Shortening Outer Steering Column?

[William2]

If possible I would like to try and position my 13" steering wheel slightly closer towards the dash as compared to some Elans I think my steering column assembly is a bit too far out. The problem is that the column is in as forward as it will go before the steering clamp assembly starts to hit the brake pedal master cylinder pivot arm. My thought was to remove the column assembly and saw about 1/2" off the end of the outer column tube without conflicting with the position of the lower nylon inner column bush (assuming there is enough spare metal tube to do this). Has anyone else done this or is there a reason why it can't be done?

[mbell]

I think it can be done but (there is always a but...) you're removing 1/2" of crash structure from the column. By shorting the outer and sliding everything up you're removing some of the collapsible section on the column, basically pre-collapsing it 1/2".

Whether that has any real impact to potential injury is pretty hard to say but it unlikely to be an improvement. So I think it is personal decision on if you feel the "gain" is worth the "risk" or not.

[RogerFrench]

If the problem is that the inner column is too long, how does shortening the outer column help?

[William2]

It is the outer column tube that I was thinking of shortening. I have today read a thread that suggests that if the upper column bush mounting holes are visible just in front of the dash then the column is in the correct position for an S4 Elan.