Collapsible steering shaft?

Whidbey Goblin

Whidbey Goblin

Well-Known Member
I’m tearing apart my donor and the steering shaft doesn’t seem to want to collapse. 05 SS supercharged. Is it possible this model just doesn’t have a collapsible steering shaft or is mine seized?
 
D

Dsteinhorst

Well-Known Member
Mine freed up after a bit of hammerology. It ended up being full of water. Cleaned it up and threw it on the Goblin.
 
Rttoys

Rttoys

Goblin Guru
It’s seized. Hammer, penetrant, some heat (maybe not in that order) Should get it loose. Now if it stays movable is another question. Mine was seized and even after getting it loose, cleaning it up and lubing everything, it still liked to lock in one place. After jacking with it for way longer than I should have, I ordered a new one.
 
Desert Sasqwatch

Desert Sasqwatch

Goblin Guru
First thing is the factory crimped in 'dimple' pinched into the the outer shaft that needs to be drilled out. It's easy to see and a 1/4 bit will remove it - just don't drill into the inner shaft.
 
jamesm

jamesm

Goblin Guru
I wrapped a ratchet strap around the front of the cobalt frame and pulled the steering shaft apart. It was super stuck.
 
R

r3drckt

Goblin Guru
Wait a minute, the steering shaft is supposed to be telescoping (in and out)? If so, then mine is seized as well.
 
ctuinstra

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
Here's something that I wrote up on our first build.

dfkitcar.com

ctuinstra's City Goblin - 07 SS/SC donor **Licensed**

This is after painting with a ceramic engine paint from Eastwood with activator. I really liked the paint and how it sprayed on or could be brushed. A little paint went a long way! I hung the engine from the loader while painting it and left it out in the sun for hours to bake. Many of the...
dfkitcar.com dfkitcar.com
 
jaredthenav

jaredthenav

Well-Known Member
I spent more time on that steering shaft than any other part of the car, both in taking it out, taking it apart (stuck would be an understatement) cleaning it up, then putting it in the goblin (it needed to be even shorter in the goblin and didn't want to freely collapse that far). I echo the others... Just get a new one!
 
CaptFrank2001

CaptFrank2001

Goblin Guru
I had to WD-40 mine for a very long time. Then finally was able to beat it apart using a vise to hold it and a hammer and flat chisel. Cleaned within an inch of it's life & it would still not operate. Finally took a file and worked on the grooves & got it to work reasonably well. Pain in the ass but doable.
 

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Rauq

Rauq

Goblin Guru
Mine was full of water as well, but there was also grease at the top of the female splines that prevented it from pouring out. I only realized that when I hit it with brake clean and washed some of the grease away. Then the water poured out. With the dimpled drilled out, I rigged it to be pulled open with a ratchet strap. With some decent tension going, the last thing that got it to pop free was hitting the outside of the female side with some heat. Clean the male splines with some brake clean and a rag, then spray the female side with some brake clean to get rid of the gunk. Grease the female splines, then work the two halves back and forth to clean up the splines. Don't try to reinstall unless and until the splines slide freely; in my case, I would try to get it to the right length, then overshoot, go too short, and get it stuck again. I had to ratchet and heat it a few times until I realized I needed to get it to slide freely outside of the car, then it was a piece of cake.
 
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