55 Tbird steering gear

[wex65]

Trying to get to the bottom of slop in the wife's 55 bird and after replacing all the rubber pieces I am in the midst of a freshen up on the steering gear and wanted to check the worm gear is OK...

If you check out the image you will see that the center tooth in the worm gear is a little lower/smaller than the outside two. Does this worm gear look OK from a wear and tear perspective?

 

[Ole Don]

The gear needs to be cleaned, and inspected for pitting on all the surfaces that touch another. Also keep in mind these cars had some slop when new. Don't compare it to a car of today, compare it to others made in 1955.

 

[Blackpearleb434]

The lower gear is normal, this is the top dead centre of the steering (straight ahead position), did you have a look at the sector shaft adjustment, you can take out a bit of play with that...but like Ole Don said compare the lost motion with a car of that era not a car of today.