I just cleaned my 31,000 mile standard steering coupler . The judging manual says it should be natural unpainted . All the iron parts on mine have what looks to be factory black paint . About 80% of the paint is still on the coupler with no rust .The rivets are still black and the sheet metal parts still have very good plating . The twelve pointed bolts are not recessed as the manual says . If someone painted this in the past they done a good job . Anybody have any thoughts on this ? The last time the car was on the road was 1973 .
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Re: 65 steering coupler
Bill, three of the '65 national team are in the midst of re-writing the chassis section of the '65 manual. We have been researching the very topic that you have raised in your post. Our research is leading us in directions away from how the 5th edition is written. The steering boxes were manufactured at Saginaw. The coupler was also provided through Saginaw. There were of course two styles of couplers available in '65: the tele column coupler and the standard coupler.
The tele column coupler is riveted. We have found from our research that the tele column coupler was attached to the steering box's steering gear before the entire unit was painted black at Saginaw. The yellow inspection marks that are so commonly seen on original cars were actually placed on the boxes at Saginaw before being painted with black paint. We are concluding from our research that original boxes with yellow paint showing have probably had black paint loss thereby revealing the underlying paint inspection daubs that would have been originally painted over at Saginaw. The tele coupler would have been painted black during the Saginaw black paint process.
You mention in your post that you have a standard coupler. The standard coupler is different than the tele coupler in more than one way. Besides having equal ends (on tele couplers, one side is shorter than the other side), the halves on the standard column are bolted together--not riveted. We have evidence of original standard couplers that have black paint on the forward half of the standard coupler. Could Saginaw have only attached the forward half of the standard coupler when it painted the steering box assembly before bolting on the rag and back half of the coupler? We're not sure of that yet. I'd like to see photos of your coupler for our research. If you wouldn't mind posting or emailing some photos to me, we would appreciate it.
It's hard to say just how liberal the guys were on the St. Louis line with their blackout paint guns when the upper portions of the chasses were hit with blackout paint before body drop. However, the chassis re-writing team is of the opinion now that the black paint on the steering boxes and couplers came from Saginaw and not from the chassis blackout guys at St. Louis.
As for your 12-pointed bolts, do they have 3 lines and an "A" in the center of the bolt head?
TonyRegion VII Director (serving members in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas).
Original member of the Kansas City Chapter, est'd 07/11/1982.
Member: 1965 and 1966 National Judging Teams
Judging Chairman--Kansas City Chapter.
Co-Editor of the 1965 TIM and JG, 6th and 7th editions.
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Re: 65 steering coupler
The flexible coupling with the steering column flange came from Saginaw already assembled to the steering gear. This was the same for the standard (non-adjustable) column as well as the version used with the telescoping column. Here is the gear assembly as shipped from Saginaw for the Vettes with standard steering columns.
JimComment
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Re: 65 steering coupler
BTW, here is a drawing of the flange assembly pinch bolt 7817271 that was used from 1969 through at least the 1980s on General Motors cars and trucks. As near as I can tell, dimensionally it is exactly the same as the earlier 5686553 pinch bolt that was used from 1957 through 1968. The only difference was the plastic patch that was included on the threads of the later 7827271 bolt. There is no mention on the part drawings of any vendor symbols ("E" for instance) on the bolt head.
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Re: 65 steering coupler
Jim. Thanks for your post. What is interesting in these shop drawings is that the design of the tele coupler calls for black paint but the shop drawings for the standard coupler does not call for black paint. We really want to get this right for the 6th edition '65 manual. Jim, are you saying that the entire standard coupler was attached to the steering gear before the steering box was painted? Can you speak to the amount of paint coverage on the standard coupler when the steering box unit was painted at Saginaw?
TonyRegion VII Director (serving members in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas).
Original member of the Kansas City Chapter, est'd 07/11/1982.
Member: 1965 and 1966 National Judging Teams
Judging Chairman--Kansas City Chapter.
Co-Editor of the 1965 TIM and JG, 6th and 7th editions.
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Re: 65 steering coupler
A couple of observations. The Saginaw manufacturing plants did not like Product Engineering dictating plant processes. For instance, if the customer required that the steering gear and the flexible coupling were to be painted, the plant could accomplish the requirement in two ways;
1. They could paint the gear and the flex coupling assembly seperately and then bolt them together.
2. They could assemble the flex coupling assembly to the gear and then paint them both together.
One thing is for certain, if the customer (Chevrolet) required that the gear and flex coupling assembly was to be painted (and the Saginaw drawings indicate that fact). Then Saginaw could not rely upon the car assembly plant (St. Louis) to apply chassis paint to the gear and flex coupling assembly to meet the customer requirement.
Unfortunately, I was still in college in the mid 1960s so I don't have any first hand knowledge as to the processes used to manufacture the Corvette gears (and flexible coupling assemblies) during that time.
JimComment
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Re: 65 steering coupler
This is a question for Jim S. If it's been answered somewhere in the archives, I haven't been able to find it. The current 6th Edition of the '63/'64 Judging Manual states on pg. 126: "1963 models have part number 5666723 cast into the cover until late in production when the numbers were replaced with the words 'CHECK... ...LUBE'. I don't see a date on the drawing in the earlier post on this thread, but it shows the "CHECK LUBE" cap as being correct for 1963-66. My question is: would you agree with the wording in the Judging Manual, or would it be your belief that, as the drawing indicates, the "CHECK LUBE" cap was used throughout 1963 production (as well as other years)?Comment
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Re: 65 steering coupler
Jim,
There have been a few discussions on this topic a few years ago. Probably difficult to find in the archives.
The original cover for 63 did not have the words CHECK LUBE but somewhere around June or July of 63, the casting was modified and those words were added.
There was a survey around that time that showed the new cover with CHECK LUBE showing up on many late production 63's.Comment
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Re: 65 steering coupler
Thanks for the clarification, Michael.Comment
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Re: 65 steering coupler
Hi Tony . I will E mail photos to you . On the bolts one has an F with no lines the other has an A with 3 lines .Comment
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Re: 65 steering coupler
Thanks Jim. That's the drawing I was trying to find in my well un-organized collection. We know that the part drawing called for the coating but here's more proof that it actually occurred. The picture below is a cropped shot of a new 66 chassis going down the St Louis assembly line. The engine/transmission has not been set in the chassis so we know there has been no chassis blackout, at all at this point. Yet, the steering gear and much of the coupler are coated with black. Proof that these assy's arrived at the plant already coated. From what I've seen and what I remember over the years/decades, the coupler seemed to be heavily coated on the forward half but somewhat lightly coated on the rear half. I suppose that may have been done intentionally to prevent the internal splines of the coupler from receiving a direct shot which may have made assembling the shaft into it a bit more difficult. I understand that many restorers won't accept this steering gear/coupler coating as correct because "it ain't pretty" but that's the way it was when new. It's called restoration. Dave Burroughs said it best in his book, Corvette Restoration, State Of The Art. . "The way it was. Not the way we wished it was."Comment
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Re: 65 steering coupler
Tony . send me your regular e mail address . mine is pondpeoplel78@gmail.comComment
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