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Well as always start to fix one thing and find bigger problems. I was looking at fixing the Turn Signal not canceling when turning the wheel in the opposite direction, but now I found ball bearings laying in the bottom of the unit that holds the Turn Cancel Unit. I was wondering if anyone had a better break down of the Steering Column?
Made another video of what I have found, seeyoutube.com/watch?v=DnmplfYabuM
Thanks for any and all help!
Wes

You seem to be missing two springs. The W shaped wire which is the gearshift anti rattler and the coil spring between wheel and the concave ring around the shaft which fits in the bearing. That spring keeps the bearing together.

I didn't take any photos of that part of the bare column when I had it apart but the bearing is almost like a regular ball bearing. The outer race sits snugly in a pocket in the column tube. I say snugly -- don't think it is press fit tight -- but is well held. I say almost like a ball bearing because the balls are somehow retained in the shell by a flat piece of metal on the top. The inner side of balls is open to the shaft. The inner race is actually formed by the concave ring which slides down the shaft and is held in tight contact with the balls by the coil spring. If that spring was missing is probably why yours came apart.

I couldn't see the gap between wheel and shroud on your car very well but I believe that gap being too wide is the cause of most turn signal cancelling problems. If it is too wide the pins can't reach the trip hooks on the switch. Could be either the wheel is not down far enough on the splines or the column and shroud housing is too far down on the steering box. Maybe a combination of both. The pins on my wheel extend 7/16 inch. Is that about what you see?

EDIT: Too early in the morning. Can't keep my convex and concaves straight. Meant to say concave on the photo, not convex. Too lazy to go back and re-edit the photo..

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Thanks Howard, as always you are Johnny-on-the-spot. Yes I saw that the Anti-Rattle spring was missing right off the bat and it wasn't until I looked closer at the parts breakdown that a saw the other missing spring. Thanks for the pictures, it'll make it a lot easier to reproduce, hopefully I can get close and get back to you.
Thanks again.
Wes

Howard, I think the pins are okay, I think replace the missing spring that holds the bearings in place is all I need that is if I have enough ball bearings. I'm also thinking about taking the rest of the column apart and cleaning it up. I see Steele Rubber Products has an insert for the firewall that I'm missing so this would be a good time to get one and install it.
Well that's it for now.
Wes

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I am not convinced that rubber grommet piece was used on Customs. If you look at the parts list they used one style in 41-42 senior models and on the 2103 and a different piece on the junior models. The 2106 is conspicuously absent.

I didn't have one either -- just a piece of the water resistant cardboard placed under the dash pad and next to the sheetmetal to keep the jute padding retained in the opening. Perhaps with the carpeted dash in Customs they did not feel it necessary to finish off the opening with the rubber.

I put one in anyway but it seems fairly bulky and unnecessary and probably a waste of money since it is not seen and doesn't seem to really do anything as far as noise or weatherproofing.

Thanks, food for thought!
Wes

Still working on the steering wheel, finally started taking it apart. Found some more ball bearings when I pulled the cover off the steering shaft, but not enough to fill the inside of the bearing back up.
On the first picture I am showing the lines in the shaft cut by the loose ball bearings.
The second picture shows the bearing that I pulled out the balls for the ball bearing and a circle clip I found at the bottom of the steering shaft after I removed the cover to the steering shaft.
The third picture is of a parts breakdown but I did not find 15.3305 which says it is an oil seal while disassembling everything.
I'm wondering if in the second picture that the circle clip is what is suppose to hold the bearing together? It does fit on there very nicely and looks like it would hold the bearing together if I had all the balls.
Thanks for any and all help.
Wes

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I didn't find anything looking like an oil seal either but didn't look to see if it was something pressed inside the column. I didn't take the bearing completely out when I cleaned and painted the column.

The balls seem to be held in the outer race or housing loosely by some kind of ring. There is a short -- maybe 1/4" tall concave ring shown in the first and second photos I posted a few weeks ago which is pressed down by the spring. Believe that is 15.3296. It pushes the balls toward the outer race and also forms the inner race since all slop and motion between the shaft and bearing is gone when that ring is in position.

I don't know if that ring in the photo with the sort of groove is the retainer part or the push down part. My push down ring does not look as deep or have the groove. I am thinking the one you show is part of the actual bearing and is what keeps the balls in the race. You may be missing the .3296 which is held down by the spring. If that is the case you may need to find a ring or maybe a complete assy.

If you find the ring but do not find all the balls, you might check McMaster. Search for steel balls and a page comes up with a multitude of sizes in various grades of steel. Perhaps one of those sizes will fit. Even though you have to buy a bag containing 100 or more to get the half dozen that are missing the bags are inexpensive.

Howard, I crawled under the car with a broom and a magnetic and found three more ball bearings. It looks like I'm still one or two short. I put all the balls I had in and the clip fits perfect.
I went to Max Merritt and found the bearing and seal. I would like to pull my junk car apart but that's a four hour drive away, so I guess that will have to wait.
The first two pictures or of my bearing and the next two are from Max Merritt bearing and seal.
Wes

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I had about the same problem with my 2150 and after a whole life restoring old British motorcycles I do not like bearings with loose balls which are plentiful on most of them. So I took some measurements. My steering shaft is 7/8 and the tube around it is 1 7/16. The bearing is 7/16 thick so I needed a bearing 7/8 X 1 7/16 X 7/16 which equals 22,5 X 36,6 X 11 millimeters. I found a needlebearing of 25 X 37 X 17 millimeters called RNA 4904. I did some grinding in the tube to press in the outer race and made a stepped sleeve on the shaft to locate the needles which run directly on the sleeve, no inner race. Now when I want to remove the outer tube from the steering shaft the outer race stays in the tube, the needles stay on the shaft but can be lifted off and no loose balls on the floor. So far it works perfect but have not yet installed the mechanism for direction indicators or horn. You can see it used onyoutube.com/watch?v=nsA2H-3Azes