problem until I knew there was a problem.
 
You may have to change the brake pedal. I posted photos of a 64 vs 74 pedal assembly a few weeks ago (search) and the later goes on the opposite side of the column, maybe because the collapsible column is thicker. I would like to get rid of the 74 pedal, so if you need it PM me. Real cheap $10 + shipping.

I am keeping the original columns in my 64 & 64 cars. I think it unlikely that the K-frame and steering box could be pushed back into the cabin. I suspect the concern was un-belted drivers getting impaled on the column, and I always belt up. I don't know if I would even trust an old collapsible column collapsing like it should w/ rust and such. I put Sebring seats in my 65 Dart. That gives an integral shoulder belt.

Don't believe everything people state about safety. The video of the Malibu slicing thru the old Bel Air looks bogus to many, including me and I am a mechanical engineer. The video implies that the new car is sturdier and more rigid and thus slices right thru the weak old car. This is the exact opposite of the "crumple zones" idea of modern safety. You see a rust cloud rise from the old car. Maybe the frame members were cut too, like in a Hollywood flick. There is a reason that people use my 65 Newport in collision derbies. How do you think a newer Malibu would fare there?

A lot of strange claims about brakes. If the brakes can lock up the tires, you can't get any more braking than that (actually pumping the brakes to stay just before lockup is ideal). A recent Wheeler Dealers episode showed them braking a WRX on a wet track after upgrading to big brakes. They commented on how much better it braked. Does that mean the original brakes couldn't have skidded the tires? The whole purpose of disk brakes is quicker cooling for repeated stops or from very high speeds. Doesn't sound like your daughter will be driving that fast. I suspect most problems with drum brakes is due to poor maintenance. I did put a dual reservoir MC on all my 60's cars, using a 95 Breeze ABS MC w/ 2-4 bolt adapter.

actually there is such thing as better brakes. ever have a car that didn't slow down as fast as others (without skidding tires)

once you get into the tires skidding there is no sense in your foot being on the brake, but if you can get a car to stop really quick without it locking you indeed have better brakes, and to do that consistently is why rotors are better
 
Calling a collapsible column collapsible is not really accurate. While its true that they can collapse about 2" on the center shaft and 4-6 inches on the housing (both approximations but they are very different) in a straight on crush, they're real benefit is that the center shaft "collapsing" coupler can break away allowing the column housing and the portion of the center shaft attached to the steering wheel to move to the side or up as the front of the car is crushed thus preventing driver impalement. Safer in the strictest definition of the word, but functionally a shoulder belt is much more effective and more economical. That said a '62 manual column is 38" from the tip of the steering box coupler (when collapsed not extended) to the edge of the turn signal housing where the steering wheel meets it. The OD of the '62 tube is 1.13 and the OD of the collapsing tube is 1.19.

I've never found drum brakes to be lacking in normal driving but don't usually stop as quickly as disk brakes would. But as some have mentioned here, from high speed say 100 plus you only get 1/2 to one full stop on them and they are useless after that until cooled. With disks you can get more than one stop from high speed. How many more than one is dependent on many factors like pad friction material, rotor material, speed of vehicle, caliper clamping force, and on and on.
 
but if you can get a car to stop really quick without it locking you indeed have better brakes, and to do that consistently is why rotors are better
You haven't explained how disks brakes are better at getting to the margin of skidding than drum brakes. Granted, if the L & R brakes aren't matched, one will skid first, plus you will feel the car pulling to one side. People say that is more common with drum brakes, but I have never felt it. I am sure if they are poorly maintained that could be true, like grease on the shoes or the fwd & aft shoes are mixed up.

The best way for the ordinary driver to brake at the margin of skidding is to have anti-lock brakes. However, studies have shown that many drivers don't use anti-lock brakes properly. When they feel the pedal pulsing, it feels like something is broken so they lift up. You must train yourself to jam the pedal hard and hold it despite the weird feel of the pulsing. Try that on a wet parking low. Since we no longer have Driver's Ed in CA schools, kids get taught to drive by their clueless parents. Since they don't know what to do at a stop sign here (they wave hands and other strange signals), I doubt they know how to brake properly.
 
any pictures of a modified, later column?

how about a picture of how the Sebring seats look in the a body?
 
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