The rewiring job is progressing. As of today, headlights, 
parking and brake lights, the turn signals, and the heater fan all work. A working heater fan is nice, but at this point the heater is not connected. The hoses that carry hot water from the engine to the passenger compartment run over the valves, and I am leaving them disconnected for now because I will need to adjust the valves and tighten the head bolts (located in the same place as the valves) in 100 miles or so.
As you can see, the tangle of wires is mostly gone (from view), with only a few for the instruments unconnected. The windshield wiper switch is also on the to do list for the interior. 
The setback was temporary, but left me baffled for a few days. It turns out that later model Sunbeams came with telescoping steering columns. There is a dial in the center of the steering wheel that allows the wheel to move in and out. The dial attaches to a threaded rod that fits inside of the steering wheel shaft. You can see the arrangement on the right. The threaded rod that locks/unlocks the telescoping mechanism is about 1/2 inch inside of the slightly larger tube. Unfortunately, the rod should not be inside but protruding so that it can be attached to the control mechanism. What to do?
I tried to grab the offending rod with a small screwdriver and then a dental instrument that I had picked up years ago at a Florida flea market. No luck. I almost grabbed the rod by pushing some dental floss into the threads using a small hobby knife, but I couldn’t get enough grip. Someone on the Sunbeam forum suggested a strong magnet. I raided my collection of hard disk magnets, but again no luck.
Another forum suggestion was to use epoxy glue. I didn’t think I could worsen the situation, so why not give it a try? Epoxy is very strong because comes in two parts that cure when mixed. Unfortunately, one part of my epoxy set had hardened into a thick paste, either due to cold (in the garage) or time. Again, no luck. But I did have some Crazy Glue (cyanoacrylate), which is used, inter alia, for model airplanes. Following the model theme, I tried to glue a balsa stick to the rod. Bingo. 
After 30 seconds, I pulled the hidden rod free.
Out of the woods? Not quite. Some how, perhaps the various glues or prying with screwdrivers. I managed to damage the threads on the rod. I got out my Harbor Freight tap and die set and went to work. As background, a die is a tool that refurbishes or makes threats on a bolt. A tap is the corresponding tool that makes threads in a nut. On the right, the die is the darker metal circle 
inside the aluminum handle. By turning it around the rod, I was able to clean the threads so that the proper bolt would screw easily onto the rod and thus fix the telescoping wheel.
Did it work? Yes. I can now reassemble the steering column, wheel, and telescope adjustment dial. On the right you can see the shiny new threads. As a precaution, I put a small piece of rubber tubing around the shaft to hold it in place.
Sunbeam 