What is 'original'?

 

The tilt-telescopic steering column that came with the car was restored years ago, but it's very possible that it is not original to the car.

It is dated in such a way that it is very possible that it was on this car when it was new, but the fact that this car has not one other option makes that suspect at best. It's very possible that, like so many other Corvettes from this time, a nicer tilt-tele column was added from another car and the one added just happens to bear a plausible date code.

Being honest, this is what I suspect.

For that reason, this standard column is being restored for possible use.

It was disassembled and the process of restoring the pieces has begun, starting with sandblasting the tube and dealing with all the rust pitting.

That said, the tilt-tele that came with the car has clearly been with the car for decades. Does that make it 'original' enough to leave it?

This might take some thought.