Hi friends, I’m removing my steering gear and sending it away for a rebuild at powersteering.com
my service manual says I need to remove the steering wheel to remove the steering gear box. Sound right to you? There is no rag joint in the system. If thats correct, I’ll first need to remove the horn button. Manual says to simply pry “it” up. I’m assuming that’s just th actual center button. Correct? I’m prying, but it ain’t movin! I’m afraid of chipping the horn ring. Here’s a pic of what I’m doing. Does this look right or wrong to you? I’d rather look dumb by asking than to break something by ignorance.

 

The steering wheel shaft is part of the steering box. Take the wheel off and guide the shaft down the column till it and the box will come out.

I think you need to remove the whole horn ring instead of just center cap.

That design accounted for a lot of fatalities when the shaft skewered a driver in a collision.

 

Agreed. That was also one reason why wider steering wheels were seen as a safety consideration. That and good old fashioned leverage for manual steering. The question though is how to remove the horn button exposing the shaft nut. Any one have experience on that before I pry away at the center horn button?

 

If it is like the rest of the early fifties steering wheels you will have to remove the cap first to get to the nut behind the wheel, no pun. You might try some kind of nut buster as much as a lube I'm sure it comes off as pictured just stuck after 70 years. I can see your concern, that's one nice looking cap.. Tedd

 

The center cap pops out , and then you have access to screws to remove the horn ring .
Then you can remove the " nut behind the wheel " and pull the wheel off with a steering wheel puller.
The cap may be hard to pry off after 70 years .

An illustration;

 

An update: I got the center cap off, but for future reference, DO NOT attempt to pry it off without first rotating the cap to the left. As you’ll see in the pics below, the cap locks into place on three pins that should first be disengaged before prying the cap upward.

 

Glad you figured that out and no damage to that gorgeous cap. And I have learned something.

 

Hey, we’re all in this old car hobby together! I appreciate the give and take. I’ve got one more hurdle before taking the steering gear off.


Anyone know if the outer steering shaft collar comes off the box? I’d imagine I does. I had thought once the nut was removed at the wheel, the box would come out of the shaft collar with the shaft attached. Mine wants to take the shaft outer collar with it. If I do that, I’ll be removing shift linkage and wiring for the horn. That doesn't seem right.
Should the box and outer shaft collar separate or be removed as an assembly? I’m the pic I’ve tried to show the box and the outer shaft collar I THINK needs to be removed. Ideas?

 

The outer steering steering shaft collar is pressed in to the steering box and cannot be removed .
The entire steering column , with the box , must be removed from the car as a unit .
The pitman should be removed . Then the shift linkage , as well as any wiring to the column .
The column should be unbolted from the dash and the floor plate unfastened from the floor .
Then the gearbox can be unbolted from the frame and the entire column and box can be pulled out from the top .

 

Have you tried adjusting the steering box to remove play ?
Removing this box is a big hassle , compared to a simple adjustment .
See your CSM for the procedure.

 

I don’t have excessive play, more like a binding caused from internal rust and lack of lubrication. When I got the car the box was bone dry. I suspect the bearings inside are now bad. I filled it with Ecklers OO steering gear fluid. It’s held it just fine but still operates with a grind. Not the smooth steering I want from a manual box. It’s a beast to turn and I’ve owned plenty of manual boxes before. I’m hoping to have it rebuilt to smooth operation

 

Remove bottom section of steering box. Dirt and crud collect here and make turning difficult. Clean bearing. Bearing race may have rusted causing bearing collapse.

 

Have you sent your steering box in for the rebuild yet? I was curious if you had and if you were happy with the results at powersteering .com. I am thinking of sending mine in for a rebuild this coming winter because mine is sloppy and does not have any adjustment left.

 

sorry, nope. Never did. I just filled it with steering fluid and worked it “free”. It’s still harder than it should be. Yes… I’ve driven and currently own many other classics without power steering. I’m putting my emphasis on improving brakes first. Steering next year! Sorry I can’t help. But I’d love to hear your results please!!

 

Well, I finally got around to sending my steering gear out for rebuild this past winter. Powersteering.com did a great job for me. My gear was one dirty greasy mess that was sloppy and leaked a little bit. Took them about two weeks after they got it to get it back to me. It looks great. The sloppy steering is a thing of the past and did I mention it looks great?! It was not easy to put back in because I don't have a lift available to me, so with some help from my brother in law we managed to get it back in. I found the website to be very helpful, lots of good info about their process and recomendations for shipping.

 

That is one very nice looking steering box.

Bob

 

Great to hear! Thanks for the info