Steering box install

[KMBeers]

I’ve had a 7 tooth steering box, all rebuilt and painted, sitting on my workbench for months. I have been having so much fun driving my car that I have not wanted to take it off the road to get it done. Previously I rebuilt the front the front end, king pins, spring perches, bearings, so the steering box was the last part. I found the pitman arm pretty worn and the car was always on the verge of the death wobble, even after the other work, so between that wear and the slop in the steering box I think I have solved that problem.
During the process I was installing the old steering wheel on the new assembly and was cursing out Henry for his design of the clip that holds the light switch spider in place. Overall I really hate that design. I don’t have the special tool the vendors sell to help compress the spring during the process and it it really tough on the finger tips. I attached an image of the clip and was wondering if others have a “trick” for getting it installed to make it easier?
When I was done, without the light switch or body installed the light switch handle rotates with the steering wheel I believe because of the spring tension but I know someone else here in the Barn would have experienced this. The light switch rod is nearly frictionless when sitting in place without the spring. I didn’t think to try it on the old one before disassembling it. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Randall]

The light switch should keep it from turning when you connect it

 

[Jim/GA]

You are correct, the horseshoe clip is a pain. Thankfully it is not something we have to remove and replace very often.

There have been a few articles written written in the club magazines over the years, more of a "tiny tip" sort of thing than an article, of DIY tools you can make to help with the installation. I have never made one, but I seem to recall one using a small piece of thin wall electrical tubing with a window cut in it.

Try to find one of those articles, or buy the special tool from a vendor.

Once the light switch is installed, as Randall said, the horn rod will stop turning.

Before installing the rebuilt gearbox in the frame, slip the o-ring and thin washer seal that is sold on the sector shaft to slow down the oil leak through the shaft bearings (unless you installed a lip seal in the sector shaft housing).
.

 

[nkaminar]

I put the spring in a vice and then use strong cord to keep it compressed. After it is installed I just cut the cord and pull it out with some pliers. Carpet thread or whipping cord work.

Make sure the pitman arm is tight on the end of the steering box shaft. No slop at all.

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

If the steering wheel is attached to the shaft, upend the column so that it is resting on the steering wheel. Put wooden block or thick towel under the light switch head so that it will not drop down when you apply pressure from up top. Use a flat blade screwdriver and press down on the spider to compress the spring past where the groove in the rod is. Holding the spring compressed in this manner, slip the clip over the groove and seat it in the spider's depression made for it. Doing it this way gives you the best chance of installing that stupid-assed clip because you can actually see where the groove is, which will tell you if you have compressed the spring sufficiently.
If you have repo parts, first pre-fit the spider and clip without the spring in place. You are doing this to ensure the parts will go into place and fit properly. I invariably end up filing the groove in the light rod a little deeper and filing the clip a LOT both on the interior and exterior so that it will fit over the tube and seat in the spider's recess for it. The tube is thin, so don't file too much away; just enough to make the ring more discernable. For years, whoever repops the clip and spider apparently don't communicate with each other because these two new parts NEVER fit together properly without some massaging with a file. Never. Add the third repo element (the switch rod) and you have a recipe for frustration. The new rods are quality and well-made, although my one request would be for the clip's groove to be a little more pronounced. That would make seating the clip soooooo much easier.
Marshall

 

[1crosscut]

Zip tie or clamp the light switch lever to one of the steering wheel spokes to keep it in place while you are installing the spring.

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

By the way, when installing the clip, make sure the two fingers are in line with the light switch head's lever, not 90 degrees opposite each other. If the lever is straight up and down, make the spider match this orientation. You do this so that when the spider is slipped into the light switch bail, the light positions will be correctly oriented. When all is together and back in the car, the light switch lever should be parked at the 6:00 position with no lights on. Depending upon which year Model A you have, one click to the left should turn on the parking/cowl lights. One click to the right from the neutral 6:00 position should turn on the dims. Two clicks to the right from 6:00 will be the brights.
Marshall

 

[KMBeers]

As always, awesome tips on the clip. Hopefully this is my last go at installing the clip, but we shall see. This morning I put the box in the car and filled it with 600w oil. Of all places the gasket on the side cover is leaking. I am in the process of removing the cover, cleaning things up so I can try and install a new gasket. Looks like the Permatex no 2 gasket paste did not stick to the gasket, no idea why but I will be using something different for the re-do. I will keep everyone posted. This time I will be using Permatex Ultra Black. Need to wait 24 hours before I can put oil in again so I will keep going on the install.

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

Not what you want to read, but no matter what you do, if you used 600w only, your steering box WILL leak. As has been discussed here many times before, the so-called 600w that is sold today is not what Ford used from the factory or what dealerships used to replenish steering boxes. It's much thinner today, although it may pour like maple syrup. Ford originally pumped its 600w into the steering boxes through a Zerk fitting on top of the gear box. Because so many owners and mechanics misunderstood the purpose of this Zerk, they instead thought this was a grease fitting and therefore pumped chassis grease into the steering box - with disastrous results. After a few turns, the chassis grease was squeezed out from between the gears, never to return again. Given its thick consistency, how could it? With the gears now unlubed, metal-to-metal contact between the sector gear teeth and the worm gear eventually dug deep divots into the sector gear teeth, especially evident in two-tooth boxes with their wider teeth. I think it was in 1929 that Ford finally changed to a filler plug to take the place of the Zerk fitting.
Although your box will leak for a while, once the level has gone down below where the sector gear exits the housing, leakage will not be so bad. Until then, however, just keep wiping the leaked 600w from the frame, engine splash pan and the garage floor. It will help control leakage somewhat if you install the tube seal at the bottom of the gear box. One fewer place to leak. As I have written before, I use a 50-50 mix of 600w and STP to slow the leakage. The box still leaks, but nothing like with 600w only.
Marshall

 

[KMBeers]

Thanks Marshall. Have you ever heard of using the John Deere corn head grease in the steering box? Lots of folks here are using it in the universal joint area. I have some and it is way thinner than chassis grease but much thicker than the 600W I have from one of the parts suppliers. I like your method for thickening things up. The other thought I had was to use engine assembly lube, again 3-4x thicker than 600w. I used it on this steering box at assembly knowing it would be a few months before I would get the box installed. Not trying to “reinvent the wheel” here just seeing if there are other alternatives that been tried. I would be good to keep the lube on the inside ��

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

I used to buy the Penrite Steering Gear Lube, but it got so darned expensive that I went back to traditional lubes, like 600w and STP Oil Treatment. I bought a tube of John Deere corn grease two years ago, but it had the consistency of chassis grease and unless I had scooped it into an open gear box from the side, I couldn't see any practical way to get it inside through that small filler hole on top of the gear box without pumping it in through a grease gun. Then what will I have gained over using chassis grease? If it's that thick, just how does it stay coating the gears, and if it squeezes out like chassis grease, how in the heck does new grease get on and in between the gears? It doesn't appear to flow like a "lube". Others seem to like it. I gotta' ask, though - Are you SURE it is even getting back onto the gears and lubing them? How would you know unless you disassemble the steering box many miles later and checked for wear divots in the sector gear teeth?
Marshall

 

[SAXBY2]

Purchase Penrite steering gear lube or 1500W gear oil; most vendor offerings are 140 w equivalent.
As mentioned one can add a little blue STP to the gear oil. No grease. Vendors sell an o ring+ thin washer but the washer may affect clamping the box to the frame properly unless the sector end is recessed slightly. Some owners use right stuff RTV on the large internal cork gasket at the meeting halves. From experience, the corn head grease separates into a liquid form when warm and with some agitation from the gears. It will leak out the box also as well as out the universal clam shell and make a mess..
A wooden yard stick carefully bent to fit between the steering wheel spokes and horn rod can keep the horn rod firm while in the car to help install the u clip.