1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

[Gary R.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

I try to stay out of finish debates since they can be stressful. I have had a lot of original boxes in with what was left of black paint and clearly yellow paint under the black. The bare iron boxes were so dirty few had the yellow paint on them.

I have also had in many "restored" boxes with more yellow and green paint then an Indian warrior would have on his face. Some with a large yellow "L" ( that I was once told ment "leaker"). I never put any inspection paint on my boxes, that is up to the owner.

For bare iron boxes I blast them clean and use RPM, this seems to hold the appearance better then other products and is fast & easy to use.

[Richard G.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

I finally made it through the steering box project. I would not recommended this job for the light of heart!
The biggest issue was the bushings. The shaft is .003 to .004 thousands smaller than 1-1/8 inch.
This makes the bushing propriety or non-standaard sizing. I ended up using the ones that came in the kit.
The OD was smaller than the stock bushings, so it had less press fit. The ID was too small on one end.
Used a wrist pin hone to complete the final clearancing.

I am posting a picture of the adapter, I manufactured, to adapt the 0-25 inch pound torque wrench.
I used this set-up to adjust the rotational torque settings.
I used a LOCTITE thread sealant in stick form as a sealant compound on the threads.
It can be seen at the thread interface. The lock nut covered it as I didn't remove the excess.
After it sets a short time it is likely the lock nut would never be needed.



The manual give the torque settings as pull on the OD of the steering wheel.
The final setting were tighter/higher than what I would have used if i was going only by feel.
I used chassis grease with an EP additive for the fill. Used one complete tube.
I am happy with the final product.

[Gary R.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

Rick what was your final high center lash? Was your high center the same as true center?

I stopped using kit bushings 10-12 years ago because they were sloppy then. I never use a common kit, but they will work. They won't be the same as a custom built box but it all depends on the expected use of the car. Certainly rolling on and off a trailer won't be an issue but better road feel requirements need some more attention.

I switched over to Lucas X-Tra HD green grease recently and like it. I haven't opened up a tube yet and found oil separation- unlike some of the other greases out there.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

Richard-------

GM #12377985 is the "direct descendant" of the grease which GM originally specified for the Corvette steering gear.

[Richard G.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

Rick what was your final high center lash? Was your high center the same as true center?

My source for the rebuilding was mostly the factory manual. Although I used what I could find, like your recommendations for bushing clearances. Manual only says "replace bushing". With bushings that are no longer available, of course. After so many years the manual is only good for so much especially without parts support. A long winded way of saying thanks for your input as it is always appreciated.

Back to the lash issue; The manual has you tighten the top screw till a additional (higher than the initial preloading setting) torque value is reached while the shaft is centered (true center). I believe I understand true center, the definition anyway but am confused about high center. It is where the turning torque is highest? Is lash the same as backlash? As I turn the input shaft I can feel it get slightly more difficult to turn on each side of true center. When adjusting the the top screw for the additional torque, it is measured at the center position according to the GM manual. That is how I did it anyway. Another thing I was wondering about is do you complete the last torque setting with the box empty or full of grease?


I also called GM for the recommended steering box grease. The reply was "no such part number and no replacement." Thanks Joe, for the GM equivalent, "GM #12377985" even the local Chevrolet parts guy don't know about the replacement. My local dealer even adds 10% to the MSRP of parts. I try to avoid them whenever possible.
Thanks
Rick

[Gary R.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

Rick
In a prefect text book world the true center, the point 1/2 way between ends and what I call high lash- the highest point of drag are at the same point= high lash is at true center.

Real world Saginaw boxes are all over the place. One of the first checks I do is see where the 2 points are before any work is done so I have a reference of the original gear set which will relate to the alignment within the car. Changing gears- whether new or used, or swapping in another box will most likely result in the steering wheel center position being off. Happens most of the time unless I am able to reuse the original gears.

The travel of the box from lock to lock is about 4 turns- off the car and about 2.750 in the car. The box will never travel lock to lock so I am not as concerned about true center but more with high center. That is the point where the straight line driving is supposed to be the tightest, if the two are not the same and the car is aligned at true center then it could be loose straight and tight in turns. Many of the "rebuilt" boxes out there are bad, plain and simple. In addition to finding rebuilt boxes with off center setups, I have found a LOT of them are just painted and greased and I can guarantee an in/lb dial TW was no where near them when assembled. Top that off with worm nuts flipped upside down to try and make worn out gears work= feels like turning a box of rocks. Welded teeth on others and so forth. An original 200k mile box with worn out gears is better then what I have seen.

I always reference high center on my boxes, the 63-E69's and have to grind in the D-Flats on the L69-82's. It poses more of a problem with the Late boxes because of that D-Flat.

I would check yours again to see where the points are to get the best results. Good luck!

[Gary R.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

Rick
I forgot to mention I am doing an original low mileage steering box from a '65 now. It appears to be originally painted black but clearly had a yellow line under the black and showing through. The box is to be blueprinted so that finish will change but this one was odd in the fact the yellow line was about 3-4" long.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

Rick what was your final high center lash? Was your high center the same as true center?

My source for the rebuilding was mostly the factory manual. Although I used what I could find, like your recommendations for bushing clearances. Manual only says "replace bushing". With bushings that are no longer available, of course. After so many years the manual is only good for so much especially without parts support. A long winded way of saying thanks for your input as it is always appreciated.

Back to the lash issue; The manual has you tighten the top screw till a additional (higher than the initial preloading setting) torque value is reached while the shaft is centered (true center). I believe I understand true center, the definition anyway but am confused about high center. It is where the turning torque is highest? Is lash the same as backlash? As I turn the input shaft I can feel it get slightly more difficult to turn on each side of true center. When adjusting the the top screw for the additional torque, it is measured at the center position according to the GM manual. That is how I did it anyway. Another thing I was wondering about is do you complete the last torque setting with the box empty or full of grease?


I also called GM for the recommended steering box grease. The reply was "no such part number and no replacement." Thanks Joe, for the GM equivalent, "GM #12377985" even the local Chevrolet parts guy don't know about the replacement. My local dealer even adds 10% to the MSRP of parts. I try to avoid them whenever possible.
Thanks
Rick

Rick-------


The GM #12377985 replaced GM #1052084. The latter was the original Corvette steering gear lubricant. This is not the same as the lubricant used on other Chevrolet manual steering gears. The 12377985 also replaced several other GM greases so it can become pretty much a "one-size-fits-all" chassis grease. The only exception is Corvette front wheel bearings.

[John D.]

Re: 1963 steering box color conundrum. With pictures

Ever get dizzy from reading posts??? This one did me in gang as very tired. I do believe the 6th edition of the judging manual says either bare or black boxes will fly. My 63, the LWC has a black box. Other parts on the car that I were left bare and then hit with satin clear are getting rusty.