2 tooth sector

[Russell Reay]

With 2 tooth sectors and worms unavailable I can at least buy the other parts that are available, clean up the box and reassemble per the book. I haven't studied the worm, but wear on the sector is clearly evident. How advisable--or not- is it to have a machine shop weld up the wear and machine it to original dimensions?

 

[Jim/GA]

I do not have an original Ford blueprint for the sector gear, but I have one for the 2-tooth column worm gear (A-3560-D) and it calls for heat treatment on the worm.

So based on that, I'd expect the sector gear faces need to be heat treated, too. If your machine shop can do that, then I see no reason not to do it.

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

Replacing only the sector (if you can find one) and not the worm, too, will only solve half of a sloppy gearbox situation. The worm gear has been in contact with the sector teeth just as long as the sector teeth have been in contact with the worm gear. Whether you can see it or not, the worm gear will have wear that will preclude a 100% satisfactory adjustment procedure to remove looseness in the gears, even if a new sector gear is installed. If the sector teeth have gouges in them like yours, someone most likely pumped chassis grease into the steering box at one time. The grease squeezes out from between the teeth in short order, leaving metal against metal contact = faster wear and divots in the teeth. Your sector's teeth show the classic wear pattern, albeit not too bad. You MIGHT try glass-beading the teeth faces and then applying JB Weld in the divots, followed by sanding the epoxy smooth to match the surface of the teeth. I'm not saying this will completely and forever solve your problem, but it's better than putting your worn sector shaft back in. Surely someone has a spare new sector and worm for a two-tooth box he/she/it/they will sell you? Does anyone know the status of new worm and sector gears becoming available again?
Marshall

 

[JayJay]

I got a new sector from Bert’s a couple of years back. They’re listed in the catalog but “out of stock”. My recollection is that they come from Venezuela? Anyhow, call Steve Becker at Bert’s and check with him on availability. He’s always been good to me on when or if things will return.

 

[rotorwrench]

If the worm has any notable pitting or evidence of wear in the center of its travel then the sector will quickly wear to match the worm wear. The heat treatment in parts like this is only a few thousandths of an inch in depth. Once it wears through, the part wears faster. I'd check with all the more obscure parts sources for a worm or a shaft and worm assembly. There may still be some out there. Put a parts wanted add on the swap meet. Join a local club and see if any members have extra spares.

These parts may be foreign made so a person may have a long wait for reproduction replacements if no company in the US has the capability. These parts are generally made on a special machine that has 5 axis globoidal cutting capability using special cutters then hardened using one of several methods to do that. Gemmer's design was patented back in the day but was used after the patents ran out. It boils down to how much a group of parts sources have to pay for the limited manufacture of such parts. They would have to purchase a lot of them to keep the price down so let us hope that they come back to us in a timely manner.

 

[Joe K]

I have never bought a worm or sector - ALL of the four or five that I've "rebuilt" were done using the original components.

It seems the expected wear occurs as "galling" at the zero wheel position: yunno - this is the point where you want the adjustment "tight" but if it "binds" you have to give it a bit more room. The geometry of the front end is such that pressure between the two tooth sector and worm is "one sided" at any point other than zero/center. As in when you get it adjusted properly, the free play is about equal equidistant from center zero.

What I do find as a problem is wear of the sector shaft where it passes through the housing and connects to the pitman arm. The usual fail is not galling at the gear, but rather forward/back motion of the egg shaped sector shaft in bearings that similarly have worn "egg-shaped." The free play is what causes free play of the wheel and "wobbling" of the front end at speed - a wobbling which only a slight turn "off zero" will eliminate if the rest of the front end is set up correctly.

The loose at center is what most find problematical on non-rebuilt two tooth units.

My solution to the egg-shaped shaft and bearings is to press in new overly thick bearing shells, turn the shaft down to the point where the shaft is clean and circumferential, and then ream/machine the bearings to match the reduced size sector shaft. You can turn down the shaft and only slightly "clip" the corners of pitman square connection and it still works fine.

As I say, I've never bought sector or worm - just "reconditioned" what I had.

Joe K

 

[rotorwrench]

I have never bought a worm or sector

As I say, I've never bought sector or worm - just "reconditioned" what I had.

Joe K

You are quite fortunate in that respect. I've not been so fortunate either with Gemmer 1 types or Gemmer 2 types. I've run into more worn out ones than good usable ones. Perhaps it's due to the rough roads my old cars ran on. The Gemmer designs are excellent types in how they can be adjusted for wear but many owners neglected to maintain proper oil levels and repair leaky seals when found. A lot of the old buggers ran too long with little lubricant in them.

 

[SAXBY2]

Nothing to lose by welding the sector teeth and heat treat them. Those divits aren't that bad compared to many. Use 1500w or Penrite steering lube, no grease. 140w is too thin.

 

[Bob Bidonde]

If the chrome plating on the worm gear teeth has not worn through to the copper plating, the worm is serviceable. Pitting on the bearing races is also serviceable. The sacrificial part in the steering is the sector gear & its bushings. However, if the bushing faying surfaces on its shaft are not worn, the sector can be salvaged by welding the wear flat spots on the teeth & grinding the welds to match the adjacent tooth profile.

 

[Russell Reay]

These comments have all been very helpful. When I first dived into this unit 4 years ago I discovered it had been filled with grease. Corrected that in a hurry. I installed a new sector housing with needle bearings. You can see from the photos there is some shallow pitting on one side of the sector shaft, but I can't detect any oval wear. On the worm I cannot see any wear through the chrome plating. You can see parallel marks on the chrome faces, but I can't feel them. The appearance of the chrome faces is uniform from the valleys to the ridges. If there was wear I would expect some variation. FWIW, there is no pitting on the bearing races. In this disassembly exercise I did discover that In the course of my unsuccessful adjustments I had neglected to loosen the housing around the upper race. I may yet try to have the divots on the sector repaired, but I am starting to think that reassembly on the bench will correct most of my problems

 

[rotorwrench]

Another thing to watch for has to do with a change in tapered bearings that came in mid 1930. This change affected the worm as well. If the car is a later 1930 or 31, it will have the late bearings. There is a service bulletin on this subject. There are no early bearings in the modern era so they would need to be updated per the SB.

 

[Russell Reay]

Update: I purchased all new parts for the box except for the sector--not available anywhere. I took the sector to my machine shop, and he said the repair is so thin and small that he couldn't repair it--said the result could be worse than current condition. As noted by MVDaut, the wear isn't too bad. The only other parts not replaced were the bearing races. I could not remove the lower race, and it showed no wear. The upper race is adjustable anyway. I did a thorough rebuild on the bench, and created a box with no binding. Re-installed box and it feels really good--until I connect pitman arm to the drag link. The internals are the nylon easy steer components, and the threaded plug is screwed in just far enough for the cotter pin to catch. With the pitman arm free from the sector, the movement of the pitman/ drag link connection is incredibly tight, which translates into equally tight steering. Thinking that the issue could be a worn ball I attached a new shortened pitman arm, and the tightness is just as bad. The front plug seems to fit correctly, the rear plug is properly seated into the spring, and any backing off from the threaded plug will prevent cotter pin use. Any thoughts?

 

[Lawrie]

I used the guts from a 33/34 box, I got new gears from third gen and used a 34 housing and the 30 model sector housing,used a 46 pitman arm .
Lawrie

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

I always have to cut off one or two of the coils on the springs in the Steer-Ez kit so that the end plugs can be screwed in far enough to insert a cotter pin in the end. I don't know whether the new springs are extra strong and won't compress enough or whether the replacement balls on the steering arms and pitman arm too big, which would push the spring outward enough to prevent seating the end plugs. Even after cutting off a coil or two, there will be plenty of spring left to do the job, especially if they are stiffer than the originals. Start by trimming only one coil and test fit. If the plug slot still won't line up without binding, cut off another ring. If you ignore this and simply strongarm tighten the end plugs until a cotter pin can be inserted, the steering will very hard and you will be miserable trying to drive your car.
Marshall