Below is some information concerning the installation of the Chevette tilt steering wheel column, provided by Phill ????, a frequent participant of the Chevette Performance forum, which can be found here: http://pluto.beseen.com/boardroom/b/54591/
I've put a tilt column in my car. It was pretty simple too. Basically you just unhook the steering knuckle (at the column), pry the thing open so it will come off. Then take off that black trim thing under the column and your gauge faces. You would then unbolt the little support at the firewall (I almost missed this). Next is the big metal bracket under the gauges, first loosen the bracket-to-column bolts then the bracket-to-dash bolts. Take the bracket off then lower the column so you can unhook your electrical connectors and the column-to-shifter cable (Auto-keeps the shifter from moving when the key's off). Then you just pull out the old column. Next just slide the tilt column in it's place and hook it up. Make sure not to use a manual tranny column in an auto car, but you can do it the other way around. About the years thing, I'm not sure, pre-spoiler cars are rare in these parts, and I've only seen 1 maybe 2 diesels(the first one may have been a gas car that sounded pretty dieselly, the second one I saw at the diesel pump filling up and talked to the guy). Hope this helps. Phill