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I just sent my steering box off for rebuild by Steering Technology Group of Valencia, CA. They're successor to Lee manufacturing who rebuilt this same box 30 (!) years ago. Tells ya how long I've had this car...
After 30 year of faithful service on the rebuild, it was leaking in a few places. But then, it's pushing 15X7 wheels and 235/75 tires, so no complaints.
I can't recall the box ratio, but it's been tight and great so I'm looking forward to another great job from them, although the people are certainly different.
I sent a 66 PS pump down to them too for rebuilding asking that they adjust the flow rate to give better road feel. The pump pulley was stuck on, so I'm hoping they have some pulley magic to save me from buying an offshore replacement. The pump is a spare I'm hoping to add to my other '66 big car.
Temporarily I'm using a sloppy old steering box which really makes me appreciate my 30 years of tight steering. The temporary box needs a bit of coaxing to return to center. It's weird to get in car you _really_ know and have it steer differently.
I'll report back when I get the rebuilt good stuff back on. Both my big cars seem to have Thompson (TRW, aka Alternate) steering systems with Saginaw steering boxes in case that helps anyone.
I've been waiting for the updates for 2 years, (:》 Just kidding but I'm thinking redoing the steering system on a 98 so I'm reading up on it. Thanks, Ken
Ken
Even when I first started using the '66 98 in the '80's, I didn't like the loose 60's steering much compared to modern cars. I probably replaced a fair few front suspension bushings, tie rods and so forth looking to limit the sloppiness. The rebuild they did made these ancient cars steer more like modern ones. I like that, but it's not a "60's experience" if you're picky about originality or authenticity.
I had two '66 steering boxes redone by Steering Technology Group in Santa Clarita near LA. One of my cars was leaking and I wanted them both to turn the same so the driving experience is the same no matter which I'm using.
I can' t quite remember the cost I think it was >$500 for rebuilding the pump and setting the steering box up for 2.5 turns lock to lock. I also asked them to increase the road feel, which involves either raising or lowering pump pressure. Don't quote me on prices. If your pump is working fine, they consider the box and pump rebuilds separate, so it would be a lot cheaper just to rebuild the box if that's all you need.
With the '65-66 big cars, it's not uncommon to have the pump pulley stuck onto the pump itself. I've ruined 1 or 2 trying various home pulling techniques. After a call to Lee, they agreed to take my whole assembly -- pump & bracket together and do the separation in their shop. I don't know what they did, but everything came back just fine. This mainly means no bent pulley.
Oh - the common high pressure replacement lines you can get for the 65-66 big cars work, but are a bit on the long side. I believe the factory length was 24" to allow the line to parallel the block. These days most vendors sell a 30" line which works, but the hose takes up a bit more room than it should. It's on my list to get another 30" and cut it down to what the factory shows as correct in the '66 Assembly Manual (thanks WildAboutCars!): Replacment PS high pressure hoses available these days are often too long. This is what Olds designed and built in '65-66 big cars.
Both boxes work just fine. I'd work with them again.
If you're rebuilding front suspension, consider having your A-arms and spindles magna flux checked for cracks when you redo the bushings and/or ball joints. I've suffered 2 broken lower A-arms over the past 35 years and it's not something I'd wish to repeat. Both my cars have extra steel welded in around the ball joints to try & prevent this from happening again.
I recently replaced my steering box with a rebuilt from Auto Parts Warehouse and the pressure line from Rock Auto. The line was ACDelco but was slightly long and the end fittings were bent to 90 degrees (both ends). I had to carefully straighten them out to make it work. All came out good in the end. I also converted the front brakes to disc at the same time. I used a kit from Classic Disc Brakes. It was OK, nice quality rotors and calipers and simple mounting bracket. My problem was that they provide some wrong size stuff, The hose fittings are too large for the stock brake lines and require adapters, the bolts, and corresponding holes, for the brackets are smaller than the original backing plate mountings but bolt to the same place and the castle nuts provided are too large for the spindles. Kanter's sells a kit but I cannot say anything about it except is is a little cheaper. A friend of mine is going to try it.
Hey Big Olds! When you upgraded to disc, did you have to change the line to the power booster? Upgrade power booster/master cylinder? On my list to do. Thanks, Jack
Sorry for the delayed answer. I bought the M/C and booster as a kit with the conversion but have not yet attempted to install them. Right now the conversion stops at the original hard lines. Since I am of advanced age, I have a problem getting under the dash (or rather getting back up from there) so I will have the rest of the job done by someone else. The brakes work great as they are. I still have to get the proportioning valve. It was not included with the kit.
November 14th, 2017, 07:21 PM
