55 mercury steering box

That's going to be tough. Lares catalogs the box but is "out of stock until further notice". Other than contacting classic car salvage yards, I'm out of ideas. The box may be the same as a '55 Ford box. If so that would make it easier to find.
 
santiaguero said:
Yea, i need the whole box
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Dobie Gillis said:
That's going to be tough. Lares catalogs the box but is "out of stock until further notice". Other than contacting classic car salvage yards, I'm out of ideas. The box may be the same as a '55 Ford box. If so that would make it easier to find.
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IF the '55 Ford steering box will fit, and it matters to you... the box from a *late* '56 (or '57 ?) might also fit and would be an upgraded version.
I think Ford changed the earlier '2 tooth' steering boxes to '3 tooth' sometime in '56. The gears hold up a little better due to having more surface area to wear against.
 

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  • example steering box, 3 tooth sector gear.jpg
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dmsfrr said:
IF the '55 Ford steering box will fit, and it matters to you... the box from a *late* '56 (or '57 ?) might also fit and would be an upgraded version.
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"54 thru at least '56 Ford gear-box assembly's would be a direct bolt-on. I am pretty sure the '57/58/59 gearbox is same as the '56, with same bolt pattern. Only difference is the '56 and later boxes have the 3-tooth sector-gear.
The problem with using a '56 or later Ford or Mercury gearbox is you would need to get the entire steering column and deep-dish steering wheel along with it, because the '56 and later boxes had a shorter steering shaft to permit installation of the deep-dish wheel.
You could get a '54/55 Ford or Merc gearbox and use your original '55 Mercury steering column and wheel, (as long as your car is a Monterey and doesn't have the optional, premium steering wheel).
 
The Ford and Mercury steering gears are likely the same as far as the gearbox is concerned but all it takes is a different length steering shaft to make it different. The worm gear is usually what wears out first on the old Ford/Gemmer designs. I open them up and find out what is worn out and just replace the worn out parts. It takes some special tools to replace the worm gear on a steering shaft but they can be DIY fabricated with exception to a good press. The sector roller gear can also be replaced but they tend to last longer than the worm.
 
"54 thru at least '56 Ford gear-box assembly's would be a direct bolt-on. I am pretty sure the '57/58/59 gearbox is same as the '56, with same bolt pattern. Only difference is the '56 and later boxes have the 3-tooth sector-gear.
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The Ford and Mercury steering gears are likely the same as far as the gearbox is concerned but all it takes is a different length steering shaft to make it different.
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Wouldn't it be something if the OP purchased a take-off box, the selection based on someone's guessing and he was then out of the money?
 
Just to add to the confusion-

This period CATALOGING was unique to each line (FORD-LINC-MERC) so that while the BASIC PART NOS were usually the same, the PN PREFIX was usually unique to the car line and one would need a period OSI CATALOG to cipher it out if later cataloging did not show possible interchange. The car lines (PREFIX) were combined in cataloging beginning in 1959.

The 55 MERC box had a 2T SECTOR as did FORD. 56 had a 3T SECTOR as did FORD and replaced the 55 2T for service in both lines.

The trick is later production 56 MERC went to a recirculating ball design as did FORD in 1958.

So without factual documentation I hesitate to guesstimate.
 
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