Steering column install

[Shelby68GT500]

Replaced rag joint, dropping down the column.  Upon trying to mate them back up, can't seem to get the column back forward enough to fully seat into rag joint.   I need about an inch of forward movement, but she won't budge no matter what I try.  Anyone have any insight on what I'm not doing correctly?  Greatly appreciate any input!

[corbins]

Just pull the shaft out by hand, or gently tap it down a bit with a hammer, you probably pushed it up in the column when removing it .

[Shelby68GT500]

Thanks Steve!  I never fully removed the column, just dropped it down and pulled back a bit to get the old rag joint off.  Didn't think that the shaft would have slid up into the column.  Tried pulling the shaft out, but couldn't get any movement.  I'm thinking maybe fully removing the column from the car to see what's going on.  So the end shaft does supposed to have some play in and out?  How much to expect?

[GT350Bill]

68 columns have 2 piece nested shafts as a safety feature to allow the column to collapse...the shaft  is held in the correct position with some plastic shear pins which have generally broken or will break easily in these old cars. Chances are that the lower half of the shaft has slipped up into the upper half...they can sometimes be pretty tight...if you can get a vice grip clamped on the end (be careful to pad it so you don't damage the shaft) you can try tapping gently against the vice grip with a hammer to see if the shaft will come back out.

[corbins]

68 columns have 2 piece nested shafts as a safety feature to allow the column to collapse...the shaft  is held in the correct position with some plastic shear pins which have generally broken or will break easily in these old cars. Chances are that the lower half of the shaft has slipped up into the upper half...they can sometimes be pretty tight...if you can get a vice grip clamped on the end (be careful to pad it so you don't damage the shaft) you can try tapping gently against the vice grip with a hammer to see if the shaft will come back out.

+1