Identify steering arm?

36tudordeluxe

36tudordeluxe

Well-known member
When I replaced '36 steering box with a '40 unit I thought steering arm was also '40 but noticed number on arm is 78-3590, GREEN BOOK doesn't show that number.
What year arm would this be?
 
The spindles and brakes on my Model A were taken from a '40 Ford. These are the typical roundback spindles common to '37-'41 cars and mine have a raised "78" next to a "P" inside of a circle.
 
As several have indicated above, that is a 1940 arm. In a nutshell that "78" indicates 1937 as the first year that part was used. The "3590" indicates a Pitman arm. Once you learn Ford's numbering system, ID'ing parts becomes a bunch easier. DD
 
Just like the "78" transmission case, it was first used in 1937 but pickups used it till 1950 with minor changes
 
I have a '40 steering gear box in my '36. When I installed the '40 box in 1954-55 I used the '36 pitman arm, it hung down to low so I switched to a '40 arm. The part number on the arm in my car is 21-A3590-3 015. The arm fit was higher within the chassis without bending it. The front axle under my car is a '41 dropped 2".
 
blucar said:
I have a '40 steering gear box in my '36. When I installed the '40 box in 1954-55 I used the '36 pitman arm, it hung down to low so I switched to a '40 arm. The part number on the arm in my car is 21-A3590-3 015. The arm fit was higher within the chassis without bending it. The front axle under my car is a '41 dropped 2".
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An arm marked "21-A3590-3 015" is NOT going to be a 1940 arm. "21-A..." denotes a 1942 "first year of use" part. DD
 
V8COOPMAN said:
An arm marked "21-A3590-3 015" is NOT going to be a 1940 arm. "21-A..." denotes a 1942 "first year of use" part. DD
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Thank you for the information on my pitman.. I had been told in the past that a 21-A arm was a '40, I took the arm off of a friends '40 coupe parts car.
 
VeryTangled said:
78 Part prefix seems to be 1937.
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Beginning in 1932 Ford stopped the practice of assigning new part numbers when a part was used for following years without change (a very good practice). In 1932 the Model A parts that were reused without change actually were assigned a new part number, can you think of a more wasteful practice? The "78" prefix was assigned to parts that were first used in 1937 and would remain until the part was revised such that it could no longer be used.

Charlie Stephens
 
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