1930 Coupe with loose steering wheel

Bill Cilker

Bill Cilker

Senior Member
A friend and I have been helping an older club member get her 1930 Deluxe Coupe running and, on the road, again. She has owned it for 65 years! When I got in the car to try and start it, I found the steering wheel was very loose, and it would move up and down more than one inch at the rim.

We returned last week to change the oil and tighten the steering wheel nut. Her Model A has a replacement “Easy Steer” steering box in it. I removed the horseshoe clip and slid the horn rod up to get to the steering wheel nut. When I tightened the steering wheel nut (4 or 5 turns), I could not turn the steering wheel. I then loosened the nut 3+ turns and was able to turn it without any resistance. I discovered that the back of the steering wheel was pressing on the top of the quadrant of the steering column tube. The bottom of the column is seated on the “Easy Steer” box as far down as it will go. The steering shaft is about 1/16” +/- short of where it should be.

My friend and I do not want to remove the steering box or change it to fix the issue.

What suggestions do you have to fix this problem?
 
I have the same problem with my brothers 31 Victoria with a rebuilt 2 tooth steering. I tried to drive the column down as far as it would go. Still had the problem. I think the worm shaft is slightly short, but it seemed to match the original one. Maybe the taper is machined out of speck. As a temporary solution I used a .002 shim on the taper, like on the rear axle. It tightened up and seems to be fine (for now). I was thinking about taking a small amount off the bottom of the column tube, so I could remove the shim. Your problem may be the same.
 
Just a thought, but if you shorten the tube, it may mess with the length/operation of the spark and throttle rods? Don’t know…
 
Both of these sound like my earlier today reply to Marshall - the worm is improperly placed.

That is the 2-Tooth worm.

EZ-Steer I'm not so familiar with but one must have some sort of "fine tuning" available for EZ-Steer. The boxes were sold for use on all four of the steering iterations of the Model A including 7 tooth, and the three 2-Tooth steerings - each with its own length of steering shaft. There must have been a way to accommodate that.

Granted the differences are not large, and at least one of these might have become a "JC Whitney modus - this is not exact but it will fit and will work." But one inch of free play doesn't sound like it is "working."

Joe K
 
Saxby2 and all
Here are my current options, #1. Put a shim between the steering wheel and the shaft, #2. grind a little off of the back of the steering wheel, #3. Grind a little off of the top of the quadrant, provided there is room above the rods.
If I ever have to remove the steering box from her Model A, which I really do not want to do, the Easy Steer box is not going back in.
Thank you for all of the suggestions.
 
Can anyone tell me what are the symptoms of an "Easy Steer" steering box failure. If it fails, does the steering become unusable?
Thank you
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top