Steering Column Repair: 1979 non-tilt Camaro steering column, upper shaft, plastic mold

Question
When I was tapping (hitting) my pot joint back onto the steering column, the part of the column that the pot joint fits onto started going in. I could tap it back out but I'm now wondering if I broke something. Someone told me this is a feature that is only supposed to come into play in a crash. Did I break something inside the column. Do I need to replace something? Do I need to worry about it?

Answer
Hi Tony:
I think I understand your question.  If I am correct, you are telling me the upper shaft began to slide down into the housing a little.  If that happened, you broke the plastic mold that holds the upper and lower shaft together and is only supposed to break during an impact so you don't become a human shish-ka-bob.
But not to worry.  If you can pull it back up, you will still have everything in place and it shouldn't move again.  A snap ring holds it up in place on the upper end.  The fact that the plastic seal is broken is of no consequence.  The shaft has nowhere to go once it's locked in place and will still break free during an accident.  Just be careful it doesn't fall all the way down into the lower shaft...then you will have a job getting it back out to work with.

Have a good evening
Doug