what would be the easiest way to separate the two?

 

Take the pitman arm off. Take the sterring wheel off. Jack up car. Pull out the bottom. There is no taking the gear off the column.

 

okay ty! does the horn just pop off and go from there? i couldnt find any material on how to do this. also ive never taken a steering wheel off before

 

Sounds like you should pick up at least the Haynes repair manual. Mazdatrix and RockAuto both carry it.

 

Ef that im not buying a 20$ book that ill only use to take off a steering wheel?I'm sure someone has to be bored enough to help me

 

Do you not do any other work on your car besides the steering wheel? Its a very helpful book. You should also download the FSM if you havent already

The horn thing should pop off, and then i believe a steering wheel puller is needed but im not overly sure on that

 

That steering wheel is junk anyways, just pop off the horn and you will see a bolt on the shaft thats holding the steering wheel. Once you have the bolt removed, you'd have to yank the wheel or even use a rubber mallet to knock it loose since it's old and probably stuck on there.

There's no other way to remove the box but going through the engine.

 

Pull off the horn cover, you will than see how the rest of the horn stuff is held in. Remove nut for the stearing wheel most of the way. Leave it on a few threads and pull on the wheel untill loose. That's it.

 

rock on . nothing is in the engine bay ATM anyways so it wont be a big deal to take it out that way.