is it possible....???

[dansdad]

Hello board, we have not been active for a little while. Life and all its distractions have placed "rusty" on the back burner for a little while.

Anyway we are now back on it and have a question for those of you who would know far more than I.

Is there a steering column that we can swap into a 66 coup from a late(r) model car? What we are concerned about primarlily is the safety.

This 66 6 cyl coup is being restored by my son (now 15) to be used as his daily driver starting next summer. We would like to get away from the spear that is currently in the car and change to a colapsable one that might not kill him in case of a major front end colision. his funds are a bit tight so if we could find one that would swap without purchasing a complete one from flaming river or that sort it would be nice. Obviously without airbags etc....

Other safety mods we have completed and/or are still in the works: bucket seats, disk brakes, 3 point seat belts, front and rear suspension upgrades, lowered seat pans (the boy is already 6' tall)

We would appreciate any other ideas in this area as well.


Thanks in advance

Greg (dan's dad)

 

[golf4283]

As far as the steering column I believe you can use the steering shaft from a 68+ mustang as that's when ford introduced the collapsable column in the Mustangs.

As far as upgrading the 6 cylinder car I would look into a new rear end like an 8" or something with 5 lug axles and also upgrading the front setup to 5 lug. It's pretty much the standard and you will have more wheel options down the road. Other than that as far as safety goes it's in the hands of the driver. Granted you can't predict what anyone else will do but as long as he is safe and doesn't go hot doggin' around he should be fine.

With that said it's a 43 year old car and safety features back then were few and far between. The seat belts and new seats are great and will help in the case of an accident.

Good luck.