Lower steering column bearing?

73 408 Duster said
"Shot" as in there are no ball bearings, they are all gone. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe there are suppose to be ball bearings in the grooves pictured. The only "replacements" I can find have a ball bearing in a poly bushing mine is all metal.

Thanks for any info. you can share

Sorry, I assumed you might have the simple bushing (pseudo bearing) arrangement - not an actual bearing. I don't recall under what circumstances the factory used a true lower bearing vs. bushing - maybe manual trans cars.

I also need a column for floor shift and can't find one for my 70 Duster. So lets talk conversion....

You either need the upper 3 sections of the column from a floor shift car (which I did) or, as you mentioned, cut off the indicator and lever boss and fill in the holes. It's basically pot metal which is soft and easy to cut and grind. If you're good with body fillers it wouldn't be hard to do. You'd want to back the holes on the inside with something before filling them in though. The other thing to cut off would be the lever on the end of the shift tube. Total disassembly first would be the way to go. By convert I meant different parts or mods.