[uwanna]

The "crunching" is most probably coming from plastic bits falling down the steering
tube and interfering with the steering wheel lock mechanism, not the lower bearing. Had this problem with my 911SC and almost caused a wreck when the plastic bits locked the wheel while making a left turn, almost hit the oncoming car till I jerked the wheel real hard which freed up the wheel by busting up the plastic bits. I then pulled the
ignition/lock mechanism and cleaned it all out.

You are quite lucky the the copper piece is a good bit exposed and you should be able
get a hold on it with some experimentation and pry it out. Don't think you will mess
up the bearing, they are pretty tough. I hope when you get the copper out, you
install the Leland/Redline bushing fix.

I saw in a post here someone was installing the "OLD" 928 bushing fix. BIG MISTAKE, as down the road that 928 metal bushing can cause wear problems and screw things up, and then if the metal 928 piece was driven in deeply, it's almost impossible to remove.
This problem is documented in many prior threads. Beware.
Good luck,
Grant