64 ragjoint appearance

[Elio D.]

Hi all, could someone tell me if this ragjoint is ok or does it need to be rebuilt. i think it,s original. it seems the upper half needs to be loosen and slide down somewhat. the rubber is in good shape . thanks Elio

[John H.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

Elio -

It appears original to me, although not correctly installed as you noted. May or may not be safe to use, depending on the condition of the carcass piece.

[Gary R.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

I would check it close for any rips, it doesn't look like it was bent in installation, could be good to go. You can check it for ground with a meter.

[Elio D.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

John,Gary it does look to be in good shape without taking it apart,would loosening the top half of the coupler and moving it closer by about 1/4 in. making the rubber flat, so to speak,removing that bow thats there ,resolve the problem even though steering was ok.also Gary i put a meter on both sides of the couplers and didn,t get a reading.maybe the groung strap is broken or the rubber is not original as per other discussions on the forum. Elio

[Jim S.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

I assume that you removed the flex coupling from the car when you checked for continuity from flange to flange.

With the flex coupling out of the car, bolt the steering column up into the dash structure. Now check for continuity from the steering column steering shaft across to the steering gear. If you have continuity, it shows that the steering shaft in your car is now grounded through the column bearings, up into the column structure, and into the dash. So a flex coupling with screen ground, (or grounding strip inside the flex coupling) is not actually required with your car. Your horn should operate correctly even with a non-conducting flexible coupling.

BTW, the grounding strip inside the flex coupling is nearly impossible to detect with the flex coupling installed in the vehicle. With a production or service flexible coupling assembly manufactured after 1971 you can actually feel the sharp ends of the screen on a screen ground disc.

Jim

[Timothy B.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

Many times the rivet will corrode and not let the copper strap ground. I don't think a C2 horn will work if the ground through the rag is bad.

I would like to rebuild my spare with a new flex insert because the rag on my 63 has slight movement in the flex holes where the bolts go through. Can anyone tell me about the kits available to overhaul these parts. Does the kit come with rivets and how do they look after the rebuilt. This does not seem like a hard job to do but what about installing the rivets..

[Jim S.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

I would think that in most older vehicles (before so many automotive parts were manufacture from plastic and other non-conducting materials) there are most likely alternate ground paths for the horn relay current once the upper horn contact is depressed.

From all of the flexible coupling rebuild kits that I have seen, these are the major issues:

1). All of the kits come with 4 ply rubber discs. All of the OEM Corvette flexible couplings (1963-82) came with 7 ply neoprene rubber and cotton cloth discs.

2). Most kits come with stop pins that have shoulders and are held in place with nuts and lockwashers. Not all of the stop pin ends in length and diameter will match the OEM part (depending upon the year that is being rebuilt.) A nut and lockwasher will interfere with placing a socket on the attaching pinch bolt with the 7/16, 12 point head. I suppose that you could hot upset a threaded end of the kit stop pins, but you will have to do it fast. Otherwise you could damage the rubber disc.

3). The rebuild kit part(s) that I have the most complaints are the attaching bolts. Every kit that I have seen comes with common 3/8 and 7/16 bolts - NOT the special shoulder bolts that are part of the OEM design.

This can/will result in a nut and bolt attachment that can never reach the proper attaching torque and bolt stretch necessary for a critical safety connection. (If you use original OEM shoulder bolts, then this would not be an issue with me.)

I think that Long Island Corvette is assembling flexible coupling asemblies for 1963-1967 Corvettes. I may have commented on their parts in the past but I can't seem to find them at this time.

http://www.licorvette.com/pdfcatalogfiles/cat/18.pdf

Also from my notes, you might contact Alan at Duntov Motor Company in Farmers Branch, Texas. They list the following Corvette assemblies:
63-66 Std S034
65-66 Tele S036
67-68 All S032
69-82 All S030
Again, I can't find any comments on these assemblies. (They may be GM service parts - I just don't know.)

I would be interested in your comments as to what you find.

Jim

[Elio D.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

Good morning guy,s, my ground and horn are ok ,i like to know if i should leave the rubber as is or slide the top half of the couple down to remove the bend in the rubber. thanks Elio

[Gary R.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

If you need/want to have your original rag rebuilt the only guy on the planet I would use is Tom at Corvette Steering in SC.

[Jim S.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

Gary,
I didn't realize that Corvette Steering Services overhauled flexible coupling assemblies.

http://www.corvettesteering.com/corvette_steering_Services.htm

I will add them to my list.

Jim

[Gary R.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

Jim
Tom was the guy supplying a lot of vendors. How much he's going to still do I can't say but it's worth a call to find out.

[John H.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

Here's what the new '63-'66 couplings look like from LICS.

[Joe R.]

Re: 64 ragjoint appearance

You mean Saginaw don't you? Hint! Hint!

JR