Topic: 1970 BMW 2002 steering column

Hello All,

The new rules say our lemony racer must have a collapsible steering column. The rule also states this was found on vehicle sold in US after 1968. Our car is a 1970 model but the column does not look like your average collapsing column. Does the rubber donut between the steering gearbox and the column shaft qualify this as a collapsible column?
Is John from evil genius still the guy to ask about this sort of stuff? If yes, can someone give me his e mail address?

Rudy G

Re: 1970 BMW 2002 steering column

john@evilgeniusracing.com

If the car was a US model (door/underhood sticker will say something to the effect "complies with all US laws in effect on xx/xx....) then you are fine.  Some cars have the collapsible portion in front of the firewall, some have it above the footwell.  Some shafts are solid but have a double joint (short section connected with 2 u-joints) at an angle to where a direct shot just moves the jointed section out of the way.  Some (like the gRover talked about), the orientation of things is such that a hit in the front won't result in you getting speared by the steering column.

1990 RX7 "Mazdarita"  1964 Sunbeam Imp (IOE 2013 Sears Pointless) 2002 Jaguar x-type (Winner C-Class 2021 Sears Pointless)
Gone bye-bye
1994 Jaguar XJ12 (Winner C-Class 2013 Sears Pointless)  1980 Rover SD1 (I Got Screwed 2014 Return of Lemonites)

Re: 1970 BMW 2002 steering column

Ok  we have the  1950 Hudson raced last year @NJMP and have to upgrade our steering column .  Can we cut existing and weld on a coupler

Re: 1970 BMW 2002 steering column

decafe wrote:

Ok  we have the  1950 Hudson raced last year @NJMP and have to upgrade our steering column .  Can we cut existing and weld on a coupler

I would say run it past Evil Genius.  It has been made clear elswhere he is expecting OEM grade solutions.

5 (edited by jimbbski 2016-12-31 08:43 AM)

Re: 1970 BMW 2002 steering column

The best solution if the interior shaft is straight is to replace it with a telescoping shaft. These are available as OEM parts off of a production car or as new from a number of suppliers that sell stock car parts.

On OEM parts for example my late 80's WV uses a "D" section steering shaft inside of the car. It consists of a solid "D" shaped tube and a hollow tube that the solid section fits into. There is also a thin metal tab welded to both sections that keeps the two sections from moving under normal use. But apply enough force and the solid section will slide into the hollow "D" section. Since it is fitted under the dash it can be retrofitted to any number of cars that need one.  Both ends have splines and one has a threaded section on the end for the steering wheel but that can be cut off and any other end welded to it,  say for a remove able steering wheel. The spline only end can be fitted with the OEM universal joint to allow angle adjustment and to match up with the stock steering forward of the firewall.

This is just one example. All you really need to do is to go to a pick n pull and crawl under some hoods and/or dashes to find what you need.

Re: 1970 BMW 2002 steering column

Note: don't just replace a section of the old steering shaft with a collapsible section, as it might still spear you just fine - often, a straight, non-collapsible steering shaft has a sad excuse for a support bearing and will rip out and at least hit you in the face pretty hard. Installing an entire steering shaft, u-joints, steering wheel hub and associated brackets from a modern-ish car with roughly the same box/rack-to-wheel distance is actually fairly easy. In addition to being safer, it solves a lot of bearing/alignment/parts availability issues out of the box. You weld the bottom u-joint to the old shaft's stub, weld the steering support bracket off of the donor car to whatever body parts are close and also to the dash bar (important!), and then bolt the whole affair back in. Checking newer models of the same make might help, too, as sometimes you can skip the custom shaft stub-u-joint part. Make sure to have the bracket securely mounted in all three dimensions.

I would recommend against aftermarket steering columns as in my experience factory steering components are a better choice for something that will sit in a field for a half a year at a time, exposed to the elements and all. Plus, you know for sure that somebody smacked the same one into a wall and it didn't spear a dummy.

K Car Stalker