I have been doing some more reading, looks like the 68 and 67 are very different. Does anyone know if the 66 can be made to work, with some machining or a sleeve for the bearing?

 

Need a little more info in order to help you. Does your car have Power Steering ? Is your Steering Shaft one piece from the steering wheel to the steering box, or does it have the rag joint before it goes into the steering box ?

 

It is manual steering, and no rag joint.

 

Ship it to Dan

 

I have checked the 1968 Edition of the 1965-68 Parts & Accy Catalog, the 1975 Final Issue of the 1965-72 Parts & Accy Catalog, and the 1967 Only Edition of the Parts & Accy Book. Looks like you, as well as other '67 owners are "lucky" enough to have had one of two different size bearings; both different than 65-66 and 68 Mustangs. One is Part # C4OZ-3517-A which is listed as 1-5/16 OD, and is the same as for 1965-67 Fairlanes and Falcons with Manual Steering. The other is Part # C3DZ-3517-A,and is listed as 1.44" OD, and shown for 1967 with Fixed Column only. The Upper Bearing Sleeve appears to be the same for all 1965-67 Mustangs, and is Part # B1AZ-3518-A (0.98 ID, 0.5 thick), later replaced by Part # C1SZ-3518-B (1.04 ID, 0.352 thick). And the spring (which yes you should have) is Part # C6OZ-3520-A for 1967-68 289's, and C7OZ-3520-A for 1967-68 390's (this spring is also the same as used on 1967 Fairlanes and Falcons.
As far as your steering shaft, I personally have not seen one that appears that it was two pieces welded together. Of course a lot depends on how you plan to drive it, but if it were me, and the weld is that readily apparent, I'd be looking for another.
Hope this helps,
Bob

 

The weld in the steering shaft is about 2/3rds of the way up, as if it were 2 parts welded together. Did the factory always use whole shafts, or did they send out ones with welds, anyone ever see this before? There is no sign of any damage anywhere.

 

Is there a way to make the 66 bearing work? Has anyone used a sleeve or something?

 

I don't know which bearing yours turned out to be, but if it's the C3DZ, 1.44" OD one, there is an NOS one on ebay for $30 !

 

Everything I see shows the C3DZ-3517-A as a bearing for the 65 and 66, but it looks like what I have. As best I can measure that seems the right size, if anything a little bit smaller OD, but it is hard to measure for sure. Has anyone tried this part in a 67 fixed column? They are rather cheap, so I might try it just to see what happens.

 

Can you measure the OD of your old one ? Or how about the ID of the steering column ? You should be able to easily tell the difference between 1-5/16 (1.3125) and 1.44 ?

 

I have not removed it, it is pressed in as best I can tell (could also just be held in place with 50 year old grease). I was worried about trying to get it out and further damaging what I have if I could not find a replacement. The column ID seems to be 1.5. The column collar makes it hard to measure exactly. Thanks for all your help. If a 66 bearing would work, I think that would help a lot of folks with fixed columns.