1957 steering box trouble

[curtkane]

I recently purchased this bird. I had about 3in of steering play. Adjusted as far as could now about 1.5in. All so notice a small leak from box. Checked little or no lub. Filled box with grease now a bigger leak where the steering shaft connects. I guess the only answer is to replace it. Can't seem to get if it's a big job to do myself and where to get good rebuilt box.

This page contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.

 

[cokefirst]

The box can be rebuilt by Straight line steering in San Jose ca. About $650. The bad news is that you may have to take the column loose to get the box off. I just did two of them.

 

[curtkane]

Thanks. I do believe the column does have to pulled out some. I have a small garage with no lift. May be too much for me to do thanks for the lead on the rebuild

 

[Tom Alpers]

Do you have power steering? If so, some play is normal as there has to be movement at the valve on the linkage to actuate the power part. 1.5 sounds ballpark to me for PS. Not sure what it should be like for manual.

 

[cokefirst]

Yes, 4 Early Thunderbirds, all have PS. There is a small amount of play in the ball stud that attaches to the pitman arm. This is necessary to operate the mechanism in the control valve to direct the fluid in the proper channels to give you the assist.

 

[curtkane]

The car was originally power steering but it is manual when I got it. I didn't notice any leakage until I adjusted the screw all the way down. It had about 3 in of playat first.

 

[Tom Alpers]

The car was originally power steering but it is manual when I got it. I didn't notice any leakage until I adjusted the screw all the way down. It had about 3 in of playat first.

If it was originally PS and is now manual and they left the PS control valve in you have the worst of both worlds. You have no PS and the full play of a useless valve. If the valve is still there at the end of the pitman arm you can buy a replacement part to get rid of it and the movement.

 

[curtkane]

the control valve is not there. something dosnt seem right. i had to turn the s
adjust screw almost 2 complete turns to get the play a little better.

 

[Tom Alpers]

 

[curtkane]

thanks for the video but it's enough for me to remove the box. i'll leave the rebuilt to the pros.