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Ford F-100 ididit Tilt Steering Column Install - A Colossal Column

Installing An Ididit Tilt Steering Column
By D.Brian Smith
Photography by D.Brian Smith
Ford F100 Ididit Steering Column Install
No Limit Engineering's latest work on the 28th Annual F-100 Supernationals giveaway truck focuses on the cab. No Limit recently fashioned a center hump dashboard, dubbed Cyclops, out of the BeBop's fiberglass dash. In last month's issue of CCT, No Limit fabricated a custom trans hump from raw sheetmetal to cover the Tremec manual transmission.

Ididit Steering Column
Rather than a brushed aluminum... 
   
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Ididit Steering Column
Rather than a brushed aluminum or polished aluminum tilt steering column, No Limit asked ididit if they could provide a black-anodized column. Creating a new product and a great look for the Ford Racing-themed F-100 giveaway truck, ididit's tilt column was installed in two hours. You'll find out how by following along.
Drilling A Whole In The Cab For Our Steering Column
After making a reference mark... 
   
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Drilling A Whole In The Cab For Our Steering Column
After making a reference mark on the center of the toeboard, Rob drilled out an opening 10 inches on center from the mark. The bottom portion of the ididit column will mount here.
Measuring The Center Point
The top of the ididit column... 
   
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Measuring The Center Point
The top of the ididit column will be 14 inches from the dashboard's center point.
Writing Down Drill Holes
Using the gray-primered dashboard... 
   
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Writing Down Drill Holes
Using the gray-primered dashboard as a whiteboard, he wrote the applicable measurements there for easy reference.
Marking Dash With 14 Inch Mark
Measuring Wholes For Steering Column Bracket
Since the column drop is 2... 
   
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Measuring Wholes For Steering Column Bracket
Since the column drop is 2 5/8 inches wide, No Limit marked where to drill the holes 1 5/16 inches on either side of the column's center point.
Eyeballing The Mount Bracket
With holes drilled in the... 
   
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Eyeballing The Mount Bracket
With holes drilled in the fiberglass dashboard's bottom lip, the column drop will mount thus.
Measuring From The Inner Metal Reinforcement Brace
Rob measured from an inner... 
   
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Measuring From The Inner Metal Reinforcement Brace
Rob measured from an inner metal reinforcement brace to the dash's bottom lip to determine the metal column drop reinforcement bracket's dimensions.
Transferring Brackets Dimensions
At the shop's Ironworker machine,... 
   
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Transferring Brackets Dimensions
At the shop's Ironworker machine, he transferred the bracket's dimensions onto a piece of sheetmetal.
Cutting Bracket To Size
The Ironworker's 40-ton shear... 
   
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Cutting Bracket To Size
The Ironworker's 40-ton shear station made quick work of cutting the bracket to size.
Measuring For The Bracket
Marking Where The Column Drop Holes Would Be
He marked where the column... 
   
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Marking Where The Column Drop Holes Would Be
He marked where the column drop holes should be in the bracket and punched 31/48-inch holes with the Ironworker.

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Rounding Brackets Corners Drilling Holes For The Bracket
Sanding Brace On A Belt Sander Test Fitting Bracket Under The Lip
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