I've got an 83 242 that came to me with the dashboard in a terrible state. Mostly disassembled. Took me awhile to find the right column cover for it, but something is amiss. One of the things I found during reassembly was a lot of loose hardware around the column clamp and column lock. Thought I had that set, but I cannot get things to align properly still. With the column cover in place, the back of the wheel contacted the cover and the lock was well below the surface it should align to. I pulled the whole column out some to get the back of the wheel to clear. I can adjust the lock mechanism toward the driver so it aligns with the column cover face, but when I do, the bolt holes in the dash lower member won't align with the lock's bolt holes. I have the u-joints and the lower column bracket loose so I can jostle everything. Still can't get things to align. Ignition and door locks match and the door locks don't appear to have been changed. Is it possible this is the wrong column lock? Did earlier cars have shorter lock barrels perhaps?

DS