Steering Box finish during break In
Thread Starter
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 15,173
Likes: 3,982
From: Connecticut, USA
Steering Box finish during break In
Hi guys,
I know a lot of you have been following my posts here and have taken on some of the jobs I posted about. One thing I want to inform you of is the finish of the steering boxes during a cam break in.
I just fired up my 72 vette after rebuilding every mechanical part,unit, assembly on it the past 7 years. During the cam break in the headers were glowing orange and even though I tried to cool the compartment the top of the steering box paint cracked from the extreme heat. This box was finished with POR15 and Eastwoods top coat. The POR15 is hard as a rock but the eastwoods paint did crack. In normal driving/engine bay temps there have been no problems, but if you are going to break in a flat tappet cam - fab up a shield or wrap for the box.
This is the first time I had this happen, the last engine/cam break in the box was fine.
This really isn't a big problem,the box is fine and I can refinish the area with it in the car, I just want to save you some aggrevation during eng break in.
If you have a box I rebuild and have any questions please contact me.
Thanks and enjoy the 4th!
I know a lot of you have been following my posts here and have taken on some of the jobs I posted about. One thing I want to inform you of is the finish of the steering boxes during a cam break in.
I just fired up my 72 vette after rebuilding every mechanical part,unit, assembly on it the past 7 years. During the cam break in the headers were glowing orange and even though I tried to cool the compartment the top of the steering box paint cracked from the extreme heat. This box was finished with POR15 and Eastwoods top coat. The POR15 is hard as a rock but the eastwoods paint did crack. In normal driving/engine bay temps there have been no problems, but if you are going to break in a flat tappet cam - fab up a shield or wrap for the box.
This is the first time I had this happen, the last engine/cam break in the box was fine.
This really isn't a big problem,the box is fine and I can refinish the area with it in the car, I just want to save you some aggrevation during eng break in.
If you have a box I rebuild and have any questions please contact me.
Thanks and enjoy the 4th!
