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Hello, everybody! I am trying to remove the steering column casing in my Deluxe 8. I am also trying to remove the steering wheel. Could someone tell me how I do this? Thanks!

First item to do for future ease of reassembly is note the distance or gap the wheel is away from the shroud.

To remove the wheel, the center ornament is removed by pushing down against a cushion with your palm and rotating slightly counterclockwise. Once that is off you can see the screws holding horn ring. Remove that and the spring & contacts and you will be down to the horn wire. Horn wire exits at the base of the steering box & has a connector. Once disconnected, the wire will pull out. You will need to have some kind of stiff wire to feed from the bottom up so you can reattach to the horn wire to reinstall. Do it now, leaving it long enough to stay in place in the shaft just below nut or do it later. Once the wire is out, the nut can be removed and with the use of a wheel puller, the wheel can be removed. There is a thread here on a couple of other methods without a proper pullerhttps://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=53091#forumpost53091 The pict is out of the parts manual and shows the order of assembly.

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There is a partial description of shroud removal in the 46-50 and the 51-4 service manuals in steering sections with instructions on how to remove the steering gear. It's not terribly descriptive in the detail dept. It has been a few years since I removed the shroud so my remembering of how may not be the quickest or simplest way. If no one else comes forward in the next few hours, will give it a try later on.

Remove the wheel, as described. Remove the toe-board plate around the pedals, and take out the screws that hold the rubber collar at the base of the column to the firewall.
Take out the two long screws that hold the column to the dashboard bracket.

Undo the shift rods, and unplug your turn signals. At the steering gear loosen the clamp that clamps the column to the neck of the steering gear.
Seat yourself comfortably in the driver's seat and wiggle turn and tug on the column till it comes sliding up the steering shaft. You may have to loosen the steering gear-to-frame bolts so the column angles down a bit for more clearance. Getting the shift lever through the toe-board is often a pain. Enjoy.

Thank you very much. Unfortunately, though, all I need to know is how to take off the steering column casing. There was not a description on this subject in the service index. I also need to know how I remove the shifter stick so that I can take the casing off. I also need to know what I can use instead of a steering wheel puller to get the wheel off. Thanks!

The only good way is with a puller. I don't think the brute force method will work on this one. You need something like this type shown and they can be rented or bought fairly inexpensively. I bought this and added more screws as needed for various wheels and other items over the years. Ross described one you can make in that thread I linked to earlier. There is a picture in the 46-50 manual showing similar in use. If you use a puller, it might be a good idea to loosen the nut several turns but leave it on as long as possible so the puller does not mess up threads.

Again, it's been a long time but on that of yours, I think it is possible to remove the shroud without pulling the gearshift but hope someone will correct if not. Disconnect the wiring for turnsignals and anything else in shroud to start.

Take the wheel off and you will be down to the spider type arm with holes, turn signal switch etc inside large shroud shown at top in the second photo. I believe that particular piece is welded to the steering tube. The gearshift lever has a pivot pin going thru it and fits into that spider piece. I don't remember how that attaches exactly. It will have to remove so the lever can be slid out of the gearshift tube pocket and shroud completely. Same with unscrewing or unbolting turn signal lever. Once those are out look carefully at the top of steering shaft and gear shaft for any kind of circlip retainer keeping that spider locked to either. If there, remove, if not then loosen the clamp and toeboard under dash as Ross mentioned and go to engine compt.

At the bottom of tube as shown in third picture is a U bolt holding the gear shift components and also clamping the tube to steering box. That needs to remove but also note where the end of tube is on steering box. There may also be other clamps on the tube which need to come off. Once all removed, the entire assy except for gearshift should come out IF there are no more attachments. That part I cannot remember. You may also have to loosen the bolts to frame from steering box so when the under dash clamp is removed, the entire assy can tilt down. It may hit the roof if you don't do that. Will be tight. After the shroud and tube is off, remove the turn signal switch and then I believe there are 3 or 4 screws holding the oval shroud part to the spider. Once removed, the oval should slide down over tube.

Again, it's been a long time so if anyone has fresher info, please speak up.

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