Hi

I'm about to embark on the re-building of a P/S Cylinder. I have a kit from Corvette Central and the cylinder is a used one I have bought recently. (The item on my car is showing signs of ball joint wear, the replacement has a good ball joint, but I'm suspect about the seals)

So, I have read the various instructions available, in the kit and on line.

I have removed the snap ring from the cylinder end and pulled the rod fully out. Now, what I see next is a rubber seal. This is tightly in place and so far has not yealded to careful “prying”.

BUT… Based on the instructions I’ve read I’m not convinced that this should be the first thing I see. They imply that in fact the seal should be the last thing to come out, the first to go back in!

So can someone enlighten me as to the order the parts from the kit should be fitted to the cylinder? In the kit I have:

1 - A rubber seal (conventional black rubber oil seal type)
2 - A flat metal washer of the same diameter as the seal (or a fraction larger infact!)
3 - A flat “leather type” washer diameter as above
4 – A copper coloured washer, not flat, but with a “lip” in the centre.

Assuming that I remove everything on the cylinder, which order should the pieces above be put back on the shaft please?

Thanks!

 

You can do an internet search for Jim Shea's papers on Corvette power steering component rebuilding at:

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/wp-co...rhaulInstr.doc

They are in MicroSoft Word format. The specific answer to your question is:
Install the seal first (metal casing inward; lip outward); install the [plain] 'backup washer'; install the fiber 'scraper element'; then install the 'scraper' with lip pointed outward; finally, put in the snapring to hold it all together.

 

7T1vette

Great! Thanks. That’s just what I wanted.

I'd looked at the Jim Shea paper, but the detail was just a little vague, given that I'm faced with a cylinder that doesn’t look as I'd expected. I didn't want to use the way the old stuff came off and put in it wrongly.

I had another close look at the “old” cylinder today. It definitely has a rubber "seal" type item on the “outside”. As I mentioned, it’s a used unit, but is actually fairly new. So I’m wondering if the rubber “seal” I can see is some sort of up-grade over the copper scraper? Anyone know, out of interest?

 

This might help: it's a picture I took when I rebuilt my own cilinder in 2005. It shows the sequence of the parts (starting with the connecting rubbers).

 

The 'scraper', which is just below the snapring, is for scraping dirt, debris, oil, whatever from the piston rod so that such stuff won't get to the fiber 'element' (or 'wiper'). The fiber 'wiper' is to clean off the rod so nothing gets to the rubber seal. The 'seal' is there to keep the oil from leaking out. Just use the correct size of deep-well socket to drive the seal into its bore. You do not want to bend or damage the casing on the seal or it can leak around the outside of the casing. Just drive it down to seat it...don't pound on it.

 

Thanks for both the above.

I confess I haven't tackled the job yet, a few other things got in the way!

I'm just interested now to see what materialises in the cylinder under this rubber "seal" that is apparently replacing the copper scraper. Is this some "new fangled" design from an aftermarket builder I wonder?

 

I believe that all of those parts are still in the bore at the end of the cylinder. You really have to work to dig the old seal out of the bore. Once you pull the snapring and the scraper out, use an icepick or other type object to poke into the fiber wiper, then the backup washer; then you will find the old seal in place.

Under the old seal you will find nothing. The rod is fixed in the cylinder as it is welded together during assembly. There is nothing to rebuild/fix on the inside of the cylinder. Basically, if the cylinder was working when you took it off, it is good enough to "rebuild" the outer seal and reuse.

 

Hi

OK, I've taken a photo of the cylinder I'm working on. As I say, its not been on my car, so I've no idea if it is working as it should, hence my desire to put a seal kit in it. But, having removed the snap ring, the first thing I see is a "rubber seal type" item where the copper scraper should be. I haven't taken it out so have no idea if the other "usual" components are on the rod inside.



So, is this a new design (it is a new ish cylinder0 I don;t want to pull this out if it will mean I cannot ft the normal seal kit

Any ideas? Anyone come across this before?

Thanks!

 

The one piece urethane scraper replaced the three parts (including the berylium copper scraper) around 1980. Laboratory and field testing showed that the urethane scraper did a better job of cleaning the cylinder rod over the long term (and at lower cost) than the copper scraper. The urethane scraper was designed to exactly fit in the same cavity as the three parts that it replaced.

Jim

 

Do you have any photos of a completely stripped P/S Cylinder,is there any seal on the piston
J Smit

 

Yes, there is a seal on the piston inside the cylinder. It looks like a square cut teflon ring. Since the cylinder is of welded construction, that seal is not serviced.

Jim