OK chaps I have completed the steering column change (upper and lower sections) and both the top and bottom column bearings, I thought I would write a few notes on the job in case anyone else tries this work, all of the below relates to a square dash vehicle.
1) It is possible to do this work without removing the dashboard. Although the speedo needs removing and the instrument panel pulling a little way out of the dashboard.
2) The shear bolts that hold the sleeve around the top section of the column are tricky to get out, I used a dremel with a reinforced disc to shave away at the heads of the shear bolts, eventually they gave up the fight! the bolts left in the bracket were then easy to unscrew by hand. There is a possibility that the bolts could be drilled out although the drill will have to be very long and keeping any drill centred on the dome of the shear bolt will be tricky, I dont think there is room for a centre punch to get a start point for the drill. All of this access is from the footwell, I think the shear bolts in the 85.5 model cars are accessed from the dashboard area rather than the footwell.
3) If the top bearing needs replacing go and get a new Mk 1 Golf ignition lock housing which has the bearing already mounted for about £30.00 off of the bay, then change the lock barrel over from the old housing. The bearing is swaged in place and very difficult to get out, hence just buy the new housing, although I did actually change the bearing, I would not reccommend it, the bearing is from a Beetle 1303 as is the small rubber bush. All of these parts are avaliable from VW Heritage in Burgess Hill, Porsche price for the Mk 1 Golf ignition housing is £94.00.
4) The bottom needle bearing is a Porsche only part as far as I can tell and costs around £90.00, remove the old one by pushing a snug fitting socket on the end of a 300mm extension bar into the needle bearing and then pull the bar side ways and the bearing will pop out of the bulkhead. Replacemnt is quite easy, either pull the bearing into place with an improvised puller or get a long piece of 2"x2" wood and push this down in place of the column and a couple of sharp taps will drive the bearing into place. Use silicon grease or contact adhesive as a lubricant on the rubber housing to get it to bed down easily.
5) The bottom piece of the column with the UJ's can be removed without taking the alloy tray off of the underside of the engine. The UJ clamps will need spreading with a small chisel to get them to slide off of the splines.
6) Re assemble everything loose to get good alignment then tighten up. Make sure that you have the ignition key pushed into the barrel as this retracts the steering lock, it will not be possible to get the column into place properly unless the steering lock is retracted.
7) Use copper slip grease on the splines and bolts in case someone else has to get the assembly apart in a few years time, and normal grease around the needle bearing and top bearing.
The steering in my car feels very good now, with none of the clunking coming from the top of the column.
Good luck if you try this yourself, allow at least a day for the work if you have all of the components ready to replace.
