1967 Cougar Owners:
To view our exploded view interactive diagram of the tilt steering column parts, click here.
This is my absolute favorite Cougar - Mustang - Shelby option of all time! In fact, as a rather tall person that is not as slim as I once was, I do not really enjoy driving a Mustang or Cougar that does not have this option. This column does not only manually adjust up and down with the depression of the turn signal wand, it also releases and swings up and towards the passenger side of the car each time the ignition is turned off and the door is opened. To start the car you must close the door and pull it back down into the down position. We often have to combine parts from two or three parts cars to get one complete, working unit that includes the vacuum storage can under the battery tray, unique steering coupler (rag joint), under dash wiring harness, unique secondary door jam button, relay, vacuum actuator, brackets, turn signal cancellation cam, spring and correct hardware. We always pull the collar to check for cracks or missing parts before shipping. Turn signal switch is included but not tested or guaranteed.
Keep in mind that we do take trades to apply to the purchase price. We accept columns and parts from any column from 67 - 73 Cougars or Mustangs.
*NOTE* For tilt column service, you can contact Tony Augustine at 6t8cougarguy@gmail.com. Tony is a trusted colleague of WCCC and we've sent many customers his way since our column specialist retired last year.
WCCC no longer has an in-house service for tilt and tilt-tilt away steering columns 1967-1979.
After 2 years of working exclusively with Tony Augustine in MO, we can highly recommend him as one of the top most knowledgeable builders of these unique columns in the world.
We now exclusively send all of the columns we sell as rebuilt to Tony for service.
He can be reached at 816-210-4779 or 6t8cougarguy@gmail.com
Make sure you tell him WCCC sent you!
Don Rush, owner of West Coast Classic Cougar.
There is an active thread on the Classic Cougar Community Forum discussing tilt columns and trouble shooting.
Click on images to enlarge.
Here is a complete 1967 system as pieced together from three different 1967 Mercury Cougar parts cars. It is almost unheard of to get every piece from one parts car as inevitably there will be missing or broken parts on any system found in a parts car these days. We went the extra mile here with pictures so you can refer to this page when you are trying to piece together your own system. Feel free to copy these pictures and pass them around or post them on your own sites. We just ask that you give West Coast Classic Cougar the credit.
The turn signal cancellation cam needs to be affixed to the bottom of the steering wheel if the turn signal is to automatically shut off after making a turn. The heavy gauge spring is also unique to the tilt columns 1967-1969.
Of course the rag joint is unique to the tilt column.
Here is the C7ZA-3E553-A tilt relay. It is the same as 1968 - 1968 with the exception that the mounting portion is flat and the 68 - 69 has a 90 degree bend just behind the two mounting holes.
Notice the faint "Autolite ink stamp on the original switch located in the door jam. Later service replacement switches do not hold up as well as these early ones.
The shorter of these two switches is the one that mounts to the column, the other mounts just under the courtesy light switch in the door jam. Other than the length they look the same.
These vacuum storage cans are unique to 1967 because of the way they mount to the bottom of the battery tray. We can almost assure you the unit we have will have a vacuum leak.
This "U" shaped plastic clip needs to be in place to guide the release rod properly.
In all the used examples we find there is no plastic or rubber bushing at the end of the tube.
Notice the pin that the spring loaded jaws rotate on has worked out of its position here. If this is allowed to continue the column will break in this area. Using channel locks, squeeze it back into place. Keeping it there is all together another subject. Some people use Loc-Tite, others will try to peen over the edges to keep the pin in place.
This is the emergency flasher bezel as seen from the backside. When removing the collar from the head of the column make sure the emergency flasher button is pushed in all the way or the tabs will break off in the process. You do not want to pry this bezel off rather finesse it free from the backside once the collar has been removed.
These two little screws hold the collar to the head of the column and are unique to Ford tilt columns 1967-1969. We have found both chrome and black examples on 1967 Cougars. The assumption is the earlier cars had chrome screws and the later ones did not. We have not seen any 68-69 Cougars with chrome screws.
Check out the very first Cougar in our video below!