1965 manual steering box finish.

[Bill W.]

I have not even cleaned the grease off of my steering box yet but I have questions . I am told the new 65 manual will say the steering box and the pitman arm should be painted black . Were they painted black as a unit ? If not were the splines and threads masked or were they black to ?

[Carl N.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Bill, when I did the frame off my L78 back in the mid '80s manual did not get so detailed. Box and arm did not show any evidence of paint so they went back on natural and remain so today. I had the opportunity to take a lot of pictures of the low mileage untouched "Krougher" (sp) maroon car (only a few days away from build on my car) before I tore mine down along with Charlie's green coupe and several others none of which were painted so who is right and who knows for sure - not I - but then I have no intentions of showing car nor having it judged by "experts" !

[Mike E.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Bill,
Looking at this vintage photo from the factory it looks to me to be painted black. Perhaps Tony Stein will see this thread and weigh in on what that new judges guide will says. I've left mine natural until the new JG is released just to play it safe easy enough to pop it off and paint is as long as the body isn't on the chassis.



Mike

[Bill W.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Thanks Carl & Mike . Tony says Black . But my question is , the pitman arm is also black per the 5th addition manual . Was it on the steering box when painted ? If so the threads & the spline would be black or were the threads & spline masked or covered and the pitman arm put on after the black out ??

[Gary R.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Bill,
I have rebuilt all years from 63-82. Most of them were black but not all. The others were bare iron. I have seen bare iron over the range of years.
For an NCRS build I ask the owner how they want them. Some want all black, some black with bare iron arms, others bare iron box and black arm. I never heard back from any of them as to having a judging problem- however I am not a judge. Some even had me leave 40 years of dirt on the box and blueprint the internals leaving it looking old and untouched with much improved steering.

[Keith B.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Mike that is a great color photo. Do you have anymore in color. I only ever seen B/W. It's interesting that the exhaust is blacked out

[Mike E.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Mike that is a great color photo. Do you have anymore in color. I only ever seen B/W. It's interesting that the exhaust is blacked out

Keith,
That's the only one I have...As much as I can tell the photo was shot by the St. Louis Post Dispatch because there is another shot that looks like it was taken probably at the same time and it's available from their website. BTW notice the photo is reversed unless they made some RHD mid-years we don't know about . Just a guess it might but it might have been taken in late 1964 when the GM strike ended. There may be more photos out there I just don't know to get to them.

I captured the image from a HD video that was dealing with move from St Louis to BG. There were a few other in shots in the video I recall but nothing as interesting as that one.

I do have a higher resolution image of the same shot you can download here.

Mike

[James W.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Bill,

Yet a few more pictures of the unrestored 29,2xx mile L78 equipped '65 that I researched for my '65 396 restoration. This car was once owned by Mr. Sinor.


Regards,

James West

[James W.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Bill,

Here is a picture of another '65 L78 equipped car owned or previously owned by Keith Burmeister. This one shows black paint on the box, I guess you can flip a coin but if the new 1965 manual is going to reference black I guess I'd paint it black. I painted mine black and it did just fine in judging last year.

Regards,

James West

[Bill W.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Thanks James . Was that an AOS or STL car ? Do you remember the vin on Roys car he had a few of them . I cleaned my box and pitman arm today . It had heavy black on the upper box and light coverage on the lower and underside . I found one yellow inspection mark and one stripe . On the pitman arm I have the same blue strip as your photos and a small white X on the top side of the arm . The pitman arm had lighter black out on the top side and very light on the bottom . I will post photos tonight . Good pictures of RoyDSC_1703.jpgDSC_1702.jpgDSC_1701.jpgDSC_1700.jpgs car , Thanks .

[James W.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Bill,

The car is a St. Louis built body and the VIN was 17,644.

Regards,

James

Thanks James . Was that an AOS or STL car ? Do you remember the vin on Roys car he had a few of them . I cleaned my box and pitman arm today . It had heavy black on the upper box and light coverage on the lower and underside . I found one yellow inspection mark and one stripe . On the pitman arm I have the same blue strip as your photos and a small white X on the top side of the arm . The pitman arm had lighter black out on the top side and very light on the bottom . I will post photos tonight . Good pictures of Roys car , Thanks .

[Bill W.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

a couple moreDSC_1691.jpgDSC_1692.jpgDSC_1693.jpgDSC_1695.jpg

[Tony S.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Bill and all--good discussion about the steering box finish. Here's what our research reflects: Not all steering boxes were necessarily painted though most do exhibit paint. In '65, the riveted (tele) couplers were installed on the box at Saginaw, so if the box is painted, then the riveted coupler will show paint. The forward 12 point pinch bolt will also be painted black. The rear 12 point pinch bolt was added at St. Louis, so it should be black phos. The standard coupler is not riveted-it is bolted. Nevertheless, we have evidence of original cars with standard couplers that have a black box and black paint on at least the front half of the standard coupler. The pitman arm was not part of the painted assembly at Saginaw when the boxes were taken to the paint room. So, here's the rule: if the steering box is painted, then the tele (riveted) coupler will exhibit paint (except the rear 12 point pinch bolt). If the steering box is painted and has a standard coupler, then at least the front half of the coupler should exhibit some black paint. If the box is natural, then the coupler will be unpainted.

I think most boxes were painted, but exceptions could exist.

Another point: the yellow, blue and green inspection paint daubs that we typically see on boxes were added at Saginaw--not St. Louis. So, if there is black paint applied to the steering box, then the yellow, blue or green inspection paint should be UNDER the black paint-not applied on top of the black paint.

Hope this helps. Good luck Bill with your restoration.
Tony

[Jim S.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

Mike ,

That High Res link was great , I will continue to watch the comments on all the details shown, but I had to throw in one of my own. Sort of a technical relief .

Anyone else notice you can see his hand through the quarter panel ?

Jim

[Timothy B.]

Re: 1965 manual steering box finish.

I know the post is about the 1965 M/Y, but I want to add the box on my 67 was natural.

I don't think anything changed during that time period, if mine was black at one time it must be some cheap paint that will wash off easily because I looked it over good. The pic is after I overhauled it but I only wire brushed it good and used some cast paint and acetone to put a thin film on it to keep from rusting. The yellow is a original mark.