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WE have all seen (and probably done) our share of Bubba on not only corvettes but other things. Some of you may have followed my trip from Phoenix to Mrmphis earlier this year in a 1964 coupe that I bought from the estate of a gentleman that had owned this car since the mid-eighties. His son told me when his dad purchased the car it was rough and in need of fiberglass repairs and a repaint and that they had a shop do the repairs in the late 1980. The father showed the car and won trophies until he passed away approximately 5 years ago. My wife named the car “Queenie” because it was obvious it had been a trailer queen for the last 40 or so years. I have driven the car almost 5000 miles since I acquired it. Two afternoons ago my wife and I were out in the car and driving through a parking lot when the Steering Shaft sheared in two.
if you look close at the third picture you will see that the lower steering column bearing had been replaced with a flat washer (which was welded to the lower column) to serve as the lower bearing for the column.d then car s
Wow! Somebody above was watching out for you. That could have turned into a real disaster on the street or freeway. I guess an in depth inspection of the whole may be warranted at this point.
My wife and I feel really blessed that we were in a parking lot doing about 10 mph when it snapped. She said she will not be riding in the car until we have completed all the upgrades (steering, brakes, suspension, and engine). I wanted to start this upgrade process in the fall and have been collecting parts - so I guess the upgrades will begin in the next few weeks. I will be starting a thread in the next few days but will leave everyone with a picture of the brake/steering components I have already purchased.
I would bet money the repair was done long before the family I purchased it from owned the car-the car was so well maintained and cared for.
The end of the broken steering shaft looks to have a clean appearing worn through tapered edge of sorts. Washer subbing for bearing has to be a first. This one could be in the running for Bubba hall of fame candidate!
Wow is right.......close one!
John
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C1 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Do those horse shoes hurt when you walk?
So lucky!
I too have a recent Bubba story. I found out that the farm boy who owed my truck thought it would be a good idea to wrap duct tape around a failing body mount rubber bushing.
Back in 1975, I went with the guy i bought my '61 Corvette from to pick up a '64 Chevelle body/frame that he could use for a dirt circle track car. Car had no interior, and we were going to tow it to his shop, about maybe 2 miles away, so i sat on a milk crate and steered the car and operated the brakes. He would signal me to start braking before he did to the tow strap remained taught.
Sitting on the milk crate, the only leverage i had was to pull on the steering wheel while pressing the brake pedal. First time we went to stop I pulled on the wheel and it came off the shaft, no steering wheel nut.
Now, i couldn't steer or stop as i had no leverage on the brakes.
I quickly reached under the dash and used that as leverage to push on the brake while trying to get the steering wheel back on the splines.
Finally succeeded at that,and rode that thing the rest of the way with one hand under the dash and one hand on the wheel., I had no way to signal or tell him to pull off the road until we got back.
I remember it "very" well. Glad you are OK, as mentioned that would have been real bad at speed in your car.
Bubba gets around!!! R66 had a squeak when turning the wheel and I found the large flat washer he installed was indeed rubbing the end of the column housing. The bearings were fine, I don't know why he chose to add that optional squealer other than the spring was very loose.
OP that's the stupidest Bubba blunder I've ever heard of. So glad it happened when it did, so no damage to you or the car. I'll be following your upgrade thread.
There are a few metallurgist / material science members who might like to see a image of the fracture surface. A straight on photo of the fracture surface.
Very lucky Ricky, I'm still not sure what I'm looking at and why it broke.
The first picture shows the bottom of the shaft still attached at the rag joint. The rest of the severed shaft is still attached to the steering wheel. Cut two pieces.
Sometimes everyone of us needs a little divine intervention, that positive karma to pay off, or just plain old good luck. Thankfully your living right and one of them showed up for you at the right time. These fortunate ending stories could always be so much worse. A safe landing this time for sure. Another reminder of how things can go very wrong in an instant and why we need to be very aware while driving and working on these cars. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to your upgrade thread.
The first picture shows the bottom of the shaft still attached at the rag joint. The rest of the severed shaft is still attached to the steering wheel. Cut two pieces.
What I see is a steering column that broke at the .530 dimension. Borrowed Buns' pic.
06-23-2021, 03:11 PM
Bubba could have killed me!
