If you have an old steering column on your classic ride, you might have noticed that it has too much "play" in it as you drive. This isn't safe and an old steering column should be replaced. A newer-style tilt steering column, like the ones produced by Ididit, is just the ticket. Ididit has columns available for '63-'64 Chevy Impalas and are starting to produce columns for earlier and later model Impalas.
Ididit tilt columns have a few advantages over the stock columns; the most important being that they remove a lot of the looseness in the steering and give the car better handling. The inner "guts" of Ididit columns are precision machined and equipped with newer bearings that enable the driver to turn quicker. An added bonus is that Ididit columns have safety hazard lights that are easy to access; all you have to do is pull the switch like on a newer car.
While the pros at John's Exports in Long Beach, California, were going over Editor Lonnie Lopez' '64 Impala, they also noticed that the transmission linkage was modified and could accidentally allow the car to shift into gear so the old modified linkage was scrapped and replaced. John Kennedy's crew made a few pit stops and stopped at Cars, Inc. in Fullerton, California, where they picked up some dress-up parts for the column and a universal transmission linkage.
The other stop was at CPP (Classic Performance Products) in Buena Park, California, where they snapped up collapsible steering linkage. Using collapsible linkage is a great safety upgrade; the old-style steering columns were a fixed item and if you ever crashed the column could easily end up on your chest. The newer steering linkage will greatly reduce the risk of something that unfortunate happening. Plus, the tilt action makes getting in and out easier than ever.
Now let us show you step by step how the crew at John's Exports knock out a tilt steering upgrade in a matter of a few hours.
1. This Ididit tilt column was ready to be taken out on a test run.
2. The metal Ididit columns are available with a few different finish options, such as all-chrome. In our case, the column was ordered with a bare metal finish and was painted to match the exterior and dash of the '64 Impala.
3. Lonnie's '64 Impala was ready to be retrofitted with a modern tilt column.
4. The stock column was checked before being removed.