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Hello,
I have a 1966 coupe. It was a roller. Yes, it had been in an accident. I put a new frame under this car. Just got the body on a couple of days ago. Today, we slid in the steering shaft. The shaft housing has some left/right adjustment on the firewall. If I center the steering shaft on the firewall it is about 3/4 inch out of alignment, as shown in the picture.
Right or wrong I am not sure. I think the steering shaft will have to be cut and made shorter so I can use 2 universal joints in this situation. Yes ? I would prefer doing this instead of adding a 3/4 inch spacer on the frame. Concerned moving the steering box that far would throw off all the other steering linkage. Yes ?
Any suggestions on who to send my steering shaft to for this operation would be appreciated.
I wouldn't have any heartburn over shifting the steering box to the right as long as robust shims/spacers/bolts/nuts tie everything together. You say you can shift the column slightly to the left? Do that, too.
My concern about shifting things would be at the upper end of the column mounting that hold it secure to the Z frame. How much wiggle room is there? Dennis
All is loose at this time. Had steering wheel and shaft assembly out of car. Just 2 screws holding the steering column up to the dash. Nothing else tight. Still will not line up.
It appears that your clutch cross shaft (AKA Z-bar) fits correctly between the frame mount and the engine. And I believe you've written there is no possible left/right movement of the steering column. That leads me to believe that your frame is straight and that, for whatever reason, your Borgeson box is the part with the problem.
So you seem to have two choices: Put the Borgeson box where it is supposed to be. Or cut your column and add a pair of u-joints.
I guarantee you the simpler of those two solutions is the better one. That solution is to properly locate the Borgeson box.
Adding U-joints introduces many additional moving parts and many additional points of failure. Not what you want with a system as critical as steering. Plus, and this is just my opinion, adding u-joints to compensate for a defect in the steering box is always going to look "funny".
In contrast, put the Borgeson box where it needs to be, secure it with high quality fasteners, and you've got a solid solution, the right solution. And it won't look "funny".
Jim, I see he has the box brace for the steering box. Could that be a cause by some stretch? I have this same conversion on my '67, but never had an alignment issue. This problem really puzzles me. I wonder if Borgeson has a spec for the angle of the modification to the Jeep box? Dennis
Someone here had an alignment issue many months ago, I can't recall whom, the cause or solution. Try a search.
I've not removed my body as you have but I have replaced the mounts. Isn't there a bit of wiggle room, with all loose, to shift/twist the body to the left?
Jim, I see he has the box brace for the steering box. Could that be a cause by some stretch? I have this same conversion on my '67, but never had an alignment issue. This problem really puzzles me. I wonder if Borgeson has a spec for the angle of the modification to the Jeep box? Dennis
I don't have any experience with the Borgeson conversion so I don't know. I can share only what I see and believe from studying the picture.
I do remember reading other threads in which some were having alignment issues WRT the Borgeson box.
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Steering shaft U-joint solution. ??????
Dennis
