Patting myself on the back - tilt/tele steeering wheel install

[76eldo]

I have a 1976 Fleetwood Brougham.  When I bought it, it had some ugly custom steering wheel installed, with the original one in a box in the trunk.  There was a plastic bag with a mixture of Cadillac parts and fasteners and leftover aftermarket stuff.

Other than the steering wheel, the car is completely stock and original, cold AC, everything works, under 60K miles.  Burgundy with matching vinyl top, red leather interior.

So I have been looking at this car for months now, and can't stand the sight of this fugly steering wheel.

A while back I got the phone number of a retired Cadillac mechanic who was very knowledgible on 70's Cadillacs.  I bought a ton of original shop manuals from one of the other guys that worked with him in the dealership, but he was much younger.

I called the guy to see if he would be interesting in coming over (I have a fully equipped garage) and installing the original steering wheel.  I figured since he "knew these cars inside and out" it would be some easy cash for him.

Get this...  He tells me, "Yeah, I can do that for you, but you have to pull the steering column and bring it to me. I don't want any cars laying around here.  It shouldn't take you too long to remove the column.  It will take me 2 hours, and I get $75.00 an hour."  I politely thanked him and said I would do it myself.  It made NO sense to me to pull the steering column out.

So today, I dug out my shop manual and my illustrated parts manual, and gave it a shot.

I had the ugly wheel off in 2 minutes.  Now for the fun.

I laid out all the parts I had on a folding table, took inventory, and as luck would have it, everything was there.  It's a telescopic wheel too, so that's even more fun.

I just took my time, looked at the exploded view, put most of the wheel and assorted parts together, bolted it up, and it looked 100% better already.

I figured out the telescopic lever and reconnected the horn button.  Now the car has it's proper factory steering wheel, which is in decent shape, and it looks right and feels right.  Now I can put some miles on this baby.

If anyone has a red front driver's side carpeted floor mat, please let me know?

Thanks,

Brian

[Otto Skorzeny]

Let's see before and after pictures.

[Misfit]

Good go Brian. Those units can be real tricky when they want to be. The tilt spring is like a small bomb waiting to be ignited.

As for the 'expert'? He is the reason I learned to repair my own cars and anything else I've ever owned, since I was old enough to hold a wrench.

And the degree of self satisfaction is the best feeling.

Fins

[35-709]

Patience, a shop manual, and a little mechanical aptitude will win out every time.
Geoff N.

[J]

does your horn work well? i put my original wheel back on and my horn keeps blowing   the spring makes contact grounding it out like i am missing something does yours have an insulator between the spring and contact? i just unpluged my relay untill i get it fixed but i miss my horn  any help is appreciated   what manual is the exploted view in?  thanks Jessie  P.S. pics would be great

[Otto Skorzeny]

Heck ya! The horn is the most important part of my car!  ( there are a lot of jay walkers around here)

[76eldo]

I don't know if your horn switch is bad or not.  The wire comes up from the column, goes through a plastic insulator.  Take the 3 1/4 inch head bolts off of the back side of the wheel and you should be able to see what's going on.  The exploded view is in the illustrated parts catalog.

Brian

[R. Scot Minesinger]

Great job.  I like some inspirational stories.  Basically if you have some mechanical skill and you can read the manuals are very helpful.  The shortfall of many of the people that work on our babies is that they do not READ.

Great car to enjoy,

Scot