ididit Retrofit Steering Column: 1965 Mercury Comet - Manual (Page 4)

If this was a column shift you will need to rotate the column so the lower
lever does not catch on the firewall.
REMOVAL OF THE GEARBOX
The first step is to remove the pitman arm. Using the specialized puller
makes this step a breeze. If the puller doesn’t work for you, the old fashion
smack with a big hammer will do the trick.
If you have a vehicle lift and no headers you can just remove the bolts from
the box to the frame and drop the gearbox out the bottom.
If you have headers or no way to lift
a vehicle 4 ft. Due to limited access,
you will be required to cut the shaft
off first and then drop the smaller
package thru to the ground. To do this
it is recommended that you remove
the bolts that hold the box to the frame
rail and push the box up to the fire wall
as close as possible. Then using a Sawsall or a cutoff
wheel, cut the shaft off the box making sure to leave at least 2 inches of
shaft out past the cast shoulder on the box. (Figure 4)
Now that the shaft is shorter you
should be able to wiggle the box
out. (We had a Comet Cyclone
and had to loosen the header to
get the box out.)
Once the steering box is out, you
should be able to measure 2” from
the cast shoulder on the box and cut the shaft off
cleanly. (Figure 5)
The shaft of the gearbox will now need to be cut
into a DD shaft. This is a round shaft with flats
centered on two sides. (Figure 6) An easy way to
do this is to make a paper template. Create your
own template by using the measurements from the
diagram located on the next page.
Figure 4
Face of Nut
Steering Box
2”
Figure 5
Figure 6
2