It has been recommended to use chassis grease rather than oil in the steering box for C1s (mine is a '58). I believe someone also recommended installing a grease fitting in place of the fill plug. I have done this, but now I'm not so sure it's a good idea. If I try to pump grease in to a partially empty steering box, where will the air go? Suspension grease points are not sealed as well as the steering box so air (and eventually grease) will ooze out the sides. Or am I wrong about the steering box being well sealed?
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Re: Adding grease fitting to C1 steering box
Remove the fill plug on top and pump grease until it comes out the fill plug.
Regards, John McGraw -
Should I bother with a grease fitting? *NM*
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Re: Should I bother with a grease fitting?
Mike, if you have the fitting bolt, it is the easiest way, other wise you have to pull the cover and pack the box full of grease. There is a little hollow bolt made to replace one of the lower bolts in the cover which has a zerk mounted in it, you just screw the bolt in and pump grease into the box. If you do not have one, drop me an email and I will lend you mine.
Regards, John McGrawComment
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Re: Adding grease fitting to C1 steering box
Mike,
I removed the top fill plug, removed the end of my grease gun that fits on the zerk and inserted the tube into the box and pumped away. When it appeared full I jacked the car up and turned the steering lock to lock about a dozen times so the grease was distributed throughout the box and then pumped another half dozen or so shots of grease to finish filling the box up. After I drove the car a couple of hundred miles aroud town with a lot of turning I checked the box and the grease was still at the plug opening. You don't need a zerk fitting and you can fill it at the top through the fill plug opening.Comment
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Adding grease fitting to C1 steering box-WHY?
Grease fittings were in use during the C1 years. Corvette engineers specified 90W gear lube for the box. If there was an advantage to grease in place of oil then they certainly would have considered it's use. The owner's manual reveals many secrets!
As is the case with most ALL well intentioned "upgrades", the resultant problems just aren't worth the hassle. C1 Corvettes are legendary, valuable, fun, collectable and worth preserving/restoring. C1 street rods and "improved" Corvettes are another story!
Dale PearmanComment
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Re: Adding grease fitting to C1 steering box-WHY?
Dale, There is a reason for putting grease in the box rather than gear lube, I am getting tired of the box weeping all over my floor! I didn't listen to the throngs of people who told me that I would never get the box to seal and went ahead and put 90W in it. I have heard from dozens of people who have put the chassis grease in and have not reported any problems, so I was planning on doing so as well. Is there some valid reason not to other than that was not the way GM did it back then?
Regards, John McGrawComment
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Correct Assembly
and sealing of the gear box will prevent leakage. The PSI pressure of the worm aginst the sector gear is astronomical! That's why they are hardened to such a degree. Corvette engineers knew about grease during the C1 years but chose 90W instead. I don't know why.
I only know that after 25 years of monkeying around with "upgrades" and improvements I've learned that ORIGINAL is the most reliable, satisfying, rewarding and cheapest way to go with a C1 Corvette.
David Harrington "improved" on GM engineering a while back by offering a roller bearing upgrade for the steering box. He supplied a tube of high tech grease and a fitting to go along with his "rebuild" kit. I have been told of several crashes and lawsuits because of steering failure with these kits.
Dale PearmanComment
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Re: Correct Assembly
Well, I guess that I just am not the mechanic that you are Dale. I have had my box apart twice trying to seal it and it still weeps lube. Regards, JohnComment
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P.S.
Also, John Hinkley informed me that Chevrolet had a service bulletin in 1958 that advised to do just this for cars that experienced leakage of the steering box! Regards John McGrawComment
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Re: Correct Assembly
You may have warped components that could be dressed to hold a seal with the correct gaskets. Grease is a quick fix.
The assembly dudes who originally put the box together surely didn't have a mechanical problem nor were they expert crtaftsmen either. Chevrolet wouldn't have supplied this steering apparatus from 1953 until 1962 if it was a perennial leaker!
Dale.Comment
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Re: Correct Assembly
While I would like to think that you are right that GM would not sell something that they knew was not right, I think that history will show that is not so. My 60 weeps at the bearing thrust adjuster cup threads, just like most C1 cars I have seen. I have tried both silicone and permatex non-hardening sealer and the car still weeps. Replenishing the supply of lube from time to time is, of course always an option, but if the grease resolves the problem and GM blessed the fix in a service bulletin then that looks like a viable option.
Regards, John McGrawComment
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It's Your Car
You can paint it pink if you so desire.
Dale.Comment
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Re: It's Your Car
Of course it Dale, but that hardly is the point is it? The point of this post was to get a little debate going! The only problem is nobody else would join in.
It has been interesting however watching over the last few years as you went from "Restored Corvettes Suck" to "If Gm had wanted to do that they would have".
There is much we agree on and much we do not. I am an avid restorer and belive in keeping a car as original as possible while making it a pleasure to drive. I will never be an "original air in the tires" trailer queen owner, and I will occasionally hot rod a car that was too far gone to restore anyway! The lube in the steering box makes about as much difference as wether we use silicone brake fluid or have a stroker crank in our 283, and will not affect us on the judging field. If in fact there is a known problem with using chassis grease in the box then I would be interested in hearing from anyone who knows of one. I will never be able to accept the notion that all engineering advancements ceased in 1962.
Regards, John McGrawComment
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Re: It's Your Car
we used chassis lube in the box back in the 60s because when racing the corvettes the heat from the exhaust made the gear lube thin and run out every place.some racer even had it come out in side the car. the exhaust heat may also have caused the parts to warp and to lose their sealing,never took time to find out,just added the chassis lube. the new synthetic greases with moly should work well.Comment
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