1) I am replacing my manual with power steering in my 67 Barracuda. I got a steering column from a 69 Dart for the conversion. I wanted to keep the housing from my car's column, so I removed just the column shaft from the Dart column. After I got the shaft out, I was tapping the shaft on the floor and it collapsed (I wasn't even think about the fact that it is a collapsible shaft, and I was barely tapping it).

Anyway, the shaft collapsed. Is it ruined? Or is it supposed to be easy to collapse and it is just held in position by the top bearing at the top and the coupler at the bottom. I noticed four tiny holes on the shaft, one of which has a plastic insert. Are these supposed to hold the shaft in position?

2) The coupler on my manual shaft is about 3 1/4 inches long and the coupler on the power steering shaft is about 3 3/4 inches. Should I use the longer one?

3) Is a power steering shaft from a 74 Dart the same length as a power steering shaft from a 69 Dart?

4) What is the best thing to use for defroster tubes/hose to connect the the defroster vents to the heater, aside from searching boneyards for ones in decent shape.

I am using "Thermostatic Air Cleaner" hose. The same hose that would go from the air cleaner to the exhaust. Most auto parts stores have these, you will just need to measure what size you need. This is not a perfect fix as the factory hoses are not the same size on both ends. I wrapped the defroster end in black electrical tape to make it a bit bigger and wedged it in the hole, seems to work ok, my defrost works pretty good. .


TopHat

You will have to use a coupler for the power steering box. It has a different diameter and spline count for the shaft than the manual box does.

Collapsing the shaft does not hurt it. Yes, they are originally held in place with a nylon pin that is supposed to break on impact.

The steering shafts may be slightly different because the '74 will have the steering lock on it.

Do not throw away the manual pot coupler. They are still in pretty big demand, as are the manual columns.

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2) The couplers may be different in length, but the major difference I encountered was the diameter of the steering box shaft. The P/S box has much smaller shaft. Use the power steering coupler for the power steering box.

3) I installed P/S to 1967 Dart. I took the steering shaft from 1972 Dart (with column lock). The length was just fine. There's some free space inside the coupling, so the steering shaft can move in axial direction. I haven't heard of any problems with the shaft length, as long as you take the P/S shaft.

The bearings in the steering column may differ, since the diameter of the steering shaft may be different. I Took the bearing away from the steering gear side of the column. Works fine.

Overall, the conversion is very simple if you have the correct parts ready. It took only few hours to install.