Installing a Flaming River Steering Column in a TKX-Swapped 1969 Nova

By Taylor Kempkes – Photography by the Author

Have you ever embarked on a big project like a suspension overhaul or engine swap and got 90 percent done before realizing how it would affect another important aspect of the car? Let’s say you built a complete 383ci stroker small-block Chevy while also yanking your Powerglide automatic and installing a five-speed TKX. Then, after dropping in the complete new powertrain you sit in the driver seat and realize you’ve still got a sticky old steering wheel and a column shifter sticking out right next to the new Silver Sport Transmission floor shifter. In case you haven’t guessed, yes, that’s exactly what happened to us.

Flaming River sent us one of their 33-inch Muscle Car Floor Shift Tilt Key Columns in black powdercoat along with their WaterFall steering wheel and all the installation accessories we’d need.

Read More: Brake and Suspension Upgrade for GM A-Bodies

With the goal of getting our Nova back on the road and out of garage prison ASAP, we were not ashamed to look into making the factory column work. After all, the car started and steered just fine with the original stuff–well, besides the part where the 50-year-old steering wheel seeps sticky goop (when you inevitably touch the wrong part of the wheel it feels exactly like tree sap–yuck).

002 Flaming River sent us one of their 33 inch Muscle Car Floor Shift Tilt Key Columns — Before we can install the new goodies, it’s out with the old, starting with the lower steering column trim piece.

Now that the car is equipped with a manual transmission there were also a couple potential problems with using the original column. For starters, the column has an ignition lock that only allows the car to start when the shifter is in Park. That would be fine if we could just stick it in Park and pull out the shift lever. But the column also has a nifty feature that keeps the steering locked unless the key is turned in the ignition and the column shifted into any gear but Park. Even better, the key stays locked in the column unless it’s shifted back into Park.

003 Then we removed the plastic firewall cover at the base of the column — Then we removed the plastic firewall cover at the base of the column.

After some Internet research it looked like the only real solution to all this involved removing the column and tearing it apart. That would certainly be a lot of work and without the certainty of success. Plus, it would mean retaining the old non-tilt column with sticky steering. Our Nova would need an updated steering column and wheel eventually and, as the old saying goes, “There’s no time like the present.”

004 The final step on the inside of the firewall is to remove the four fender washer screws holding the column to the firewall — The final step on the inside of the firewall is to remove the four fender washer screws holding the column to the firewall. We’ll clean these up to reuse later.

Read More: Upgrading a ’66 Chevy II with CPP’s MINI Sub-Frame and Control Arm Kit

So with that, we reached out to our friends at Flaming River and they hooked us up with the perfect setup for our recently TKX-swapped ’69 Nova: one of their 33-inch Muscle Car Tilt Columns in black (PN-FR30009BK). The column comes with a new set of factory-style ignition keys and, as the name suggests, a tilt head. The black powdercoat would blend in nicely to our otherwise-simple black interior. It also comes with all the factory-style GM wiring to make for an easy plug-and-play installation.

005 Then outside in the engine bay we unbolted the rag joint from the steering box — Then, outside in the engine bay, we unbolted the rag joint from the steering box. We’ll use the Flaming River U-joint instead of the rag joint to adapt the new column to our aftermarket quick-ratio power steering box from Detroit Speed.

To mount the sleek new column in our Nova, they also sent one of their Stramp Clamp Mounts (PN FR20300) that works with our factory underdash mount, a Swivel Floor Mount (PN FR20101FB), and a 1-inch-48 x ¾-inch-30 Universal Billet Joint (PN FR1734) to adapt the column to our aftermarket steering box. For the other end of the column, we opted to go with their WaterFall Wheel in black (PN-FR20150), which required the use of their WaterFall Wheel Adapter (PN-FR10150HGADBK).

006 Two 916 inch nuts and unplugging the wiring harness are all that stand in the way of us removing the old column — Two 9/16-inch nuts and unplugging the wiring harness are all that stand in the way of us removing the old column.

Once the unboxing fun was over, it was time to get to work actually installing the shiny new parts. The install went about as smoothly as we could have hoped. The end result? It was the perfect combination of sleek and understated with a more modern look. We just need to button up a few more things in the engine bay from the 383 build and TKX swap then we’ll finally be ready to take our Nova out for a spin.