STP in steering box

In the '60s-'70s we used STP in steering boxes of Sportsman class and Modified class circle track cars, successfully. Added it to transmission, rear end and the engine, of course. From flatheads to 427s. Never experienced a negative from using it. Lots of positives -- the best of which is STP awarded us a Cougar GT for entering our STP racing experience in their contest. :)
 
I still remember the early STP TV commercial, where they used the undefeated boxer, Rocky Marciano to attempt to hold a screwdriver, upside down by the blade, with out it falling free.
You could dip the screwdriver in regular motor oil and hold it fine, but when you dipped it into STP, the harder you squezed it, the faster it would squirt out of your grip. TRY IT !
MIKE :) (mikeburch)
 
Graeme / New Zealand said:
Why is it that we all have this same problem with our steering boxs'?

GB
Click to expand...
I attribute the leakage on my steering box to failure of seals and gaskets over a period of nearly 80 years of usage in a heated condition caused by close placement to the exhaust manifold. I was just about ready to pull the steering box out last may to replace seals and gaskets, but decided to fill it with JDCHG instead. Now, 12 months later, with little or no leaking and good steering, I'm thinking....why bother?
 
In my roadster I've had it in their since before I went to Bonneville last summer - really makes steering easier (IMHO) and does not leak out ....
 
An interesting bit of auto history trivia... Ford sponsored two '35 Ford based cars for the 1935 Indy 500.. They even had '35 Ford grilles..
As I recall, both cars dropped out of the race very early on, do to steering gear failures.. The engine heat caused the steering gears to seize...
Guess a little bit of STP would have saved the day... Of course do to a lack of instant media coverage at the time, this failure of a Ford product was not know for many many years after the event happened..
 
The Miller-Fords competed twice more at Indy with flathead power, in '46 and '47, those times under the ownership of Andy Granatelli. The '47 experience resulted in a 12th position, the flathead Ford's highest finish at Indy.

The car had ran as high as 7th when an engine oil leak necessitated a pit stop, and -- rules prohibiting the adding of oil -- Andy topped the crankcase full of water. The car completed an additional 138 laps before the water/oil mix too was gone, and the engine destructed.

The ol' Ford outlasted (in finishing order) engines by Lencki, Offy, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Miller, Novi, and Sparks... Flathead aficionados, take a bow.
 
Wily Kyote said:
The Miller-Fords competed twice more at Indy with flathead power, in '46 and '47, those times under the ownership of Andy Granatelli. The '47 experience resulted in a 12th position, the flathead Ford's highest finish at Indy.

The car had ran as high as 7th when an engine oil leak necessitated a pit stop, and -- rules prohibiting the adding of oil -- Andy topped the crankcase full of water. The car completed an additional 138 laps before the water/oil mix too was gone, and the engine destructed.

The ol' Ford outlasted (in finishing order) engines by Lencki, Offy, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Miller, Novi, and Sparks... Flathead aficionados, take a bow.
Click to expand...

WOW! Now that's a bit of Ford trivia I had never read or heard about..
As a side-bar.. In 1950 I encountered three people in a Cad in the boonies of Idaho that had broken a rear brake line on a rock.. It was over 100 miles to the nearest town. I flattened the steel brake line, added water to the brake system, bleed the brakes and sent the guy on his way with instructions to get the brake system repaired as soon as he got to town..
My thanks was the guy roaring away on the gravel road..
 
I remember that we would place the open can of STP in a pan of boiling water (after removing it from the stove) and in a couple of minutes it poured like melted butter.
It may have even had that tip printed on the can???
 
I don't know about lubricants and how well STC would work. I put seals in my 32 box and added gear oil. It steers fine and has never leaked a drop. I wonder if the STP does not leak, does it flow to the end of the sector? I don't want to worry about it.
 

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