7 tooth restoration

Posted by MRR on May 06, 1997 at 11:17:08

In Reply to: rebuild 7-tooth steering gear
posted by bob j. on May 05, 1997 at 19:30:48

Been there done that.Unfortunately, I didn't find anybody to "rebuild" my steering.I had to do the engineering myself and find a machine shop that could do the necessary work.The 'how-to' books don't tell the whole story.It will be necessary to make sure that you have a worm gear and sector that fit together tightly.This may take some trial and error and several swap meets to find a good match.It's amazing how 10 thousanths of slop between the gears will translate into 4 or 5 inches of play in the wheel.Second issue:get yourself an undersized bushing for the bottom end and have a machine shop clean up and straighten the bottom of your shaft and then tightly fit it to the new bushing.Next, the bushings available from supply houses work well with the 7 toother, the idea of using the needle bushings on a 7 toother is pretty hairy and should probably be forgotten before you start.Have the machine shop press these guys in and ream them to fit your sector as needed.I recommend that you replace the bearings that fit on both ends of the worm gear.It seems that most of the play in my unit was caused by a previous rebuild using the bearings that are supposed to set on top of the king-pins.(If I'm lying I'm dying). My unit turned out very well.I have about two inches of play in the steering mostly attributable to gear slop but that is acceptable.

You might consider having the housing powder coated in order to obtain a professional finish on the steering column.I'm not a great painter and this got me a very nice looking column inside the car.

Although not technically correct, I replace the grease zerc on the main box with a carburator drain plug to reduce the potential of an overzealous grease monkey from pumping grease into the unit.

If I can be of help, please let me know.PS, I ended up with a couple of extra sectors very good sectors in case you need one.




Previous PageE-Mail Comment to WebmasterPost New MessagePrint MessageClose Window

© 1996-2010, Ahooga.Com

Anti Spam