another steering column puzzle??

I just tapped it out with a of the bottom so it is out about 4" now? I guess I will have to bolt it in to see if I went far enough out?? I am also noticing that there is basically two tubes and a solid shaft on my 72 Demon column. The outer tube has a mesh style center area that looks to be there to collapse upon impact. Then there is a tube inside that one which is a two piece tube with those white nylon slits which appear to keep those two tubes in place. Then we have what I thought to be a solid metal shaft which the coupling goes on the end. I have a white nylon washer in between the bottom end of the outer and inner center tubes which is then held in place by a clip from the outside which sits in 3 small slits. My inner shaft has nothing between it and the center tube. Just the open space around the shaft. I did notice that now that I tapped it down a bit, the solid shaft does have a through hole drilled through it like it was suppose to have a pin? Am I missing a bearing of sorts that keeps that solid shaft in the center of the inner tube and also prevents water from going up there??? I don't believe it was there when I took it apart and I did notice somebody had hammered the coupling like it was apart once before?? I think I may be missing something here??