Is your Manual Steering Box Cracked?

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BillGrissom

BillGrissom

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I found a crack in my 64 manual box, on the bottom of the worm housing. It goes ~1/3 around. The photo shows it well because I shone a bright light along the surface. Not real visible otherwise, but you can catch a fingernail on it. The other lines that look like cracks aren't (just casting lines or scratches).

The second photo is the only clean photo I found of other boxes - sold on FABO in Oct 2010, and also from CA so little corrosion. I think I see a crack in about the same axial location, but you know how photos are (tried zooming and contrast but ??). That view is of the driver's side and my crack doesn't go quite that far.

Is this crack a problem? Anyone seen it before? I googled with no luck. Could it be from the factory casting or heat treating rather than from extreme steering forces? My car is a convertible, so I doubt it was used off-road or harshly. The gear box still had grease inside and seemed OK, I just removed it for refurb since doing the whole steering. I know many will say "don't re-use it", but do you know that your box isn't also cracked. Have you ever cleaned it this well?
 

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Is that the power unit you just rebuilt or the one you took off. I am getting ready to tear into a 64 F/S rebuild in a few days. I will check and see.

If I can find pump brackets for the /6 I will switch it to power.
 
This is the manual box off the 64 Valiant I bought last Dec. It is a slant car, so the box has bushings for the output shaft, rather than the bearings of other boxes (bearings are better). The power gear boxes are steel, so much less likely to crack. Flaming River sells new steel manual boxes, but $500 + shipping (large sector shaft only?).

I have also thought of swapping to power steering since my wife might drive the convertible then. That requires changing the steering shaft and installing a pump. The shaft is easy since many people would love to swap. I have a TRW pump I rebuilt, but no brackets. I would also need a 2 groove crank pulley to replace my single. Power steering adds a lot of bulk and weight, plus robs engine power. It also gets in the way if you want to get fancy like headers or turbo. I am poking around for a replacement manual box, but don't want another cracked one.
 
Bill, I'm in the process of swapping from PS to manual steering. I'm just going to adapt my PS column to the manual box. The column is too nice to swap out and I don't want to mess with swapping shafts. I'm gonna be selling the PS stuff once I get rolling, so let me know if you might need it.
 
Next time I am in the garage I will look at the box I have, it is from a 69.....
 
Soooo,now what? Weld the housing is what I would do. And I guess I better have a peek at my manual box as well...
 
I have heard that many shops don't like to weld cast aluminum since it is porous and the air spitting out makes it hard to get a good bond. Does anyone know if these manual boxes are sand cast or die cast? I am guessing the later, but wonder if that make a difference. I expect getting a used box would be cheaper. My concern is whether this is a generic problem.

Besides my problem, I worry about other FABO drivers. It would be a bad day (or last day) if when you approach a sharp turn on a mountain highway and force the steering the hardest, it fails. With most big block guys changing to manual steering, that seems a concern. Hard enough to muscle those beasts thru a turn as is.

This is an example why it is smart to clean everything very well and inspect thoroughly before re-using. It also lets you paint everything real purty.
 
Well it doesnt look like a poor casting or material.All we can do is try..
 
If I remember right the pre 66 columns are the same for power and non. I've got the column so I can check on that.

I wasn't telling you to switch to power. I was saying I'm going to switch to power if I can find a bracket. It's my ex GF's car and she has trouble in parking lots. Thats why I'm rebuilding it. She high centered a medium.

The /6 already has the pulleys set for it. In fact I have the column, gear, hoses and pump. I just need a bracket. But I will check the manual gearbox when I pull it off.
 
BillGrissom said:
...
This is an example why it is smart to clean everything very well and inspect thoroughly before re-using. It also lets you paint everything real purty.
Click to expand...

Very good advice. Thank you!

I know I'll look at manual boxes much more closely from here on out.
 
Valiantsignet20 said:
If I remember right the pre 66 columns are the same for power and non. I've got the column so I can check on that.

I wasn't telling you to switch to power. I was saying I'm going to switch to power if I can find a bracket. It's my ex GF's car and she has trouble in parking lots. Thats why I'm rebuilding it. She high centered a medium.

The /6 already has the pulleys set for it. In fact I have the column, gear, hoses and pump. I just need a bracket. But I will check the manual gearbox when I pull it off.
Click to expand...

You'll need to change the steering shaft or get a complete PS column to convert 66 and older from manual to power. The PS shaft is shorter......
 
Sent you a PM Bill.

I've got a TIG welder and have welded aluminum before. The casting looks pretty solid to me, I'd be more than happy to give it a try. Looks like you're local to me, so let me know. Worst thing that can happen is you still need a new housing....
 
Guys,

72bluNblu lives near me and repaired the crack for a 6-pack. I threw in a clean starter (went mini). Though a hobbyist, he has an industrial 1970's TIG welder and repaired the crack quickly. He is deep into Mopars. Cast aluminum is tougher than extrusions, but these boxes are die-cast, which is less porous. Air in the casting reacts into aluminum oxide making slag. He got some and had to stop and file it away. I watched thru a mask, and the process looks similar to electrical soldering, just much hotter. See the repair below. The repair is on the bottom, so won't been seen on the car. BTW, the casting PN as best I can read the jumbled characters is 226716523.

I re-thought whether this crack might be a generic problem. I found one of my steering couplers bent into a slight "S", so apparently the steering took a big shock that would have acted on the gear box. The crack didn't go all the way thru, so it might have been fine, but it did crack 2 webs which would greatly decrease the housing's strength, so good it is fixed. I'll see if my wife can manage the multi-turns of manual steering. It is probably safer in one aspect since when you loose power assist, those are a bigger bear to manage.
 

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That is a professional looking repair! Good to know the casting isnt horrendous,and can be repaired. I'm no longer scared to look at my manual steering box,lol
 
Thanks for the kind words Bill! Was great meeting you, always nice to meet another Mopar guy. And its not that often I get to talk to another Aerospace engineer!

BillGrissom said:
He is deep into Mopars
Click to expand...

LOL. Had to laugh at this one. The polite way to say I have more projects than time or sense. :D

needsaresto said:
That is a professional looking repair! Good to know the casting isnt horrendous,and can be repaired. I'm no longer scared to look at my manual steering box,lol
Click to expand...

Thanks!

It actually didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped, but maybe my expectations were a little high.

They can definitely be repaired if you can find someone to weld aluminum. The housing is fairly dense for cast aluminum, but its still a casting. Lots of contamination trapped in the metal. I ended up with a lot of oxidation on the first pass, I had to break out the file a few times to clean things up before continuing. Not exactly ideal, but functional. I don't think I'd want to try welding one up that was much worse off. I'd say Bill's housing was still structurally sound, just a matter of taking care of things so it didn't get worse, rather than trying to put it back together.

Cheers! :drinkers:
 
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