As you can see from the left photo after being wire brushed I was faced with two problems.
    First - The steering wheel is held in place with a keyed slot and  a 9/16 "nut at shafts end. Water had rusted away some of the shaft near key slot as can be seen by the gouges, this were the steering bushing contacts with the shaft. The screw threads had rusted out shown cleaned up a bit in photo with a flat file.
    Second - How was I going to make repairs or locate a replacement shaft. I choose to fill in the gouges with my Mig welder, grinding of excess metal then filing down to diameter of the shaft which worked great. With care you can get the shaft back to being almost perfectly round, in this case close is good enough as the bushing is mostly fiber. Next I filed around what old threads were visible down to the diameter required for a 1/2" tap, then tapped. Again use some caution while filing, be mindful to try and file in a circular motion to maintain roundness.

    Photo left shows a nearly completed restoration, keyway is barely visible in this photo at bottom edge. Shaft is as round as I could file by hand and sight. A small amount of pitting is visible but does not effect operation. Some rusting visible near the nut is not important but will be cleaned and treated to prevent continuing rust. If you have never done this kind of repair previously, experiment with a piece of scrap metal before proceeding. Use .023 or .024" wire in your welder to keep the amount of metal buildup to minimum or you will be filing  off a lot of excess metal.

    Like some of you I am not a schooled welder but bought several types, read a few books then practiced with scraps from a local welding shops junk bin. Mig is the easiest to learn by the first day you will have made acceptable welds with little trouble. Most welds on this trucks can be done with just a 115volt machine as current requirements are minimal. Sams Club and Home Depot have low cost units that are fine for the home garage mechanic.