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I'm overhauling the steering on my 82 and I have a new control valve, actuator and hoses. I'm trying to remove the power steering pump but not having any luck figuring it out. I've removed the two rear nuts and the front bolt at the bottom. The pump is loose in the mount but won't come out. The bracket "seems" to be one piece but not sure.
Looking at the enlarged photo it sorta looks like the front part of the bracket is a separate piece from the rear support... I'll try removing the two bolts after a short break.
On a side note the steering gear box will come out next because I feel left/right and up/down play in the pitman arm which tells me it's 43 years old and tired and needs a rebuild.
It makes a lot more sense now the U shaped bracket is a separate piece from the tension adjustment rear bracket. So the removal would be remove the tension adjustment nut and the two mounting bolts to the engine then pull out the pump and the U bracket as one piece.
I just got the steering gearbox out and it was not a bad job just a pain to reach some of the nuts.
Removed the nuts that hold the steering column to the rag joint and turned the bolts a few times to loosen them up and made sure the steering column would move away from the rag joint. I used a long 1/2" box end on the bolts and a long flex head ratchet with a 9/16" socket on the nuts. I used a long screwdriver to hold the rag joint while loosening the bolts up.
Removed the 3 nuts that hold the steering gearbox to the frame.
Knocked the bolts out with a plastic hammer and pulled them through enough to clear the gearbox.
Positioned the pitman arm sorta straight and pulled out the gearbox from the top.
Next job is clean, disassemble and inspect the gearbox.
Well it's pitman arm 3 and JT 0... I tried my pitman arm puller and a little heat and no movement. So I thought I'd use a bearing separator and my press but the separator won't fit so then I thought I'd use a 3 arm puller but that would not fit either. Next thing I'm going to try is pitman arm puller, heat and my impact wrench. It's been soaking all night with Break Free so we'll see if try #4 is the key.
On the other end of the steering gearbox I'm down to the pins which I "think" are screwed into the coupling. I "think" if I can get the rag part off a puller will free up the coupling from the shaft.
I got the pitman arm off by heating up the outside with a brazing tip set to a soft flame and using my impact.
Here's what I started with.
I used a 3/8-24 bolt and a bit of metal to spread the rag joint coupling a bit then knocked it off with a bit of wood and a hammer after removing the bolt.
Well I used a piece of 1" round steel stock and a small hammer to knock them out from the inside. The pitman shaft is 1.125" OD so the 1" worked perfect.
I mounted the steering gearbox to a 6x6 with a couple of lag bolts and clamped the 6x6 to my workbench to make it easier to disassemble.
The smell of the grease inside reminded me of my childhood summer vacations on my Grandparents farm in NC. The 43 year old grease smelled just like the inside of the maintenance shop on the farm. Everything looks pretty good at this point for a rebuild.
I put the plug back in and covered the openings with tape then blasted the outside with fine grit to clean all the rust and crud off.
A coat of primer and it's looking pretty good. I had to dash out of the shop to the lean-to paint then take the part back inside.
A coat of paint and it's back in the shop to dry overnight.
I checked the gap between the adjusting screw and the pitman shaft and it's 0.005" which is out of spec but my shim is a #5 which is 0.065" so a #9 will get me below the maximum gap of 0.002". The shaft and teeth look good so I'm ready to order a rebuild kit. Seems like most rebuild kits don't include everything you need like the upper pitman arm bushing and the 4 shims #3, #5, #7 and #9. J&D Corvette seems to be the only one that sells a complete kit. Has anyone dealt with them before?
Got the parts all cleaned up... almost the pitman arm is still soaking
I don't know what this is but I assume some kind of sealer and it won't scrub off with a wire brush so maybe some kind of silicone? Any ideas on how to clean that off that textured surface without screwing up the surface?
I got my steering gearbox kit in today and it doesn't have the bearing that goes in the cap (lower photo in the post above), anyone know where to get one?
You do realize that the kits sold today are all pretty much the same. I don't use them as you won't get close to where the box should be without the correct parts, tools, and experience.
Good luck.
Where does one find the correct parts? The other two are no problem...
Zip Corvette has a steering box rebuild kit. I've haven't use their steering box kit but I used their differential rebuild kit for a regear. It was a complete with Timken bearings bearings, names brand seals, etc.
It looks like you are doing some very nice work on your steering and especially on the box itself.
The main problem with rebuilding these boxes is that the parts are no longer available and need to be hand crafted.
There are many things I will tackle on my own but as far as the steering box and the differential, there are none better in the world than Gary who has already given you expert advice.
If you want it, I’ll give you my advice.
PM Gary and send him your box and all the parts.
You’ll never regret doing so.
He has rebuilt hundreds maybe more.
He will dial it in to perfection.
Just so you folks know I design and build automatic assembly equipment in my machine shop and fab shop so I'm pretty good working on mechanical stuff. I do all the work myself since my partner passed about 10 years ago. I have a CNC lathe and a CNC vertical machining center as well as other machine shop tools and machines. And at my age I should be retired but work keeps coming to my door and I'd rather be playing with my C3 or driving my C8...
Just so you folks know I design and build automatic assembly equipment in my machine shop and fab shop so I'm pretty good working on mechanical stuff. I do all the work myself since my partner passed about 10 years ago. I have a CNC lathe and a CNC vertical machining center as well as other machine shop tools and machines. And at my age I should be retired but work keeps coming to my door and I'd rather be playing with my C3 or driving my C8...
JT
Sounds like you have a nice setup & shop. I edited my comments since you really don't need it and should be fine.
Sounds like you have a nice setup & shop. I edited my comments since you really don't need it and should be fine.
I valued your comments and now I know that if I'm not happy with any of the parts I'll have to make my own. I needed to know if the parts were available or not and now I know.
The shims in this kit are crap and will not go in the gearbox. The shims are about 0.001" thick and that will not have any strength at all so I'll turn a bit of 4130 to size and set the thickness on my surface grinder for that perfect fit.
The brass bearings look ok and fit the shaft good... I'll have to see what the fit is like after pressing them into the housing.
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82 Steering Overhaul
