1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

[Richard M.]

It finally came to me. For years I've fought with the "Loose Directional Hub Syndrome". You know what I'm talking about if you own one of these. If you flip your directional lever Left or Right, the whole hub rotates, correct? Frustrating. What a silly design.

So, you grab the hub with your left hand and give it a twist and a push to get that little internal clamp to tighten, only to find out that over the years the hub has become egg shaped and doesn't tighten up with your high-tech temporary fix anmore, right? Well, next time you're in there, try the method described below. But after my dissertation of the frustration of removing the hub clamp screw.

I removed the steering wheel and the ring assembly and the switch. I removed the lower mast jacket cover to try to get a long Phillips screwdriver to loosen the clamp screw. Nope. Then I tried to make up a little Phillips bit and a 1/4" Ignition wrench to work in there. Nope. This one was really tight. After about 20 minutes of fiddling to remove that screw, I went over to my toolbox, grabbed a small cold chisel and my ball peen hammer, and had to chisel the screw out by rotating it with a few hammer hits. I loosened it enough to finally get the hub off the column.

I wrapped the hub in a rag and squeezed it back to a round shape in my vice, very carefully to not damage it. The pot metal is quite soft. It needed a repaint so I stripped it and prepped for paint and gave it a few coats of Roman Red using my mini sprayer. It dried overnight and was a perfect match.

So I decided to do 2 modifications. One to the clamp and one to the screw.

I cut a small piece of rubber sheet and glued it to the clamp with some contact cement. This will grab better than a metal to metal arrangement. The clamp pushes on the mast jacket when the screw is tightened to hold the hub, albeit for a relatively short time.

Here is the clamp with the rubber glued on.
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Now for the screw..... what to do? Instead of trying to screw that impossible-to-get-at Phillips screw head from the forward side once the hub is installed, how about getting it tight from the "back end" of the screw? Let's cut a slot in the end of the screw and tighten it from the "inside" of the hub. It might just work.

The stock screw is about 0.600" long. It cannot be much longer than that because it would interfere with the flat return spring when activating the directional lever. I took a new screw from my stock and put 2 nuts on it and locked them together. I held the screw in my vice. I then used my Dremel to cut a screwdriver slot in the end.
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I removed the locknuts and gave the new screw head a shot of Roman Red since I had my Preval Sprayer all set up after refinishing the hub. I let it sit for a while to dry.
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The screwdriver will have to fit inside the clamp threaded hole without binding.
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After the paint dried I then assembled the screw and clamp to the hub and slid it over the mast jacket. The piece of rubber added to the clamp made it a bit tight to get by the upper bearing outer brass horn contact sleeve, but keeping the screw very loose made it easier to get past it.
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I used that small stout screwdriver to turn the screw counterclockwise just snug. This tightens the clamp screw and binds the clamp to the mast jacket.
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I then installed the directional switch and ring.
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After removing the mast shaft spring, I placed the steering wheel on the shaft to check clearance of the wheel hub to the just installed directional hub. I allowed about a 1/16". I then removed the steering wheel. I tightened the screw at its slotted end counterclockwise as snug as possible. This turns the screw head clockwise to tighten. It helps that the screw does not extend beyond the backside of the clamp. This keeps the screw slot intact against the inner threads of the clamp.
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I grabbed the hub and tried to move it. It was now tighter than ever before. I moved the directional lever many times as a test also. The problem is solved and this fix should last quite a while.

Rich

[Roger W.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

Great fix Rich. You are always thinking of very practical improvements.

[Richard M.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

Great fix Rich. You are always thinking of very practical improvements.

Thanks Roger, It only took about 35 years for me to think of this one. I keep telling my wife I'm getting smarter in my older years but she still doesn't believe me.

BTW, there are other methods to solve this problem. One is to use a Allen head Button head screw along with a very short Allen wrench or a Ball ended type Allen wrench. However the original screw used was a Philllips Pan head so the Allen screw is not Typical. I like Typical.

Rich

[Mike E.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but in the deep, dark, and often murky recesses of my mind, there exists a nagging that tells me the screw head was a natural finish, not painted. Thanks for what you did here, Rich. My past and not always successful solution was to dip the block in plastic rubber.

[Richard M.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?


Mike you bring up a good point. I've seen some unpainted also. A mix and match.

My 59 was painted, so I decided to repaint it.

My 62 was also...
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But another 59 appears not painted.
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1959 Corvette 016_crop_mag.jpg

[E B.]

[E B.]

[Brad Hillhouse (37766)]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

good write up Rich. I took some measurements of the hub on my 62 when I did the same repair.

Photos below showing how much the hub was out of round by overtightening of the wedge screw over the past 50+ years.

Brad Hillhouse



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[Richard M.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

Ed, That's a good idea too. Anything that will add a bit of "teeth" to hold it helps.

good write up Rich. I took some measurements of the hub on my 62 when I did the same repair.

Photos below showing how much the hub was out of round by overtightening of the wedge screw over the past 50+ years.

Brad Hillhouse

Brad, That's what mine looked like too. I think it does that egging out process every time the directional lever is used. A constant pressure on the hub clamp/wedge must work it slowly and over time gets so big the hub flops around.

Rich

[Tom P.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

On 53-57 models, this Phillips head screw is not too difficult to tighten. But on 58-62 models, it is nearly impossible as described.
Sooooooooooooo, my fix on the 56 was to replace the Phillips head screw with an Allen head screw. Quick and easy to tighten it with an Allen wrench!

[Richard M.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

On 53-57 models, this Phillips head screw is not too difficult to tighten. But on 58-62 models, it is nearly impossible as described.
Sooooooooooooo, my fix on the 56 was to replace the Phillips head screw with an Allen head screw. Quick and easy to tighten it with an Allen wrench!

Tom, Yes as I mentioned the Allen screw is the easiest. If the original Phillips is there and stuck it's still a bear to get access to it. As you saw I had to chisel mine out.

Part of the problem with this design on any 56 to 62 is the fact that the hub will eventually get egg shaped from too much tightening of the screw. Using the rubber faced wedge clamp helps keep it rigid without too much tightening of the screw. The slotted screw tip prevents overtightening by design, as you can only use a small screwdriver to tighten it.

Rich

[Richard M.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

??

At what stage was the steering column assembly installed, and in particular, when did the directional hub get installed? I have not found the answer.

For the later 58-52 cars the directional hub was painted to match the steering wheel hub, instrument cluster, radio/heater console, kick panels, heater cover, package tray(59+), defroster vents, speaker screen, bezel(60+), dash end caps(60+). I'd think the hub was painted along with those pieces on the car floor in the paint booth before any trim line activity.

Along with this is the question regarding the clamp/wedge screw and if it was painted or not. I feel the screw and wedge were already assembled before paint. This way they would not have to go searching for those small pieces later. Here is the screw from my 59. I have never replaced it. It looks like it was barely screwed into the wedge and sticking out before paint. The recess even has paint inside.
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Since the 1958 to 1962 steering column upper section needed to match interior color, maybe those were painted already and sitting in a holding area near the body drop operation since the column had to match to other interior trim pieces.

But where did the column get installed? Possibilities:

1- Column installed before body drop? - This means the gear box/pitman arm would have to be carefully oriented around a completed engine assembly during drop. Maybe the Pitman arm was not installed at this point. That would make it easier. The column would have to be attached to the underdash bracket and held by the firewall plate and inner metal reinforced seal due to heavy weight of the column assembly. Maybe that's why the inner seal is metal reinforced, to hold the weight.

Here is a 58 body drop photo. The column may be in the body, albeit no steering wheel. Column assembly is definitely not on the frame.
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A 58 or 59. It almost appears to have a steering wheel attached if you zoom in. But I don't see the gearbox hanging down.
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So if this case holds true, then the directional hub is installed and since the cluster is also installed at the trim shop and fully wired, adjusting the hub clamp/wedge screw would be very difficult. I don't buy this scenario.

2- Column installed after body drop? - Since the radiator was installed and engine in place, if this was the method the Pitman arm would prevent easy installation to the frame due to exhaust manifold clearance issues. But if this was the method the hub would have to be installed later. With the cluster in place there would be no easy access for the wedge/clamp screw. So I don't buy this scenario either.

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On the C1 Body Drops I've done, dropping the body on a completed chassis with engine and exhaust installed, the column had to go in without the pitman arm. I installed the pitman arm later. I would set the column in from the engine bay, gearbox forward through the radiator support until I clear the firewall, then feed it into the firewall with the seals and metal plate already loose, then go inside the cockpit, loosely add the inner seal, then feed it up and clamp loosely in place under the dash. Then attach and shim(as req'd) the gearbox to the frame. I would then add the directional hub. But I had access to the screw as I hadn't installed the cluster yet.

In either of the above scenarios, the cluster is installed. When and where did they tighten that hub screw?

Rich

[Richard M.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

Any input from the C1 crowd on this old post asking about the clamp screw... Painted or not?

Rich

[Leo G.]

[Mike E.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Steering Column Directional Hub - Is Yours Loose?

Neither of my 62 bowtie cars had painted screw.