Tiniest amount of play in steering column

[deloreandmcxii]

I already have a delrin bushing installed - it is what is loose. Are most folks just dealing with the looseness? This doesn't seem like a worthwhile trade off for replacing a rubber bushing every few years.

Alternatively, perhaps a vendor could design a tighter tolerance delrin bushing that comes with instructions to keep the wheel tilt adjusted all the way up?

Or, really dreaming here, a two piece spherical bushing.

Conceptually something like: https://www.mcmaster.com/product/2995K15

[deloreandmcxii]

Most people set the tilt once and never move it again. Usually all the way up and all the way in. Even if the rubber bushing is tighter, because it is rubber and can "give" you will still have some looseness. Also, as I said, the rubber ones do not last very long. That's why the vendors offer the much harder Delrin bushing. The Delrin bushing seems to last forever but can be a real b-tch to get in.

I think I?d rather have ?give? vs ? slop?. As is the movement includes the tap/click of the column moving within the bushing. With rubber, this -and road vibration- may be dampened.

[deloreandmcxii]

I received the rubber bushing. Its hard to measure well with my digital calipers because its hard to know if i?m deforming or pushing into the rubber with the sharp caliper tips. But seems to be 14.36mm.

Feeling it out: it fits far more snugly around the spare steering column.

However the interior is not a smooth cylinder like the delrin ones. It kind of comes to peaks in the center of the bushing (i guess sorta hourglass shaped if the thin center section were only SLIGHTLY thinner than the top and bottom. I?m sure there?s a mathy geometry word for this). This would allow for the tilt function while ALSO maintaining a small contact point between rubber and metal. I wonder if d-go?s rubber version is a closer recreation of an oem one? or is this coincidence?

I think I am going to install it. Monitor how long it lasts and report back (probably in a very long time given my mileage habits). Especially with how little I drive it, I think the snugness will be worth it.

Now the unenviable task of REMOVING a very new delrin bushing . . .

[David T]

That Delrin bushing should be snug with no looseness unless the inside hole was enlarged. As I said, I had to file mine a little to get things to fit. Another problem you may have is that I have seen where the rubber bushing was completely worn through or even missing and the hole in the firewall was enlarged from the shaft rubbing on it. Maybe your shaft is also worn?

[deloreandmcxii]

I?ll have more evidence when I get the column off the car.

So far Ive been test fitting on a spare column on the bench.

The lower/inside column piece on the bench is original to my car - it is possible as you say that it is somehow worn. It is loose inside a brand new unmodified DeLorean Parts NW bushing. This column is a somewhat older and crustier but the short section that goes inside the bushing seems a consistent diameter, so it is hard to think it was worn inside the firewall.

The lower/inside column piece now in the car has under 500miles, is NOS, and never known any bushing except the currently installed unmodified nearly-new d-go delrin one - which exhibits the same looseness.

When I get a day to tinker around in the garage, I?ll try the NW-delrin and D-go-rubber with the newer column (and take a measurement of it). See what we see!

If these delrin bushings were intended to be snug: what allows for the tilt?

[deloreandmcxii]

Prepare for the ramblings of a mad man...

Well that was faster than I expected. I just did this project 2 years back, so it was easier this time around. Managed it over a lunch break. To fair, I'm not done. But the column is off the car and D-Go Delrin bushing removed but mostly destroyed in the process. From what I can guesstimate the d-go delrin interior diameter is 14.5 or a little less. Tighter tolerance than the DeLorean Parts NW unit. I expected the opposite. Oh well, a hypothesis disproven is still a successful experiment.

The NOS & barely-used lower column (where it passes thru the bushing) measures 14.3mm. A tiny bit bigger than the old one. My calipers aren't perfect... or just manufacturing tolerances...or wear...

Inspecting the D-go rubber bushing in more detail, the narrowest part of the inside diameter appears to be un-intentional. It is a seem between pieces during manufacture, or the seem between mold pieces perhaps. So I suspect it will quickly wear, resulting in a diameter of the next tightest surface: around 14.5, matching their Delrin one.

However, the D-Go Rubber bushing is still the tightest and has a benefit: even has it wears, the rubber will produce less "click" as the column moves within it, which I believe is what most transmits the feeling up to the steering wheel.

To summarize.

The portion of the lower column which passes thru the bushing is 14.25-14.3mm
D-Go Delrin: 14.5
DeLorean Parts NW Delrin: 14.61
D-Go Rubber: 14.4-14.5

I don't have another D-Go Delrin unit on hand, only the DeLorean Parts NW one. Which I won't use, as it is the widest.

I cannot imagine how others have had to file theirs, unless some other vendor offers a tighter bushing. Where was your from, David T? Shipping is getting pricey for such tiny parts - I guess I could get a Houston, DeLorean Industries, and Grady one to do a full market review But I also don't really want to wait to reassemble things.

While, removing the wheel/column, it occurred to me. Unless you're into removing more of the dash bracketry - you MUST angle the column during install/removal to finagle it around the two knee pad mounting brackets. So my desire for a perfect-tolerance bushing which also "deletes" the tilt feature of the wheel would be unrealistic.

David T, you mention how the rubber ones don't last long. I do recall them always being a point of failure during my 20+ years of DMC ownership. But they did last SOME year after the early 80s, right? Have you have experience with replacing multiple rubber ones before the community collectively moved to plastic? When you say "don't last long": how long are we talking? Anyone else have experience with this? Can anyone comment on the longevity the rubber ones? What about when they're cut for easier install, does this effect longevity?

If a vendor offered a $20-40 high quality, very tight, precut for tool-less easy swapping (tolerances designed to account for the cut), rubber bushing - that was expected to be replaced every third year or something.... I honestly feel like this is a better solution than hard plastic.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I made a quick hand drawing of my PJ Grady bushing before I installed it. If you want that drawing, give me your email address and I will scan it. Anyway I measured the ID of the hole in the bushing to be 0.572". All my machine tools are not mm reading.

That results to 14.5288 mm

[deloreandmcxii]

I made a quick hand drawing of my PJ Grady bushing before I installed it. If you want that drawing, give me your email address and I will scan it. Anyway I measured the ID of the hole in the bushing to be 0.572". All my machine tools are not mm reading.

That results to 14.5288 mm

Amazing! Thank you, Dave! No need for the drawing, just knowing that measurement saves me wondering forever if Grady's woulda been better.

Okay, who's got a Houston and a DeLorean Industries measurement for me?

[deloreandmcxii]

I installed the d-go rubber bushing. I did so without cutting it. The play/click is eliminated.

I don?t get why the community has gone to plastic for this part unless rubber wears FAR quicker than I?m hoping. I?ve noted my mileage and the date in my ridiculous spreadsheet of my DeLorean?s history. I?ll report my findings in the distant future. I drive like 1k-2k per year. And we just had a baby?

If you install the lower column without the upper column/cage, then add the upper/cage: I find the job far easier. If it werent for the two knee pad brackets just left and right of the wheel - this job would be a breeze.

[Timeless]

And we just had a baby?

Ya not sure?