Steering box removal?

[magnumdust]

Does anyone know where i can find some instructions on removing the steering box from a later A-body w/ crappy headers. I just bought a new steering box/pitman/idler/coupler rebuild kit and it looks like its gonna be a bit of a pain.

 

[wjajr]

Factory service manual outlines steering gear removal procedure. I was able to remove my power gear after pulling pitman arm from under the car equipped with Clifford shorty headers.

You have to lower steering wheel, loosen the bolts holding it to the floor. Drive the split pin holding steering shaft coupler to steering gear, and gently pull steering shaft back from gear.

Under car, disconnect outer tie rod joint, disconnect pitman arm with pitman arm puller. Beating on pitman arm with pickle fork may damage steering gear’s internals. You may or may not have to disconnect exhaust from headers.

Back off the three bolts holding gear to K member, and then remove the bolts. The gear should slide out with a little frigging around, and cussing.

 

[Divenut]

Wjajr pretty much summed it up...I'm in the midst of replacing my box too. The old Hooker Comp headers I make it impossible to get to one of the bolts. Gotta loosen the Header this weekend and see if it gives me enough wiggle room. If not I'll need to jack up the motor a bit, mayber remove the starter to get the Header out. Good times...Good times....

:wack:

Hope your's goes well Magnumdust.

Pat

 

[Dartnut]

I would say take the header off or you will invent some new swear words.

 

[Divenut]

I would say take the header off or you will invent some new swear words.

LOL...So True, it's amazing how the curses flow so smoothly upon realizing this simple fix (Hey, it's just 3 bolts right?) turns into a long drawn out process. Heck I invented a few new words just getting the damn center link out of the way....

 

[magnumdust]

LOL...So True, it's amazing how the curses flow so smoothly upon realizing this simple fix (Hey, it's just 3 bolts right?) turns into a long drawn out process. Heck I invented a few new words just getting the damn center link out of the way....

hmm okay well i guess ill update this when the parts are here.


Oh and i've learned one very important thing working on these cars. Never make the announcement "its only X amount of bolts" that's just inviting disaster.

My gauge cluster was "only held on by 4 bolts". :banghead:

 

[Divenut]

Oh and i've learned one very important thing working on these cars. Never make the announcement "its only X amount of bolts" that's just inviting disaster.

My gauge cluster was "only held on by 4 bolts". :banghead:

LOL!..Same here magumdust...Went OK once I realized I had to drop the steering column to get it out. Doh!

I worked a bit on my gearbox "project" last night after work. Got the car up on stands front and back, removed the coupler. Today I drain the antifreeze and dive into the header. Will post a couple pics later on.

Pat

 

[Divenut]

Hey MagnumDust,

Just an update for you. I was able to get my gearbox off today. Not a terrible pain in the a$&, but did take some time (4 hours +/-).

After removing the center link and pitman arm.

I started by loosening the steering coupler (pushed out the round pin) and removed the steering column mounting bolts Removed the coupler from the box by pulling the column into the cab. There is a small drift pin that you'll need to drive our with a punch to get the coupler off the column.

To get access to the 3 gearbox mounting bolts, I loosened the header which allowed me to get 2 of the 3 bolts. Picked a set of "wobble extensions" which allowed me to get to the last bolt. And pulled/twisted the gearbox forwad and out.

While I was down there I also rmoved the starter and dropped out the header so I can clean and paint them w/POR-15 Exhasut Manifold paint.

Here's a few pics.

Hope this helps you out,

Pat

 

[magnumdust]

I'm glad it went well for you. Mine was a clusterfuck. One bolt had been previously cross threaded and tightened until the welded nut broke. Which led to having to remove the k member to have room to cut it. I'm just now getting most of the car back together.

 

[Divenut]

I'm glad it went well for you. Mine was a clusterfuck. One bolt had been previously cross threaded and tightened until the welded nut broke. Which led to having to remove the k member to have room to cut it. I'm just now getting most of the car back together.

Damn sorry to hear that. :wack:

Good luck getting her back together.

Pat

 

[magnumdust]

Thanks, if I'm lucky it will be together and running this Wednesday. In a way it did sort of work out because the k member had some small, but worrying cracks that needed to be welded up. Plus I had it seam welded which is suppose to stiffen up the k member and help with handling