Whats the secret? Column to firewall gasket.

Well as it goes , preping all parts for under the dash for reinstall on my 1971 GS. So the steering column is restored. Have a new lower column firewall seal\gasket. The tilt column is fully assembled amd im trying to streatch the gasket over the lower column. almost goes but its starting to tear when tryng to get over the output shaft splines. If I had known it was going to be so hard I would of installed it while rebuilding the column. So whats the secret to getting it on. Hope not to have to disassemble the colum because the paint work is very satisfactory to me. Hate to scratch it up. Thanks

 

Cut it , it will be fine, if you want put a small bead of sealer over the split

 

Slice it on the bottom like an episiotomy! Throw an extra suture on it and use some 3M weather-strip adhesive as an anti-bacterial agent and hopefully the judges mirror has a crack that shows over the splice. After the glue dries, assemble as planned. ;-)) ws

 

Thanks. will do. Aint going ro sweat it then. So the correct way I would bet is to install it on the column before the steering shaft is installed.
going to glue it at the split and 3M a small old pice to the back side to help seal it.