I think it was there for when to steering column would be removed for service/repair and if the retaining cap was loose or just pulling off of the steering box. If the coupler is a tight fit to the steering box shaft, somethings going to give, my guess would be the retaining cap and the rest of...
My thought is that they are sticking from years of dirt etc and not being used. They may need to be cleaned and greased.
If the latches are not catching, when you hit the breaks the seat back could come forward and possibly push you forward, probably right when you don't want that to happen.
If I remember correctly when I installed mine, the larger ones are glued to the backside of the kick panels and the smaller ones tuck into the upper door hinge bolt locations.
I think the black side gets the glue/adhesive because its more solid than the yellow, fiber insulation side.
When I was younger I worked at a salvage yard and 90's ford taurus's automatic transmissions have the exact shaft. It just slips in behind the torque converter. A core transmission donated it to me.
It is a stand alone 3 wire harness that plugs into the neutral safety switch on the driver side of the transmission, then (on my 1973 Barracuda) runs over the bellhousing to the passenger side, then up the firewall and into the wire loom holders on the firewall and if I remember correctly...
I had steel core my dash pad redone by YearOne in 2024. The cost then was ~$1200 with free return shipping. I see the price has gone up to ~$1300 and return shipping is not free. The Year One dash is not as nice as a Just Dashes pad but my dash looks great compared to the large cracks that I had...
The wiring runs along the driver side rocker panel behind the flexible wire guards that are under the carpet. Then up and over the driver side wheel well and along the driver side quarter panel then across the tail light panel. If you have rear speakers and/or rear defroster that will connect...
I used Mattson's custom radiator for my custom electric cooling fans. For some reason their website is down. Here are a few links.
https://www.alloyworksplus.com/?spm=..index.header_1.1&spm_prev=..search.header_1.1
Mopar Radiators
High Performance Radiators that Look & Feel Right - Cool Craft...
I don't have a picture but my car had the 80's "Chapman Lock" anti theft system installed. The locking part was under hood that slid into an L'bracket once the push button with key release under the dash next to the hood release was depressed. These images I found online, not from my car but...
My 73 did not have any bearing at the end just a foam seal to help keep dust dirt and wind from coming up into the column. The steering box will hold the shaft in the correct location.