for as long as I've had my car now, there has been some play in the steering. it is most noticable at higher speeds. when you turn, you have to turn the steering wheel about a couple degrees before any turning happens.
no, i dont know anything. thats why Im asking more knowledgeable people for help.

what part or parts are most likely the cause of this?

anyone? am i asking the wrong question

I am pretty new at this resto thing too, but maybe it's your front end bushings or something to do with the steering column. Is it power steering or not? When I brought my '72 home, it had a little play in the steering, but I'm going to accept that for what it is. A car that is 33 years old.

This is from memory anyone else can adjust the procedure.

"A" First Check the "Steering Gear Box" oil level

If it is manual steering, open the nut on the gearbox check fluid the level.

Power steering is the power steering reservoir full.

"B" Steering Gear Box Adjustment

1) Front tires off the ground.
2) Loosen the nut turn the screw down to the right as someone turns the wheel left & right, until the steering turns hard or locks up.
3) Back off a little until the steering turns normal.
4) Tighten the nut and test drive.

Sometime it can be that simple. Or it suspension replacement time. graemlins/sad.gif

You don't mention if you have a power or manual steering system. This link to my paper on adjusting the Saginaw manual steering gear may be of help.

One thing, (regardless if you have a power or a manual gear) making the sector shaft adjustments with the screw on the side cover is the same. You must ALWAYS have the gear exactly on-center when making htis adjustment.

The gearset inside the gear was designed with a slight interference on-center and actually has a slight clearance off-center. If you try and eliminate the off-center clearance you will find that you can damage the gearset when it tries to return to center.

Here is the link: http://www.corvettefaq.com/acar/ManualGearAdjustInVehicle.doc

There can be a couple of parts that could cause this. It should be fairly easy to locate the problem. I am in CA also, if you are close I could look at it for you. I did suspension repair for a number of years. I live in Clayton in northern CA. If this is not possible I will give you a phone number to call me and I can walk you through what to look for.
Tom