How do you remove the steering lock?

[Austin]

Here are a few pics I took of the process. Shows tapping the bolts off holding the plate down. I used some new bolts once I reinstalled everything. Also taking off that ring the first time was a PITA. To remove the tumbler I dremeled out the housing right above the locking tab so I could easily slide it in and out while making changes to the housing. I drilled the housing and used a screw to hold the tumbler in place instead of the factory locking system. The last picture shows how I reinstalled the ring. Used the steering wheel bolt to do the work for me.

[bubba966]

Instead of cutting the steering lock apart like that to remove the ignition cylinder you can just cut a slot in the steering lock perpendicular to where you have the Dremel cutting in that pic.

Once you have a slot cut through the steering lock at that position you'll see the release tab of the ignition cylinder as it'll be a brass color. You can use a small slotted screwdriver inserted into the slot you just cut to push down the release tab on the ignition cylinder and then pull the cylinder out. Just be careful to only cut the slot in the steering lock and to not cut into the release tab on the cylinder too much.

That way you preserve the integrity of the steering lock and the ignition cylinder.

I recommend doing that to the new steering lock as well to facilitate taking out the cylinder should you ever need to again (and I took mine out a few more times before I had it all back together properly).

[bubba966]

That's a good pic of the setup I was trying to explain to use to pull the center of the steering column out far enough to get the snap ring back on after you're done with it all. You use the steering wheel bolt and a wrench. Put the bolt through the wrench, then thread the bolt into the steering column. You then have something to use to pull the center of the steering column out with. There's no way that you can pull that sucker out without something to get a good hold on. The spring that keeps tension on the center of the steering column (which keeps the steering wheel tight) has a pretty good pull to it.