removed

 

Well, I like the idea of trying to remove the majority of the "sewage" in that steering box. I think I will buy a big ol tablespoon at a dollar store and try this. That cover gasket you mention, is that something that Summit would carry?

And last. Just removing the cover, the lash will have to be reset? Well, that leaves me out.

 

Summit will not have the gasket. I have them made to order so they are not common from a typical pars house but available from vendors. Yes lash has to be reset.

 

I am glad I had my steering box rebuilt by Gary (GTR1999). I don't have any miles on it yet I am doing a frame up restoration on my 72. These boxes are old and worn out.

 

 

 

I believe that many of these 40+ year-old steering boxes have dried-out grease and have been adjusted by Bubba. But, I don't know that most of them are "worn out". Gary would be the best source of info on the condition of old boxes. But, the ones he sees are those that folks are actually having functional problems with.

My gut feeling is that most of these boxes can be made into 'serviceable' condition without replacing many "hard" parts. Any thoughts on this, Gary? :

 

Thanks for your thoughts and experience on this general issue, Gary.

 

I just had Tony's Corvettes in Gathersburg MD rebuild the box out of my brother's 68 being it was absolutely trashed. No grease inside it plus the sector and worm were so over adjusted and worn that there was a noticeable spot in the steering where when the wheel was on center you could move the pitman shaft up and down about a 1/16" of an inch crashing the gears back and forth and the pitman could be moved not only side to side but up and down crashing back and forth. Off center everything was good and tight in the steering though. On center though the box was just all screwed up. My brother is stationed overseas and I'll post the video clip of the damage for you to see.

 

Kinda a shitty video, but the sound of the box pretty much tells the story of what was going on in there.

 

Does the corvette gear box share the same lid gasket as the 140 and 525? Looking for a gasket for my 140 box.

 

Gary did my original OEM stock box back in 2010.

Gray, I have all the pictures you took but they are on an external hard drive that I cannot access at the moment. I drove to Gary with the steering box personally and he opened up it up with me there with him. My box had 65,000 miles and would have been 30+ years old at that time on it at the time of the rebuild by Gary and all the grease was intact in the box and did NOT look like mud in my case, for some reason. My OEM gears were also in great shape and Gary was able to reuse them. Gary's work is simply superb!

I decided to have Gary rebuild the box since I have been making suspension improvement for all of its life and changes on my 78 L-82 4 speed gymkhana suspension originally and felt that the OEM steering box simply had too much play that Gary describes above^^^^^^^^^. After his work, my box today has zero play and is fantastic. Is it as good as my 10C6Z06 and Lexus IS350 F Sport Rack and Pinion? Heck, no but I still have the untouched PS control valve from OCT 1977 when my car was made and the OEM PS damper. When I decide to rebuild the valve and PS cylinder, the OEM steering will get incrementally better still but the real challenge with these OEM boxes is the 16:1 steering ratio in the OEM boxes and the play from the ancillary components. These steering boxes when set up correctly and with added mods during the rebuild are VERY good!

The GTR1999 box on my car now 9 years later is pretty darn good in my opinion and makes the car fun to drive, no sawing at the wheel for directional control.....Thanks Gary for you work......