Steering Column Blues :(

[kfrese]

Hey guys,

I have a 73 dodge dart sport. I have the upper column taken apart as I am replacing my ignition switch and turn signal switch. I have some concerns. First off, I am having a heck of a time getting the upper bearing to go down far enough to expose the notch in the shaft for the full clip to go in. also there is a second notch behind that I think is for the half clip that I have in my pile of parts. Another concern is that as I tested the igntion and the wheel lock I was running the column shifter through its ranges, park, drive,and so on. I noticed that as I release the shifter it will drop into its repective groove for park only. I may be worrying about nothing at all, but what positions should it "lock into or drop into a groove" P R N D 2 1". My last concern as I near buttoning this column up is the position of the transmission arm inside the engine bay. I bought this car years back as a roller, and so being that I am learning and cant really assume anything is correct, what position should that be in or can it be lets say so off that when I get to my transmission linkage install I could have a rude awakening. I do have a shop manual that I am trying to piece things together with, but I thought I would see if I could get a easier to understand explanation. So I am worried about

1) How to seat the upper bearing far enough, and what the half c clip is for and where it goes?

2) How the shifter is supposed to rest through the ranges from Park to 1

3) what position the transmission arm inside the engine bay should be sitting

Thanks guys

 

[RedFish]

There is a snap ring above the bearing. You'll need to pull up on the shaft while holding the bearing down to expose the ring groove. The wire ring goes above the wheel lock plate to hold it in place.
Shift detents felt in the shifter come from the transmission and the shifter. Probably not a problem there.