A little lesson on the Ford Sierra steering column that might be useful to other builders.
After what seemed like hours of sitting in the drivers seat fiddly about with wiring to make it all neat and secure I noticed that I had a small amount of play in my steering column around the lower of the two upper column bearings (labelled C).
I know the IVA inspectors are hot on any play in steering components so decided that I had better investigate now before I refitted all the dashboard. I had theorised in my head that the lower bearing might be worn or the thrust washer might be missing.
Here's a useful Ford diagram I found on line....
Ford Sierra Steering column by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
So I removed the upper outer column which is just two bolts and I immediately saw the problem. The lower thrust washer (labelled B) was the wrong way round.
I swapped it over, bolted it back up and fitted the steering wheel. Problem gone completely with no perceptual play. I must have assembled it incorrectly about 8 years ago when I cleaned and painted the column.
I feel a bit of a dummy for doing this but really glad I found it now before the IVA test!!
More progress to report tomorrow....
Stay safe, Peter