[JamieG]

Alright so I'm rebuilding my steering box,
I know GTR 1999 has done a great article on this, but I'm a bit of a neeb and also there might be an issue with my language skills

Anyway, I want to make shure I do this right and doesnt brake anything thats not supposed to be broken etc.

I already have the part out of the car, now the first step would be dissasembly. Right?

First problem is the Pitman arm, okay, so i havent put much effort into removing that one yet. I dont have a puller, will get one to morrow.

I'm able to loosen the backplate, no problem. But I put that back on for removing the pitman arm.

Anyway, the top bolt. The one that goes towards the steering coupler / wheel. How the :devil: do you loosen that bolt? Do I use brutal force or is there a trick to it?

Ill take more pictures underway. So if there are any other dummies out there ( which I sincerely doubt is as dumb as me :smack ) they could benefit from this as well.


F*rankly great forum!

 

[gtr1999]

The pitman arm is a tapered fit on splines. Sometimes they come off without a problem other times they are very hard to remove. I would use a little heat from a propane and some PB blaster to soak in, then use the puller. I machined up a spacer to prevent the end of the shaft from being damaged.
The large nut is the preload nut. I loosen the lock ring first, then use a socket or large adjustable on it, it should loosen without much effort.
I see you have the cover off so you know how to use the lash screw to jack the cover up and off.
You have a 1975 box there, that is the date code on the back. 7-9-75 my brothers birthday. There should have been a steel tag on one of the cover bolts as well.:thumbsup:

 

[JamieG]

Im glad you answered gtr1999, Iv seen your article and it sure looks like you know your way around these steering boxes

Im still struggeling with the pitman arm though... gonna give it another shot tomorrow. the thing just doesn't wanna come off.

been going at it for four hours. pb blaster and propane. :thud:

 

[gtr1999]

You should put a spacer in between the end of the pitman and the threaded puller,then use an impact gun on it.

 

[JamieG]

okay, so after another four hours of battling, the puller failing and being bent out of proportions. It was time to give up. Nearly.

I put the nut back on to the shaft, just entered it so much that all the threads where entered. The shaft slightly covered. Took the backplate off. making sure everything was in the right position to come out. With the pitman arm flush against the steering box housing, I figured why the hell not.

Found the biggest sledge hammer in the shop and wacked that sucker back for all the pain and sleepless nights it had cost me the last few days. And guess what... It came of !!! no damage to the nut or threads

With all the parts out, its just a matter of time before the races are out as well. I hope... they're in there pretty bad as well...


I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS METHOD! IT MIGHT DAMAGE THE THREADS, NUT OR THE WHOLE SHAFT IT SELF. use a puller, pb blaster and some heat.

 

[gtr1999]

Well I've had some tight one but so far I've never had to do that. check the aluminum cover to be sure you didn't drive the pitman shaft into it and crack it.

 

[JamieG]

I had the cover off

I tried getting the bushings out with a socket. Does it matter which way you drive them out?

 

[gtr1999]

no direction on the bushings. Good you had the cover off.

 

[lsejlowe]

dang, if you worked for that long and bent a puller that big you really put some effort into it! Glad you got it off in the end. Keep us posted as you continue your rebuild :cheers:

PS. definitely no issue with your language skills! You're doing great :thumbsup:

 

[JamieG]

Well I'm not to sure if my boss is equally happy about that puller. Haha, I guess I'll get a new one before he finds out.
I'm lending the shop space in the evenings to do this.

Gonna continue tonight. We're 6 hours ahead of EST, so when I call it a day its just afternoon on the east coast.

Anyway, I'll take some pictures of the parts all cleaned up today, before the glass beating on saturday. It's okay to glass beat these parts right? or should I just do the housing and clean the other ones by hand?

 

[lsejlowe]

I sure wouldn't blast the internals. The cover, housing, and pitman arm should be fine, but I wouldn't do it to the input shaft, pitman shaft, or ball nut.

Speaking of which, do you have any pictures of the teeth on the ball nut and pitman shaft? Mine were pitted and worn, so I ended up buying a rebuilt box from Gary rather than try to source new parts that weren't made in China...

 

[JamieG]

Okay I'll just blast the housing, cover and pitman arm.

Here's everything broken down. except the bushings... I forgot those on the floor somewhere. Interesting as it was though: the bushings have some sort if puzzle connection on them and are slightly thinner then the new ones. Does that mean they are original? In that case no one has touched this box since 1975...

And this is what the gears on the pitman shaft looks like

Worm Gearbox

Now...
Why two bearings in the kit? And why so different from my original. Is there something I'm missing here?

Thanks for all the help here guys!

 

[JamieG]

eerhm... about the bearings... nevermind.

I cleaned the inside of the housing just now. found nr 2 at the other end inside of the housing :laughing:

But the races in which it sits... do you take them of for replacement. and how. Both of them are pretty hard to get to.
I took the cover off, since I had a replacement for that in the kit. So that makes the one in the housing accessible from the outside in with a punch? And you drive it inwards.

But the one in the adjuster nut, how do you get to that?

 

[gtr1999]

I just drive them out. Check the bearings found some new ones aren't the best. Not sure whose kit you're using, there's only a few suppliers.
The gears look ok from what I see but you have to check the grooves in the nut and ball screw for pitting, the teeth for gouging, then setup them up in the box and check the lash on center to know.

 

[JamieG]

I got everything sorter out today, house, pitman arm painted. Tried getting the balls inside the worm gear.... Ehm...

Are all the 54 balls going to fit in there? What type og grease should I get? How much and where do I apply it?
Just want to do it right

 

[JamieG]

I have everything back together now. Greased and so on.

I have a problem with the bushings that came in the kit though.
They were to narrow for the pitman shaft to fit through. So the steering box wont work as it is supposed to. Unless you're a 400 pound muscle bunt ready to take on wresteling the steering wheel to the left or right. and no, I did not overtighten the

I don't even know if I care anymore. But if anyone have any suggestions, I'd be pleased to hear them. I might have to drive the shaft back out and bore the F**** thing. Whats the point of brand new bushings if they don't come in the right size. They could at least have told me that so I could have made them myself..

 

[herriot]

steering box rebuild

jamie g sounds to me like you need a reamer to enlarge the bushing a little.when you press in a bushing it is normal for the bushing to close in a little.visited norway few years back on the way back from the car show in vasteras.lovley country except for all the toll roads herriot ireland

 

[gtr1999]

Welcome to my world. Hard to say, I don't know whose kit you used could be bad bushings, could be burred up, maybe undersize. Try cleaning them up wiith what ever you have access to and see where you are. Now you see why everyone just sends me the box to deal with. They're not too bad if everything goes right and we won't even talk about fitting new gears! You have to get this corrected before driving the car.

 

[JamieG]

It says made in china...
Its a Steering Box Rebuild kit Deluxe... Everything but the gears came in the box.

The inside track in the bushing goes in a straight line, its not turning like a rifle.

I'm taking the shaft back out. Do you know what the inner diameter of the bushing is supposed to be?

 

[JamieG]

Never been to Ireland. But definently one spot I would love to try out my vette

Moving to UK in a week, so I gotto hustle up with the car so I can move it into storrage before the snow occupies all of our toll loaded roads