Injecting Grease into C1 Steering Box

[Joe M.]

I have decided to replace the steering box lubricant with lithium grease. I know there are opinions on both sides as to whether this is wise or not.

I loosened the side cover bolts and expected the lubricant to flow out, wrong. A few drips and that was it. I used a discarded 1" diameter feeding tube syringe attached to 1/4" poly tubing to extract about 3 ounces of the heavy oil. I then flushed the steering box with a quart of paint thinner.The liquid was never clear, but I believe the majority of the oil was removed.

Approximately how many ounces of grease will it take to fill the box? Or do I fill until it is near the top?

I assume at that point I need to drive the car and let the engine heat up the grease to distribute it evenly and then check the level again.

[Tom P.]

Re: Injecting Grease into C1 Steering Box

Joe,
The way I 've done it for 45+yrs, is to simply remove the filler plug on top, insert the grease gun nozzle in the filler hole (should be a loose fit in the hole) and pump away until grease begins to come out around the hole/grease nozzle. Install the plug, that's it.
By the way, the Service Bulletins that came out in the 50s instructed to replace the 90w gear in the box with a good chassis lube, so that's what I've always used with ZERO issues and when I've pulled the steering boxes apart for inspection/rebuild, the guts looked great.

[Joe M.]

Re: Injecting Grease into C1 Steering Box

Tom, I realized this morning that when I used a putty knife to open up the bottom of the side cover, I might have damaged the gasket.

If I remove the lash adjuster lock nut will the side cover slide off without removing anything else?

The only problem may be that the cover will not come off before it hits the side of the fender well.

[Tom P.]

Re: Injecting Grease into C1 Steering Box

Nope. To remove the side cover, the lash adjusting screw has to be compeltely un-screwed from the side cover, then the side cover has to be pulled far enough away from the gear box to clear the lash adjuster, and as you say, it MOST LIKELY will hit the inner fender before it's pulled far enough away to remove to allow replacement of the gasket.
Sorry.

I put this together a couple of years ago. Some of the photos may be helpful to let you see what the guts look like and how it's put together.
http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/225413/

[Thomas H.]

Re: Injecting Grease into C1 Steering Box

Joe,

I followed Tom's advice on my steering box and it came out real well. Since you would have to remove it from the car to get the side cover off, you may want to try and get some gasket sealer in the area you think may be damaged. Since you will be filling the box with a heavy grease, it probably won't leak anyway.

Tom