[O'Man]

I have a late model G Body steering box in my 1972. The turn radius is limited because the later model 1980's G-Body boxes have stop settings that prevent the full 1972 lock to lock range.

Apparently the older stops can be loaded into the new box giving the best of both worlds..full turning radius, better road feel and the better ratio of the later box. I am thinking of having the work done by eather Power Steering Service ( in Missouri or Lee Manufacturing in Calif.

Does anyone have any experience with eather of these vendors. I know Lee has been in business since forever and I have no info about Power Steering services. Any data appreciated.

Thanks
Oman

 

[Andy69]

Not what you were asking, but I used a box from a 92 Caprice. Better feel and turning radius than the stock one in my 69 and no cracking it open.

 

[vrooom3440]

Again not what you were asking... but it is possible to adjust the stops yourself. It requires swapping or cutting the end cap and removing a snap ring way back up inside the gearbox. Been there and done that myself.

 

[Andy69]

Again not what you were asking... but it is possible to adjust the stops yourself. It requires swapping or cutting the end cap and removing a snap ring way back up inside the gearbox. Been there and done that myself.

You know Steve I read that you could do that, and also that you could take the guts out and put it in your original box, but since my hands very closely resemble a pair of hams, there was a very good chance I would screw it up.

 

[Gokou]

Easy to do. Remove the front cap and remove the piston. The stops in the rear of the box are just big snap rings-- pull them out. The front stop is the cap itself; either machine off the risers on it or use your old cap.

Our original steering boxes did not use any stops in the rear and used a flat front cover. When I redid my 80's IROC box I removed the rear stops and used my old front cover and voila, full steering again.

Biggest pain is getting the piston and all the recirculating balls back in. You'll need to whip up a tool to keep the balls captive; in my case I simply threaded the piston out onto an appropriately sized hardwood dowel.

If you're going to have someone rebuild and blueprint the box send it to Tom Lee, no doubt about that.

Troy

 

[O'Man]

Easy to do. Remove the front cap and remove the piston. The stops in the rear of the box are just big snap rings-- pull them out. The front stop is the cap itself; either machine off the risers on it or use your old cap.

Our original steering boxes did not use any stops in the rear and used a flat front cover. When I redid my 80's IROC box I removed the rear stops and used my old front cover and voila, full steering again.

Biggest pain is getting the piston and all the recirculating balls back in. You'll need to whip up a tool to keep the balls captive; in my case I simply threaded the piston out onto an appropriately sized hardwood dowel.

If you're going to have someone rebuild and blueprint the box send it to Tom Lee, no doubt about that.

Troy

Is it really that simple??? Can you elaborate about the dowel tool?

Thanks

 

[Scotch]

For what it's worth, everyone I've ever spoken with who had dealt with Lee Mfg was more than happy with the service and quality they'd recieved.

~Scotch~

 

[vrooom3440]

I did mine without any special tools...

I also did it two or three times

Gotta love learning processes.

What I learned is that the end cap stop fix is totally trivial. There is a hole in the side of the gearbox that you put a punch into to get the snap ring out of the end. Once this ring is out you can pull the end cap and replace it with your original cap. You can use the steering rack/piston to push the end cap out... to a point. If you go too far with this all the balls fall out. Been there, done that, muttered the requisite OH S..T!

At this point you get to learn about the recirculating ball feature in the gearbox. 20 little steel balls. 10 big ones and 10 small ones. They really are different sizes and have to be installed in alternating order. The cool thing is that different sizes in this case means there is about 0.001" difference between big and small. I had to sort them not by measurement but by feel, the big ones had a bit more "pop" as they went through the digital caliper.

So with the balls loose you can just as well pull the rack/piston all the way out and pull the top cover off and the pitman shaft out. Now you have a hole into the side of the gearbox that you can start to see and work the inner stop snap ring out. This will not be trivial and you should be somewhat careful not to scratch the bore in the gearbox. But once you say the right magic words to it and try about a dozen times you can/will get the snap ring out.

Then you can start putting it back together. Put the rack/piston back in and feed balls into the hole until they get close to coming out the other hole. Then use some grease to glue the remaining balls into one side of the retainer tube and put the retainer back together and install. Put the end cap on to make sure you do not overextend the rack/piston again. Then turn the gear lock to lock and make sure there it is totally smooth with no bumps.

Finally recenter it and reinstall the pitman shaft and top cover.

Not too hard at all

 

[O'Man]

Wow! That is the kind of answer I have provioded for a few folks here. Nice and detailed. I guess what goes around comes around as they say.

So saying the magic word(s) a few times and facing Detroit at sunrise, noon and sunset for a moment of silence each time causes the Saginaw Division Steering Gods to smile, the harvest is full and I am done. I think I have a donor box around here...cadaver might be a better term. Perhaps an autopsy is in order???

One other question. On the removeable upper cover there is some kind of slotted adjustment screw that is secured by a nut. What does that do hold on the mufflers or the rear bumper? Seriously I know it has something or other to do with fine adjusting the box. That said however have you any experience with that little sweetie? Oh yeah someone mentioned the hardwood dowel...you don't mention it. Is that something that you think might work?

I think some reading in the manual is in order. You have me intrigued!!!! I can't tell ya how much time and money I have spent after "getting intrigued" about some mechanical contrivance I have never taken apart before. As Yogi said "It is that old Deja Vu all over again".

 

[vrooom3440]

Sounds like you have encountered zen mechanics before

So the deal with the wooden dowel (the special tool) is that there is a threaded plug in the end of the steering rack/piston. If you take that plug out you can stick the dowel up in there until it contacts the center worm gear shaft. If you keep it there and then rotate the steering until the rack/piston extends out and off of the worm, the dowel will hold the balls in place. Then you can just reverse the process to put it back together.

Sounds like a good process so long as you can get the end cover off so you can get to the plug and can then get the plug out. But if you should use the rack/piston to push the end cover out as I did... and should you go just a bit too far as I did... then you are committed to taking it all apart and the special tool is not going to help you.

That little mystery screw is for adjusting the pitman shaft. The pitman shaft actually has a monster 3 tooth gear on one side that engages with the gear in the rack/piston. The monster gear is also unusual in that it has a taper cut into the teeth. So that screw sets how far up the taper the pitman shaft gear engages with the rack/piston gear and thus the free play between the two gears.

Jims steering papers are definitely worth a read through. They may talk about black balls and silver balls though while all your balls will likely be silver ;-)

 

[O'Man]

Jims Steering papers? Did I miss something in an earlier post???

Great information thanks. Time for the autopsy I think.

Now I just need the redhead from CSI to look over my shoulder, or me to look over her shoulder. Sort of an older heffer now GREAT looking as the camp hooker on China Beach a few years back but still not a bad figure none the less.

Thanks again will advise

 

[vrooom3440]

Jims ==> jiml82

The expert on Saginaw steering gear :thumbsup:

A search will turn up inumerable postings of the interesting links.