1962 Steering Box Rebuild

[Bill O.]

Does anyone know whether Corvette Steering Service of Anderson, SC (Tom) is still in business, and if yes how to get in touch. If it's not, where is the best place to get a box repair/rebuild kit....shaft with worm gear, roller, etc?
Thanks much.

[Rick A.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Bill - website says for sale! But, try the following number and see if youse get any response - 18642879990

[Dan B.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Unfortunately, Tom passed away several years ago. Great guy and he knew steering boxes.

[Richard M.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Bill,

Corvette Central is the main(maybe the only) supplier for the major kit which includes shaft, worm, sector roller, bearings etc.

http://www.parts123.com/corvettecentral/dyndetail.pta?catalog=0000050e&ukey=44404

You can do this yourself, but there are a few important things to know when using this kit as there are some variances to consider.

PM me your email address if you would like a in-depth explanation compiled into a PDF file.

Rich
PS Looks like Zip has it too, and maybe others, but I believe CC is the primary supplier for all of them.

http://www.zip-corvette.com/53-62-c1/steering-systems/corvette-steering-box/58-62-steering-box-steering-column-rebuild-kit.html

[Gary R.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Bill
Tom passed away 5 years ago. I have his vette steering gear stock but there were no C1 gears left. I spoke with him about those about a year before he passed away and was not going to have anymore made since the market was changing and he didn't think it would be worth it to buy a lot of them.

Tom was a great guy and one I still miss. We had plenty of good conversations over the years. Surprisingly I offered many vendors some of the gears I have in stock and most were not interested, odd since there are no new gears on the market.

You should reach out to Joe Calgano in CA, he is the best C1 box builder out there and may have the parts you need. If you had a 63-82 I would have been happy to help you.

[Terry D.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Bill
Werner Meier at Master Works in Madison Hts. Michigan (248-583-0590) does an excellent job of rebuilding steering boxes, did mine 8 years ago on my 62. I probably put as many miles on a C1 a year as anyone and have had no problems. If memory serves me he was recommended to me by John Hickley.

Terry

[Terry D.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Bill
Forgot to add if you are close enough to drop it off he will give you a tour of his shop, which at any given time has several interesting projects going on.

[Gary R.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Here is the you tube link for Joe, in case you want to try it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjJ4xnTiN98

[Jim D.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

I've rebuilt several C-1 boxes and they are very easy to do. The only special tool you'll need that you might not have is a 0-30 in.lb. dial reading torque wrench. The kits that are available all come from the same supplier so shop for the best price and go for it.

[Eric E.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

I've rebuilt several C-1 boxes and they are very easy to do. The only special tool you'll need that you might not have is a 0-30 in.lb. dial reading torque wrench. The kits that are available all come from the same supplier so shop for the best price and go for it.

Jim.

Is there a way to evaluate the box with the column assembly out of the car?

thanks,
Eric

[Jim D.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Jim.

Is there a way to evaluate the box with the column assembly out of the car?

thanks,
Eric

Are you trying to find out if it needs rebuilt or determine which parts you need? If it's the latter, the rebuild kits come with everything you will need to rebuild the steering box including a new shaft and upper column bearing. If you're trying to decide whether or not to rebuild it, is it smooth with no hard spot while turning? Using the torque wrench I referred to above and referring to the factory service manual, what are the readings it takes to turn the shaft when it goes "over center"? I have yet to see an original one that could be adjusted to factory specs. and upon dis-assembly, didn't need a complete rebuild. There are some great tutorials on the internet/you tube that can walk you through the rebuild/adjustment procedure but to do it right, you really need that torque wrench.

[Eric E.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Are you trying to find out if it needs rebuilt or determine which parts you need? If it's the latter, the rebuild kits come with everything you will need to rebuild the steering box including a new shaft and upper column bearing. If you're trying to decide whether or not to rebuild it, is it smooth with no hard spot while turning? Using the torque wrench I referred to above and referring to the factory service manual, what are the readings it takes to turn the shaft when it goes "over center"? I have yet to see an original one that could be adjusted to factory specs. and upon dis-assembly, didn't need a complete rebuild. There are some great tutorials on the internet/you tube that can walk you through the rebuild/adjustment procedure but to do it right, you really need that torque wrench.

Thanks Jim,

I am trying to determine if it is good to go or if it needs rebuilding. I will read into the manual and see how it looks. Thanks for the heads up on your experience with adjusting the originals.

Eric

[Gary R.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Just want to mention, Jim is correct you really need to have a 0-30 in/lb Torque wrench. Some of the you tube videos are not the best, Joes is the best I have seen on the c1 boxes. The principle is the same as the later boxes, there should be a high lash on center. The gear configuration is different and do wear. I don't know who has the gears today or the quality of them.

[Richard M.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Hmmm, Bill must be traveling, or in the confines of a remote cabin somewhere writing a new Corvette storybook. He hasn't checked in since he posted the questions.

While we're waiting for his return for a eyeful of information, I have some input I'd like to add since Eric's question came up, which is a good one.

I feel the only way to properly check a C1 box's complete integrity is to open it up and give it a thorough inspection. By design, the shaft worm and sector roller are prone to damage if the box was ever adjusted improperly. If the adjusting nut was ever turned without the proper tools to check lash, it is very possible damage had occurred. The only was to be certain is to visually inspect the gears. As Jim mentioned, if there is noticeable chugging or a dead spot or similar action noticed at the steering wheel, something is probably wrong and needs disassembly.

The most common fault of this is a chipped worm gear. Common wear of the sector roller occurs on it's mating surface to the worm gear. The sector roller is surface hardened and once that is worn, it continues to wear more rapidly. Here are a few shots of these conditions.

Worm - You can see some missing material in the worm at it's surface just near center of the contact area above the roller.


Sector roller - Excessive wear and chipping of contact area to the worm


In the above box, before disassembly, the car steered fine with a bit of extra play in the wheel at center, with much more off-center. It wasn't a obvious chugging or dead spot while driving, but as time progressed it would become more noticeable. Keep in mind, that by design, one will always have more play in a worm/sector type box off center. As the sector reaches outward from the worm center, more play occurs and is common.

I have rebuilt a few C1 boxes in the past, my first being about 30 years ago. Repair kits were not available so only good used original worms and sectors were available. Today the replacement kit includes everything, except for a few small pieces that can usually be reused.

However, the sector lash adjustment can be a bit tricky with the new reproduction parts. The worm gear is manufactured differently from original tooling and it's center-to-center specification is not identical to original gears. This can cause some confusion when performing a rebuild using standard ST-12 Service Manual instructions, and for that matter when watching the present Youtube videos or earlier written tutorials.

This worm gear difference can also create some confusion when assembling and adjusting the combined steering components on the car, in particular, the drag link adjustment.

Joe Calgano, a Corvette Central supplier technical coordinator of these new kits, and I and a another user of a new kit, discussed these issues at length a few years ago. I summarized these discussions in depth elsewhere online deep in the annuls and near the end of the thread. The "at length" discussion is attached below. Dave Zuberer did his magic and compiled it into a good PDF read.

Rich

[Eric E.]

Re: 1962 Steering Box Rebuild

Wow, thanks guys! I just added another PDF file to my iBooks library!

Before I took the car apart I don't recall any odd feeling in the steering or excessive play but that was over fifteen years ago. Once the chassis came apart I took the column/steering box to a local guy to evaluate it and he gave it back saying it was all good. I know bad steering, back in the late 70s I had a 55 BelAire that had 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock steering play. I guess I just wanted a mechanics opinion.

This will give me a good foundation to study and build on since I finished the third arm assy and was going to move onto the drag link soon.

as always, thanks again, Eric