snoopy2x
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Actually, I haven't remedied this horn wire tube issue yet, as the box it came out of was the (side-fill plug) housing that was originally in my 1967 CJ5, which I'm about to replace with the restored 1968-dated top-fill plug version. I'll keep all of the parts, though, and if it's necessary to re-use the housing at some point, I'll do as you suggest and try to find a used OE horn wire tube for it. Another question that I've been meaning to ask you concerns the wisdom, or lack thereof, in installing an aftermarket steering stabilizer, like this one made by Rancho: http://www.amazon.com/Rancho-RS97345-Steering-Stabilizer-Kit/dp/B000CP8H6W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457751948&sr=8-1&keywords=Rancho+RS+97345 My brother in law has a similar steering stabilizer on his '67 CJ5, and seems to like it. I've resisted installing one up to this point simply out of a desire to maintain as much originality as possible. However, it is an easily removable bolt-on item that, if it were painted black, would not be all that noticeable. If it would increase the safety margin (as it is supposed to mitigate against the dreaded "death wobble") and/or the driveablilty of the jeep somewhat, maybe it would be worth doing. What are your thoughts? (If I do end up deciding to get one, I definitely would not install it before driving and evaluating the jeep with its restored steering gear without it for a good while first.) By the way, I'm pleased to report that my brother in law does indeed seem to be appropriately thrilled with his restored steering gear. Earlier today, when I sent him a link to the post on it above, he wrote back, "That's great! I feel like I own a Celebrity Gearbox now." -
You're correct that the number of shims required for this steering gear was significantly more than was the case for the '68 box. My guess is that the bottom thickness of the Crown roll-neck races may be greater than that of the previously installed (aftermarket "square-neck") races, but I'm really not sure. In any case, once I used the "right" number of shims, it went together fine, with zero shaft end play. I'll certainly keep your suggestion in mind if that end play ever increases as the gear "wears in". (Also, did you see the short post on the horn wire tube issue directly above your last response? I think they may have crossed in cyberspace....)
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PS - Moses, I meant to tell you that the Mystery of the Horn Wire Tube Fitting we were theorizing about earlier in this thread is solved. I decided to remove it as the horn tube was pretty bent up anyway. When I did, what had been done by the prior owner (or some mechanic) became obvious. Apparently, the original horn wire tube either started leaking where it was brazed to the cover, or was damaged during an attempt to disassemble the box out-of-sequence. The method used to replace it was to drill out the original cover and use a 1/4" plumbing compression fitting threaded into it, to which was attached a piece of more-or-less straightened 1/4" copper tubing. A resourceful solution, and really not a bad fix. Anyway, here's a photo of it:
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Moses, Again, thanks so much for the positive feedback! I'm humbled that someone like you who is so experienced and widely respected in the jeep realm thinks well of what I've done here, especially given that it's my first steering gear rebuilding / restoration. I'm no less than delighted that you found the vacuum-pump bearing greasing method I suggested to be helpful, particularly considering the fact that you have been so incredibly helpful to me. This is true in several ways - not only in the great deal of time you've spent to thoroughly talk me through the process of rebuilding the Ross TL gear here in this thread, but also through your jeep-related books and videos over the years. As I put the second steering gear together (my brother-in-law's 1966-dated box), I ran into a few interesting problems that I hadn't with the 1968-dated box . The first was that the NOS Crown roll-neck bearing races I needed to install were apparently just fractionally larger in diameter than the aftermarket "square-necked" ones I had removed from the housing. The thickness of the new Glyptal paint around the bearing race seat could also have been a factor here, though I didn't experience this problem when installing the NOS TRW / Ross races in the other box. In any case, to get the lower bearing race installed in this housing, I had to use the hydraulic press to get it seated. This was a bit difficult due to the fact that the horn wire tube was already installed at that point. In order to work around the horn wire tube without damaging it, I used a 12" long 1/2" diameter metal pipe, and an appropriately sized socket, to push the bearing into its seat: The machine shop tried to fix the bent cam tube mentioned previously, and although they succeeded in straightening it to a large extent, it was still just not quite "straight enough". So it was time to move to "Plan B", which was to re-thread the cam tube with the stripped threads. Initially it was thought that doing this might cause the tube to get too thin and therefore too weak, but it ended up working out fine. The original 13/16" fine thread was carefully removed using a lathe, and the reduced-diameter shaft end was then re-threaded using a 3/4"x16 die. Here are before & after photos of this shaft: I've not yet been able to find a sufficiently thin 3/4"x16 nut to secure the steering wheel, so it may be necessary to grind down or machine a thicker nut in order to make it thin enough so that the horn button will work. On the other hand, it may turn out that the 1/4" thick nut already in hand works okay as-is once the steering wheel is firmly seated on the spline. New ball bearings were used along with the original plastic bearing retainer rings. I prefer to use American-made parts whenever possible, and after some searching I was able to find new Made-In-USA 5/16" Grade 25 ball bearings at http://ballbaron.com/products/516-inch-g-25-chrome-steel-bearing-aisi-52100. (I checked with the manufacturer directly to make sure, and was told that these bearings are indeed made in their plant in Georgia). The parts just before assembly: The assembly process was basically the same as with the 1968-dated box, so except for those included here, I didn't take photos this time. The only other issue I ran into during assembly that's worth mentioning is that due to the fact that the shaft was rethreaded to a smaller diameter thread, the original brass horn wire button cup was a bit too wide for the new, smaller 3/4" nut to fit around. To adapt it, I had to carefully grind off just enough metal from the outside diameter of the lip of the cup so that the cup would still seat inside the shaft without falling through, but would also be small enough to fit through the new 3/4" steering wheel nut. I did this using a Dremel: The completed assembled gear, which is now ready to send back to my brother-in-law (who has waited very patiently for the past month or so, but I know is itching to get it installed and get his jeep back on the road!) The upper steering column bearing is not fully pressed in yet, as he has decided to replace the dented original steering column tube with a new one before installing the assembly his jeep: Before & after photos of the 1966-dated (side fill port) Ross TL box. I've included a pipe elbow in the fill port that was not installed previously in order to raise the lubricant fill height of the box by 1/2" - 3/4". As noted earlier in this thread, this same modification was routinely made to these side-fill port steering boxes by Jeep dealerships "back in the day". I'll update this thread again after the 1968-dated gear is installed in my jeep, and will follow up re. the testing of the rebuilt steering gear with and without the TightSteer unit installed.
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As always, your expertise and insight are greatly appreciated, Moses. I can completely see your point re. how the cone-shaped lever shaft pins enable them to stay in contact with the cam as the lever shaft is "pushed" away from the cam and into the set screw. By the same token, at the point where the greatest possible movement of the lever shaft occurs along the axis of the shaft is the same point where the steering wheel would have maximum play, as the cone-shaped pins then have the most side-to-side clearance between the opposing faces of the cam groove. If the TightSteer's spring-loaded plunger design which replaces the set screw can largely prevent this by keeping the lever shaft pins fully engaged in the groove, essentially eliminating that side-to-side clearance, it should likewise greatly reduce any steering wheel play. From a drive-ability standpoint, that to me is TIghtSteer's most attractive proposition. As you say, we'll soon find out how well it actually works in the fully rebuilt steering gear. Speaking of which..... The last tasks to perform in assembling the gear were to install the steering column, and repair the horn wire. I soaked and cleaned the upper steering column bearing in solvent, let it dry completely, then re-greased it using Dupont Teflon grease. I did not want to try to disassemble this unusually shaped bearing in order to grease it, as I wasn't completely sure I'd be able to get it back together correctly. On the other hand, the clearances where grease could be pushed into the assembled bearing are very tight, so trying to pack it manually might not have succeeded in getting enough grease inside. Instead, I used a vacuum pump & canister to "pull" the grease into the bearing, which worked very well. Here's a video (not mine) on this general subject showing the steps in this process: I decide to repair my original horn wire rather than use the Omix-Ada replacement, as I liked the quality of the spring and sheath setup in the original better. My original wire still had normal electrical continuity, and was in very good shape except for a small nick in the insulation down near the plug, which caused it to be a bit weak at the nick. To repair and seal the nick in the insulation and at the same time reinforce the stiffness of the wire there, I applied five layers of electrical heat shrink tubing, one at a time around the nicked area (Yep....that ought'a do it!). Note that this repair had to be done after the wire was threaded through the horn wire tube, as the repaired area would not have fit through its inside diameter. Also, in order to fish the wire from the steering wheel end through the horn wire tube, it is easiest to push a different wire through from the lower end, tape the end of that wire securely to the plug above the top of the tube, then pull the horn wire slowly down through the tube. Here are a few photos of the fully assembled gear. Note that the NOS pitman arm, which was blasted and coated with epoxy gloss black paint, has not yet been installed, but is still loose, without the spline being engaged. Since it wasn't possible in this case to determine the correct position of the pitman arm on the lever shaft spline, that will have to be done after the box is mounted in the jeep with the lever shaft and steering wheel centered, and the wheels held in the straight ahead position, as you described in your 6 February post in this thread. "Before & after" photos of the assembled 1968-dated Ross steering gear: I'm now in the process of assembling my brother-in-law's 1966-dated steering gear, which posed a few issues I didn't have to deal with on the 1968-dated (top fill plug) gear above. I'll post a few more photos here as I finish getting that one put together.
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You're probably exactly correct re. the crown of American roads being the reason for the progressive spiral cam. That idea had never even occurred to me, but now that you've brought it up, I can't think of any other possible reason either. Thanks so much for the kind words! Though I'm not a technician or an engineer, I am an architect....so I particularly appreciate your "precisely functioning piece of art" comment! The only additional thing I can see that could possibly give this steering gear a greater lifespan might be - if it turns out to work as advertised - a TightSteer unit. Toward the end of finding the eventual answer to that question: Below are a series of photos taken during assembly, with the gear box held in the horizontal position. The dial indicator was placed on the center of the lever shaft pivot, and the cam was rotated to move the lever shaft through its full range of motion, starting at the center point. Lever shaft at center position - d/i measuring .0515 +/- : Lever shaft at half left turn - d/i measuring .026 +/- : Lever shaft at full left turn - d/i measuring .014 +/- : Lever shaft at half right turn - d/i measuring .023 +/- : Lever shaft at full right turn - d/- measuring .043 +/- : The lever shaft set screw is able only to limit the end play just past the lever shaft's greatest axial movement, which occurs at the point where it travels through the center position over the cam. As can be inferred from the photos above, starting at the center point and moving across the lever shaft's full range of motion from full left to full right turn, there are over 30 thousands of an inch of "free" end play present at various points between the lever shaft pivot and the set screw. When the steering gear is installed, this end play of the lever shaft - which in turn allows the cone-shaped lever shaft pins to move or "rattle" slightly from side to side, since they are not fully engaged in the cam's groove - will translate into free play at the steering wheel. That said, there are of course several other wear or adjustment factors in the steering system that can also cause or contribute to this same symptom. To illustrate the clearance between the lever shaft pins and the cam another way, here are two photos taken after the gear box was fully assembled, and the set screw installed properly so that just a very slight bit of drag is present when the cam travels through its center position. In these photos, the box is held horizontally, with the lever shaft end pointing up. The lever shaft is in the half-right turn position, with the dial indicator set to measure the shaft end play. The dial indicator measurement when the pivot of the lever shaft is touching the set screw: The dial indicator measurement when I push the lever shaft upward as far as possible, to where the lever shaft pins are fully engaged in the cam. Note that the dial indicator is showing over 30 thousandths of an inch of movement at the end of the lever shaft from the previous measurement: As I hope to be able to eliminate the lever shaft end play issue in my jeep's steering gear as much as possible, I decided to purchase a TightSteer unit and try it out. As discussed in this thread previously, it is designed to replace the standard stationary lever shaft set screw. I'm hoping that with its spring-loaded plunger, it will serve to keep the lever shaft pins fully engaged in the cam across its entire range of motion, and to a large extent, eliminate the current free end play present in the lever shaft. (In addition, as you brought up earlier, Moses, the TightSteer's spring could potentially act as a kind of "shock absorber" for the internal steering gear parts, which would also be advantageous.) Here's a photo of the TightSteer before installation. It appears to be a well made, susbstantial part. Its spring-loaded plunger is visible at the right end of the unit: I installed the TightSteer per the instructions (attached below), and as might be expected given that has a moving spring-loaded plunger rather than a fixed-position set screw, there is a bit more drag present when the cam moves through the center position than there is with the stationary set screw. However, the unit does appear to function as intended, in that there is now no measurable end play in the lever shaft at any position throughout its range of motion. Of course, I've not been able to try it "on the road" yet - but I soon will. The following two photos were also taken with the TightSteer unit installed, and the lever shaft at the half-right turn position. Note that the dial indicator is at the same position in both of these photos. This is because when I tried to move the end of the lever shaft upward in the second photo, the indicator did not move, as the TightSteer's spring plunger is keeping the lever shaft pins fully engaged in the cam. I plan to install the rebuilt steering gear with the set screw installed first, then install the TightSteer later in order to allow a good comparison of the two from a driving standpoint. It'll be interesting to see the results! TightSteer Instructions.pdf
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Moving along now through the rest of the gear assembly..... The next step was to thoroughly grease the surface of the cam (having already done so with the bearings), using the Penrite Steering Gear Lube. It is thick enough, at least at 60 degrees F, that it stayed on the cam and didn't flow too much during this initial greasing of the parts being installed: The lever / sector shaft was then inserted at the center (wheels straight ahead) position: I thought it might be helpful to also include a composite photo showing the lever shaft in five different positions. The first photo shows the lever shaft in the full right turn position; second, its position at half-right turn; third at the center position; fourth, at its position at half-left turn; and fifth, in its position at full left turn: When I was confident that the lever shaft was in the correct center position on the cam, I used a Sharpie to make three asymmetrical marks along the bottom of the housing at the lever shaft seal (as this is the portion that will be visible from below when it is bolted onto the jeep's frame), and also on the lever shaft itself. This will allow me to visually align the lever shaft to the center position after the housing is installed. (If you'll recall from one of my initial posts in this thread, the end markings on the aftermarket lever shaft that was installed in my box prior to rebuilding were different from those on the end of the NOS lever shaft installed during the rebuild. For this reason, I'm going to have to align the sector shaft and install the pitman arm after the box is installed, with the wheels held in the straight-ahead position). The cover was then installed after thoroughly Gasgacinch'ing the gasket and gasket surfaces on the housing and cover, as well as the bolt threads: The fully assembled housing, with the 5/16" bolts torqued to 18 ft-lbs per the TRW specs, ready for the installation of the steering column tube: Also, Moses, I have a question for you that I meant to ask earlier. Do you happen to know why the spiral groove in the cam is a progressive, rather than a constant, uniform spiral? I would think the progressive spiral would cause the rate of rotation of the lever shaft to be different when turning from the center to left than when turning from center to right. Thank you, Moses, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
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Thanks for the positive feedback, Moses! To answer your questions, I don't know how to derive the torque from the spring tension per se, but in any case, it only took a very slight amount of spring tension to rotate the shaft. Using the 1/4" torque wrench in attempting to compare my gear's setup to TRW / Ross's torque specs of 2 to 6 in-lbs, the torque wrench did not reach even one in-lb before the shaft turned in either direction. However, any more pressure on the bearings (i.e. fewer or thinner shims) caused a bit of the "notchiness" in the shaft rotation that I was specifically trying to avoid - so I decided the lesser of the evils was to leave everything as-is, especially given that there is zero measurable shaft end play at present. I didn't put Gasgacinch around the sector shaft seal before seating it, though in hindsight if I were doing it again I would add this step, since as you say it would provide a bit of extra insurance against leaks. This seal did take some pressure to insert into the recess in the housing, so hopefully the Glyptal coating will help keep this joint leakproof. Based on user reviews, one of the benefits of the Penrite Steering Gear Lube is that its thick viscosity compared to the originally spec'ed oil evidently causes leaks to occur much less frequently than when the typical (lighter weight) oils are used. This factor may help keep the sector shaft seal leak-free as well. Penrite is an Australian product that's still in production, and is available in the US through Restoration Supply Company: http://www.restorationstuff.com/products.html If you open their .pdf catalog, you'll find it under Penrite Products at the bottom of Page 24:
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I finally found the time to assemble the steering gear over the past several days, as shown in the photos below. The lower bearing race was very tight where it fit into the housing, and had to be firmly tapped into place to seat properly. (Note that I was unable to use the lower circular end clip due to the fact that the lower race had to be installed separately from the cam tube.) I did this using a short piece of PVC drain pipe that was soft enough to ensure that the race wouldn't be damaged.: The sector shaft seal installation. I had originally intended to use a new Omix-Ada sector shaft seal, but that part didn't fit very well in the recess in the housing, and I was afraid it wouldn't seal well. Instead, I was able to locate an NOS 15/16" sector shaft seal that proved to be in great shape, which must mean it was stored properly. It can just be pressed in by hand using an appropriately sized socket. The internal lip of the seal should be greased beforehand. The cam tube and bearings and upper race ready for installation. Note the Penrite Steering Gear Lube, which I'll fill the finished gear with after it's installed in the jeep. I also used Penrite to lubricate the parts as I assembled them in the housing: I took a 4' long 2" x 2" x 3/16" steel angle and drill two 3/8" holes near the end matching the positions of the two lower mounting holes in the steering gear housing. The lower end of the angle rested on the concrete floor, and the perpendicular leg was clamped into a bench vise, keeping it vertical. Using this angle iron arrangement also allowed me to easily position the housing in a number of different ways during the process of assembling it, which proved to be really helpful. Here the housing is bolted to the angle, and the cam tube and associated parts are just loosely fit together inside it: The cam tube and bearings waiting for shims: Selecting the proper number of shims around the top bearing takes awhile. After initially guesstimating the appropriate amount of shims, the upper bearing retainer must be tightened down in order to assess how smoothly the cam tube turns, as well to check for shaft end play (which should be zero). It must then be taken apart again, and shims added or subtracted.....and then the trial and error process is repeated as necessary: I measured the end play by using a magnetic-base dial indicator attached to the "top" of the angle iron. Once the shim count was correct, and the upper bearing retainer was installed with the bolts properly torqued to 18 ft-lbs, end play was at zero - but at the same time, the bearing action was completely smooth. The TRW / Ross instructions shown on Page 1 of this thread indicate that a shaft torque reading of 2 to 6 in-lbs is appropriate for the TL gear. I measured below this reading using a 1/4 drive torque wrench with a 13/16 12-point socket which locked onto the spline. Another good way to check that the number of shims is correct is to use a spring scale like Moses did in his video. The goal is to use the spring scale to pull a string that's wound around the cam tube, and not feel any "notchiness" in the bearings as the string unwinds and turns it. Be sure not to wind the part of the string that will be unwound from the tube around the string's loose end, except for once at the top to hold it in place - because if you do, it will create exactly the notch-y feel you're hoping to avoid (don't ask me how I know this.) Once the correct shim count was determined, the next step was to coat the shims with Gasgacinch on each side and install. Though the old shims could be re-used if in good shape, on this box I found that I had to use all new shims, as the old ones were significantly corroded. As I waited for the Gasgacinch to dry before installing the shims and upper bearing retainer, I found myself wondering what the significance of the (apparently falling) girl on the artwork on the front of the can could be. I also found that I have no idea.....unless maybe it's supposed to indicate that Gasgacinch helps to keep gaskets (and, evidently, girls) from slipping......? More to come!
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You were definitely correct when you indicated in your 29 January post on this thread that Ross was well aware that their cam & lever steering gear designs with stationary / fixed pins, like the ones used on jeeps from 1941 through 1971, created uneven wear points on those pins. Ross also had to have known that such wear would in turn cause this type of steering gear to become progressively more "out of adjustment" over time, just from normal use. As proof positive that they knew all of this long before they designed the fixed-pin type TL steering gear used in jeeps, below is another Ross ad from 1930 claiming that "....in this new type of Cam & Lever Steering Gear, wear has been reduced to a negligible factor". As shown in the illustration, the key to this improvement was that the single lever pin, rather than being fixed in place, was designed to rotate inside a set of paired, tapered roller bearings - which, as you also pointed out in your 29 Jan. post, served to greatly reduce wear on the pin. Steering gear incorporating this feature would indeed, as the ad also claims, tend to "Stay in Adjustment" - at least to a far greater degree than the fixed-pin type of gear used in the early jeeps. My guess is that the rather unfortunate decision to use the fixed-pin type of cam & lever steering gear design in the original pre-war jeeps (which later propagated into the post-war jeeps) probably doesn't rest entirely on Ross' shoulders. Ross would almost certainly have offered several different steering gear price and design options to automobile manufacturers at that time, including both the fixed- and rotating-pin types. In 1940, Willys developed their prototype Quad for the US Army's four wheel drive general-purpose utility vehicle design competition. One of the many factors assessed was the per-vehicle cost to the Army. As the submission ultimately selected, the Quad prototype design evolved to become the 1941 MA and subsequent MB model jeeps. Though Ross clearly had better steering gear technology available by then, it's quite possible that in order to help minimize overall vehicle cost, Willys specifically requested that Ross provide a simple and relatively inexpensive fixed-pin type cam & lever steering gear for these early jeeps. Given that the fixed-pin Ross steering gear held up and performed well in combat conditions during WWII, after the war there was likely little perceived need to upgrade to a better type of steering gear for the post-war civilian jeeps. The longer-term lifespan of the fixed-pin type design may not have been seriously evaluated or considered by Willys at that point (or alternatively, it could have been an example of planned obsolescence.....just think of how many replacement lever shafts must've later been sold!) In any case, it stands to reason that Ross would have preferred to provide a higher-end - and higher-priced - paired tapered roller bearing lever pin type steering gear for the jeep, as the company would likely have realized a greater profit as a result. One thing is certain: Many owners of classic jeeps today sure wish they had!
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To your point earlier in this thread that the Ross cam & lever steering gear is really quite primitive, check out this ad from 1929. Evidently Ross patented their steering gear design sometime before then, which is why they were able to claim that it was "exclusive with Ross", and that "There is only one Cam & Lever Steering Gear":
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SUCCESS.....in two ways......first, I was able to get the Glyptal-painted parts "cooked"......and second, my wife didn't catch on to the fact that I used our oven for industrial baking! :-)
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Here's some more info I just came across re. the TightSteer unit that may be of interest. This 2012 post by the inventor, Roger Simonoff, is from http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/steering-damper-for-ross-steering-boxes_topic22883.html: Just wanted to do an update and share some findings relative to Ross steering boxes. We've prepared a cutaway of a Ross box, attached a small steering wheel, and mounted it on a wood stand so that we can take it to rally's and shows and demo how TightSteer works with a Ross box and exactly what it does. This way, people can look inside the box while they turn the wheel to better understand how a Ross box works. In doing this, we learned a few things that might be of interest to some of you: 1) By attaching a dial indicator to the spring-loaded plunger in the TightSteer we could measure the runout through the entire steering rotation of the box. (This photo simulates the test - in the real test everything was clamped down to the workbench.) I was surprised to learn that the runout was as much as .035" and it wasn't in any one place, but instead up and down from zero to .035" play from lock to lock (and this box has new sector shaft and bushings). (With TightSteer in place, the sector shaft stayed engaged with the cam and compensated for the runout, but without it, there would be places where the sector shaft's teeth were engaged in the cam and places where there was .035" play. As well as I could tell, and with the equipment I have, the .035" play equates to about 15° rotation at the wheel.) 2) As one would assume, the sector shaft's two pins are in the cam in the straight-ahead position, but when the steering wheel is turned either left or right of center to about 94° or 95° the outbound pin is leaving the cam - that is, it is no longer in contact with the cam. This means that in turns sharper than 95° on the steering wheel (1/4 turn), all the load is on the pin that is in the cam! I'll share more data as I learn it... Roger Also, this later Youtube video about the TightSteer unit is on the manufacturer's website, http://www.siminoffjeeparts.com/: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2yfDKF1uZA
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Thanks very much for the compliment, Moses.....I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your help with this project! While I'm waiting for the paint to cure fully via air drying (or alternatively, for the opportunity to arise to sneak the housing parts into our oven without my wife knowing), there are a couple of other tasks I can complete in the meantime. One item left on my to-do list is to polish the worm, spline, and threads of the previously glass-beaded cam tube. I did this today using the wire wheel on my grinder, which is a great tool for performing this job, as noted in your video. Here are a couple of photos of the polishing underway:
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Well, the weather was fortunately cooperative today, and I was able to get the housings painted with Glyptal inside & out. After cleaning them thoroughly with mineral spirits as recommended, using rubber gloves to ensure that they didn't pick up any residue from my hands, I blocked both ends of the 15/16" lever shaft bushings with 1" tapered rubber plugs (see photo below), and started painting, two coats on the inside surfaces first, followed by two on the outside. I applied each coat two hours apart as Glyptal recommends. I found this paint very easy to work with. It doesn't require a primer, goes on smoothly, and dries to the touch quickly. Now I either need to wait an entire week until the paint cures fully at room temperature.....or wait until my wife is out of the house for awhile, and put the parts in our oven for a couple of hours at 150 degrees. (I will do the latter if I get the chance, though I strongly suspect it would not be wise to attempt this when she's home ;-)!
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My last task before the final cleaning and painting of the housings is to re-install the horn wire tube and cover in the second box, which were removed in order to in turn remove the stuck bearing race. I used JB Weld epoxy to secure and seal the cover as discussed above. The photos below show the sequence of steps: 1) The horn wire tube cover ready for installation, with a bead of epoxy around the ledge of the opening, and around the outer edge of the circular cover: 2) An appropriately sized socket & extension being used to tap the cover into place: 3) I found it very helpful while installing the cover to keep an eye on the centering of the tube in the upper bearing race hole, as viewed from the other end of the tube. From that vantage point, it's easy to visually judge whether or not the tube is in the center of this hole, and adjust the angle at which the cover is being tapped into the housing so that the tube is well centered when the cover is fully in place: 4) The epoxy being applied and beveled around the outside joint between the casting and cover, using a small razor knife: 5) The beveled epoxy bead ready to dry. Once dry, it will be sanded prior to cleaning & painting: 6) The inside of the horn wire tube cover (just after installation and before cleaning), showing the compressed epoxy bead around the inside edge of the ledge:
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Thanks for your thoughts, Moses, and I'll gather the needed materials. The weather here is supposed to warm up considerably toward the end of next week, so hopefully I'll have the Glyptal in hand and be able to paint the housings then. I've done the necessary honing of the lever shaft bushings in the second housing, and I'm happy to say that all of the spec'ed shaft to bushing clearances are within tolerance. As is the case with most tasks, It was easier the second time!
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As always, thank you for your post, Moses! This evening I've been researching different high-strength industrial epoxies. Unless you would disagree, it looks to me like J-B Weld's steel-reinforced epoxy rated for automotive use, might fit the bill nicely. From their website's FAQs: "When fully cured, J-B Weld is completely resistant to water, gasoline, and about every other petroleum product or automotive chemical." http://www.jbweld.com/collections/epoxy-adhesives/products/j-b-weld-twin-tube Point well taken re. not glass-beading the housings again now that the bronze bushings are installed. In search of a "Glyptal-approved" surface prep, I paged through their online documents covering recommended methods, and found the following: Is it safe to assume that "Remove grease and oil by washing surface with mineral spirits" refers to just wiping the housings down well with clean rags soaked in mineral spirits, or would you suggest additional steps to remove any residue that might remain?
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Unfortunately, the original Glyptal coatings on the internal surfaces of neither my nor my brother in law's steering boxes were in great shape, probably as a result of 50 years of use in humid eastern-US climates. Some corrosion was present inside of both boxes, which is why I had both housings blasted internally as well as externally. When I started these two Ross box rebuilds, I was planning to use red spray paint over epoxy primer as shown in your video. However, after thinking about it more, and in particular after reading your last post, I've decided to instead use Glyptal 1201 Red Enamel on both the internal and external surfaces of the two boxes I'm working on. This was of course how the Ross steering boxes were originally finished, and as you pointed out, there was good reason for that - so going back with Glyptal would seem to be a wise choice in several respects. The fact that I will be able to split the high cost of the Glyptal (about $50 for one 12-ounce spray can - first photo below) with my brother-in-law, as I'll be painting my box and his at the same time, makes this option more financially feasible. A lot of good information about Glyptal 1201 can be obtained here: http://www.glyptal.com/1201tech001.pdf However, this document didn't include any info about application temperature, which is a concern as I need to paint these outside, and live in the mountains of North Carolina (and as it is now February). Accordingly, I called Glyptal, and learned that the recommended application temperature range is between 55 and 80 degrees F. The Glyptal rep I spoke with said that no separate primer is required, as it is self-priming, but two coats of Glyptal are recommended, applied 2 hours apart. The paint must be fully dried / cured before being exposed to grease or oil. Note that full drying time for 2 coats (which equates to about 3 mils of total thickness) is at least one week at room temperature. Alternatively, this time frame can be greatly accelerated by baking the painted parts at 150 degrees for two hours, which he said would yield the same level of cure. He also stressed that it's extremely important that the surfaces to be painted are completely free of grease and oil. In order to ensure this is the case, I plan to have the housings glass-beaded again just before painting. (During the re-blasting, I could put the old lever / sector shafts in place in the new bronze bushings to protect the bushings' inside surfaces from any potential damage from the blasting.) I can certainly appreciate the efficiency of the welding bead approach for removing a stuck bearing race. Thank you for the thorough description of that process! However, not being an experienced welder, and out of fear of possibly damaging the housing, I decided I better not to try to remove it that way. Instead, using a long screwdriver and a rubber mallet, with the screwdriver routed through the box from the top cam shaft bearing opening to the inside face of the horn wire tube cover, I carefully tapped the cover out of the housing (second photo below). Tapping in a gradual, circular fashion around the inside face of the cover, it and the attached horn wire tube came out fairly easily with no damage. Once this was removed, I was able to tap out the stuck bearing race using an appropriately sized (backwards) socket and extension bar with the rubber mallet (third photo below). I also pressed the new lever shaft bushings into this second housing (fourth photo below). The next step will be to install the new lever shaft in this box to the proper clearances, as well as the horn wire tube. At that point I'll be ready to re-glass bead blast and paint both housings as soon as weather permits. When you made your video several years ago, you recommended that either Permatex #1 or epoxy be used to reinstall and secure the horn wire tube cover in the housing. Is it still your opinion that either of these is fine, or do you think epoxy would be the better one to use?
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Moses, here are a couple of issues I've run into while working on my brother-in-law's Ross box (which has been blasted and is ready for lever shaft bushings to be installed): 1) The bottom bearing race is stuck in the housing (first photo below). It is not an original roll-neck race, but one of the later replacement "right angle" type that I would really rather not re-use. I've tried everything I can think of to get it out....except removing the horn wire tube and using a bushing driver or socket to tap it out from behind. I'm really hesitant to remove the horn wire tube, which appears to be in good shape, as I'm not sure how to remove it without damaging the tube or cover - or for that matter, exactly how to reinstall it properly (beyond knowing that I would need to use the proper type of Permatex). All of that said, do you think removing the horn tube is likely my best / only option? 2) Also, the threads at the end of his cam tube are stripped (see second photo below) to the point that I don't want to use it in the rebuild, as it's very questionable how well the steering wheel would be secured. I'm also less than thrilled with the prospect of using an imported reproduction of this critical part, and to my knowledge there are no US-made replacements available. I do have a spare original cam tube that came with the '69 box, but it is very slightly bent at the point where the tube and cam meet (though otherwise it's in great shape). By very slightly bent, I mean that when rotated in the housing with the bearings properly installed, there was maybe 1/16" to 3/32" of off-center "movement" visible at the steering wheel end.....but definitely enough that it would cause the column tube to flex and the steering wheel to bind if it were used in that condition. Is it realistic to think that a machine shop might be able to straighten the cam tube sufficiently to make it usable? UPDATE RE. ISSUE #2: I took both cam tubes to a local machine shop today, and the owner said that straightening the slightly bent one should be relatively simple (particularly in comparison to machining and then welding a bushing onto the end of the stripped tube, and re-threading it). He's going to try to get the straightening done for me in the next few days, so hopefully that problem will soon be resolved.
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I think I understand all you've written above, and that it makes good sense. However, rest assured that if any questions come up during reassembly, I will certainly ask! I'm considering priming and painting the two boxes I'm working on a bit differently than you did the one in your video, which was primed and painted after assembly. I noticed when my brother-in-law sent me photos of his original box (below) that the housing parts had evidently originally been painted with Glyptal before being assembled, as it doesn't appear that the bolt heads were painted. Thinking about this, it occurred to me that if I primed & painted the boxes before putting them together, that would in turn allow me to determine visually and/or via measurements at exactly what point the lever is in the center of the worm / cam. I could then mark that point with a Sharpie in several places on the end of the (red painted) cylindrical shaft housing and the exposed spline end of the lever shaft, prior to installing the gasket and side cover plate. That way, when the box is bolted onto the frame and I'm installing the Pitman Arm, I could ensure that the lever is centered on the cam by simply aligning the marks on the housing and the exposed end of the shaft. This should also help in getting the steering wheel properly "centered" (i.e. with one spoke either straight up or straight down when the lever is centered on the cam). Do you see any issues with taking this approach? Thanks, Moses!!
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Having picked up a 1/4" torque wrench, when I get the boxes reassembled, I look forward to trying out the torque specs noted on the TRW / Ross instruction sheet as you suggest, and see how those work out. Relative to reassembly, I have a bit of a problem I'm hoping you might be able to point me in the right direction on. I had hoped it would be solved by being able to reference my brother in law's Ross box, which I now have in hand for rebuilding. Unfortunately, however, it did not answer the question at hand. The issue is that the Pitman arms on the three V6 boxes I've now disassembled (the one from my jeep, my brother in law's, and the one from the '68) were each in somewhat different positions relative to the levers on the sector shafts. It turns out that each box had already been rebuilt at least once, as evidenced by the shafts and in at least one case, the Pitman arm having been previously replaced with aftermarket (as opposed to genuine Ross) parts. Two of these lever / sector shafts are pictured below as found, showing their significantly different Pitman arm alignments. Though the three pairs of Pitman arms and lever shaft ends do have alignment marks, all three are in different places relative to each other on the "old" boxes - and on none of the three are the Pitman arm and sector shaft marks aligned with each other. Since all three boxes are different in terms of their Pitman arm alignments, I don't have a reliable original example to base the Pitman arm positioning on for the rebuilt boxes. Any ideas as to how I might go about determining the proper spline alignment position of the Pitman arm? The only thing I've been able to come up with so far is to install the box on the jeep without the Pitman arm attached, then determine the center of the steering wheel travel vs. the front wheels being straight ahead, and attach the Pitman arm accordingly (an approach which seems imprecise at best).
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Moses, the level of thoroughness in your responses continues to impress me. You are a true technician indeed! I've ordered what I hope is a decent spring scale (http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IHF6GC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00), and will undertake the next part of the rebuild process asap. Re. the cam bearing adjustment, I keep thinking back to something you said in the video. You were comparing figuring out the correct number & thickness of cam bearing shims to the process of finding the correct amount of drag vs. smoothness when adjusting the bearings on a bicycle's handlebars. Having performed that task many times over the years, that criteria will be my initial starting point!
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I just checked the lever shaft to bushing clearances, measuring it separately at each bushing as you described above. Using that method, the longer outer bushing to shaft clearance measured .002", and the clearance measured at the (slightly honed) shorter inner bushing was between .002" and .0025". I also checked the fully installed lever shaft to bushing clearances again, and still measured .001" at each end. I'm happy to say that the fully inserted (lightly oiled) lever shaft rotates extremely smoothly, with no binding whatsoever. Also, I have a couple of questions re. the cam shaft shim installation / rotational resistance testing: - If I use the "spring fishing scale" method of testing shaft rotational smoothness vs. (desired zero) end play, at the point that the correct number of shims seem to be installed for my particular unit, about how many lbs. of spring tension should I need to apply before the shaft spins? - Given that the original horn tube and cover are still in place on the box I'm using, I can't measure the longitudinal shaft movement, or lack thereof, with a dial indicator at that end of the shaft. However, it occurred to me that I might be able to securely clamp the box to one end of my table saw's heavy steel table, set up the magnetic base of the dial indicator on the table at the other end of the shaft, and measure it there. Do you see any reason this variation wouldn't work?
