Steering floor seal

[Swank]

Afternoon,
I have the whole front off of the car right now.  Figured i'd better think about the steering column floor seal while im messing with the firewall.   None of the steering parts are disassembled.  Whats the best way to go about getting this thing where it belongs?

[RICH MUISE]

It's a straight screw-on with sheet metal screws, but you need the split sheetmetal "cover"...........not seeing it in your pics.
Don't forget to install new cowl drains while your front end is off.

[Swank]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that i have the split sheet metal covers.  Im not sure how to get the seal around the column.  Theres the pre-cut hole and a punch out hole for the fordomatic shifter right above.  The seal is not split from the hole to the side.  Does the steering wheel need to come off? ...or something along that line?

[rovohn]

You have to remove the steering column then slide it on then re install said column.
Cheers,John

[hiball3985]

Much easier to split the seal, and after install but a little sealer in the split before installing the two sheet metal pieces.

[Swank]

I can see how it'd be a breeze spliting the seal.  If i didnt want to do that, is it feasable to get it on from the steering wheel side by removing the wheel and loosening column from the dash, etc?, or will the whole column have to come out and it goes on from the gearbox side?   My standard 57ford manual does not address the seal or removing the column.

[RICH MUISE]

If I'm not mistaken, the shaft does not come out of the box without total disassembly of the box, which you would not want to do with the box still in the car anyways. Much easier to do as Jim suggested and split the seal. No one will ever see it. Although I never used mine, I did restore the metal piece and bought a new seal, which I'm 95% sure was already split.

[59meteor]

On my 59 2 door sedan, I removed the steering wheel and steering column, and slid the rubber seal down over the long steering shaft. Its not a difficult job to slide the steering column tube out.

[Swank]

Thanks everybody.  I'll be weighing if i'm up for taking apart the column. 

[djfordmanjack]

In a perfect FORD world, disassembling everything to the last nut and bolt and replacing that seal as Henry intended, that would be a must and probably worth a good day or more of work.
In a RocknRoll musicians world, getting out a carpet cutter and using some Gaffa tape after all is said and done, it sounds more reasonable to me

[Swank]

I know what you mean.  Easy to get carried away,  trying to keep it on the short side of a 20year project.   Thought i'd be driving by now.