if steering goes hard several times from side to side

[Günter]

in a way that you have limited turn radius and the steering does not comes back by itself

-just take a look onto the 'intermediate shaft' and the joint there, the one that sits on top of the steering rack and is exposd to environment and all the mist & moisture there in the frontwheel housing..

 

..if it looks like this after a winters season with salt on the roads ..and the small sealings there on the needle bearings do not look fresh as well -chances are that it is sized and only moves hard (see the gravity test in the picture)

http://www.imagenetz.de/f529bab18/BILD2730.JPG.html

..some years ago I managed to replace two of the broken up bearings with newer parts of the same size -but now it is totally rusty again after two winter months with salt and I need to refresh it in McGyver manner to pass TÜV (MOT) test

 

 

the two other pictures show how you can lift up and reposition the steering column, if you need more room for the knees as you are a taller guy

-simply add a bigger distance-element on the base and cut off the upper bracket for the scuttle beam mounting, reshape it (in a more 'flat' style..) and weld it back on, as flat as it goes onto the column

http://www.imagenetz.de/f938cafaa/BILD2731.JPG.html

http://www.imagenetz.de/f0ef4f3d5/BILD2732.JPG.html

reshape the clamp point on the intermediate shaft, to fit the clamp bold up higher  ..but keep in mind that the 'clamp-length' of the intermediate shaft end is limited, so the possible size of the distance element there on the column base will be limted as well !