[blykins]

Tom,

I'm going through the same thing. I just didn't like the fact that a little roll pin kept the steering together.

For one thing, with my steering column, I got an aluminum piece that slides down over the roll pin and attached with a little bolt...so the roll pin can't fall out. I guess yours doesn't have that.

You could either call SV and get that piece and slide it over....or you could do what I'm doing....That bolt will probably eventually woller that hole out and you'll get more play in your steering.

I made two flanges....one that fits over the 7/8" OD lower shaft....and one that fits over the 3/4" solid upper shaft. They are 2" OD ....and have a 1/4" 4-bolt pattern.

Each flange will be welded to its corresponding shaft...and then the two flanges will be bolted together.

I did some stress calculations on the piece....Using 500 lb-ft as the max torque in the steering shaft. (Most HD steering u-joints are rated for 350 lb-ft.) The 4 bolts (using G8 bolts) will have a safety factor of over 2 with this setup. I would trust it over the little roll pin.

The other option is replacing everything from the upper solid 3/4" steering shaft down with some aftermarket pieces that include adapters and splined u-joints. However the way our car is designed, I didn't see how to do that easily and make it work without the steering wheel being free to just pull straight out. That upper shaft would have to be secured to keep it from pulling out of the u-joint.

With the flanges, you get support in both directions.

Just my $.03.