Alright, I'll bite.... Tell us more! I am very interested in doing this. If it's not too hard..... -Corbin
i want to get a tilt unit too!!! course i'd also like a stangII front end but that isn't in the $$$ either
I didn't think it was to hard I used 77 t-bird colum and the stock maverick colum and made one. I'm not sure if you have ever tore down a colum before, they look complicated but they are not. Basically you have two tubes and a shaft. The outside tube is what has the mount and the turn signal end attatched. The inner tube has the gear selector stuff and the shaft is the steering. Sence I didn't need the gear selector I took that tube out. To make things easy I cut the t-bird's outer tube end off and welded it to the mavericks. Now the tilt parts will bolt to the tube, the t-bird uses the same type starter switch. So I cut that little rod to fit the maverick starter switch. The only hard part would be making the new coller to replace where the gear selector was. I'm a machinist so this was easy, the only other option would be to find a car with a floor gear selector. I think one year of t-bird came that way that would use a similar starter switch. The steering shafts are compatable to, the maverick lower shaft will slide into the tilt upper shaft. So no change needs to be made there. I also added an 1" to the colum because tammy's car feel to far away when my legs are comfortable.
Tom, That collar piece...I have a column in my Maverick that has the collar from a floor shift car...can I use this, of does something need to be fabricated once you add the T-bird tilt parts? This is the one mod I have wanted to do to my Mav for a long time, but never figured out quite how to do... Do you know if other '70s Fords use the same tilt mechanism as the T-bird, or is that one unique in some way? MMMMM....TILT WHEEL......
It seems like they're close to the same, or close enough. As for the collar I guess it would depend on how it was mounted to the colum. If it bolts to the tube I guess that would work. If it mounts to the turn signal/key lock thing, then you would have to figure out some other way to mount it. Fabricating if fun you can make it up as you go!!!!
early 80's mustang columns work very simply as well, without the modifications that tom had to go thru, all that you have to do is shorten the shaft, the column will bolt right into the mavericks original bracketry. I used a 85 mustang(pre-airbag) column when I did this to a comet in the 80's. sorry no pics left of it.
