'90 Steering Wheel Tilt Assy. Pivot Pins

[1990-C4-41001]

I have the dreaded "Tilt assembly moves towards the 7 o'clock position when you push on the steering wheel" problem caused by folks using the wheel to leverage themselves out of the car. It's been that way since I bought it but I've been fixing other problems up to now.

The kit to fix this is no longer available from GM so I'm going to have resort to doing the JB Weld trick: drive the pins in as far as I can and then apply some JB Weld to the area where the race has become oval to restore the fit. (I realize that I have to be extremely careful so that I don't get any JB down deep inside the race so that I seize the tilt and turn it into a non-tilt.)

Anyway, to do the fix, I'd rather not disassemble the entire upper steering column and remove the airbag and steering wheel to get to the pivot pins.

So here's the question: Is it possible to remove just the left side lower trim panel and the driver's side bolster and expose the pins?

Would I also have to remove the two bolts and drop the column?

What about the column shroud? (The car is a six speed so there is no back spring attached to the shroud.) I'm hoping it can be slid down the column slightly if it's covering the pins.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[c4c5specialist]

HI there,
The possibility is there, but just make sure the E10 Torx fasteners haven loosened up.
Those are common place as well as the pivot pins.
Normally, those 3 fasteners are more common.
Usually, I will remove them after disassembling the column, install them with Loctitie 272, and torque to 10 ft lbs.
That will usually repair the condition.
Be very careful when evaluating this condition.
Allthebest, c4c5