Steering gearbox cover PN?

[James B.]

I am planning the restoration of a very original, 58K mile '67 coupe. I am the third owner; i've talked to the previous owners and have most repair receipts. Current question is the part number for the cover on the steering gearbox. The judging guide (4th ed) says it should be 5666723. Mine is 672S 54. Previous owners say the gearbox was never touched. The three attaching bolts have the "NAT" head marking (further indicating the cover was not changed). It looks like part of the casting number may have been overstamped with a casting shift stamp and the 672 could be digits 4 to 6 of the part number; however, I have looked at the "s" and it is hard to think that could be a 3. Hopefully a picture is attached (i'm trying to learn how to resize and attach).
A second and unrelated question. My carpet is original (saddle) and in good shape except for two holes the size of silver dollars, one near the gas pedal and the other in the cover over the jack compartment. I have talked to a reweaver in the chicago area but they do not do moulded auto carpets. So, two questions- does anyone know of a company that will reweave or repair auto carpet? If I cannot get it repaired how much a point deduction am I likely to take for condition (I know this is difficult to answer) verses the originality deduction I will take for new repo carpeting. I am determined that this will be a "sympathetic" restoration and in some areas will take the condition deducts to clean up and reuse original parts.
Thanks for your help, Jim B.DSC_1320_edited-1.jpg

[Joe L.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

I am planning the restoration of a very original, 58K mile '67 coupe. I am the third owner; i've talked to the previous owners and have most repair receipts. Current question is the part number for the cover on the steering gearbox. The judging guide (4th ed) says it should be 5666723. Mine is 672S 54. Previous owners say the gearbox was never touched. The three attaching bolts have the "NAT" head marking (further indicating the cover was not changed). It looks like part of the casting number may have been overstamped with a casting shift stamp and the 672 could be digits 4 to 6 of the part number; however, I have looked at the "s" and it is hard to think that could be a 3. Hopefully a picture is attached (i'm trying to learn how to resize and attach).
A second and unrelated question. My carpet is original (saddle) and in good shape except for two holes the size of silver dollars, one near the gas pedal and the other in the cover over the jack compartment. I have talked to a reweaver in the chicago area but they do not do moulded auto carpets. So, two questions- does anyone know of a company that will reweave or repair auto carpet? If I cannot get it repaired how much a point deduction am I likely to take for condition (I know this is difficult to answer) verses the originality deduction I will take for new repo carpeting. I am determined that this will be a "sympathetic" restoration and in some areas will take the condition deducts to clean up and reuse original parts.
Thanks for your help, Jim B.[ATTACH=CONFIG]47172[/ATTACH]

Jim------


The cover is not "typical of factory production" but I have absolutely no doubt that it's original.

[Ara G.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

Jim, to address your carpet question I would call every Corvette Restoration shop I could find and ask them if they have any original saddle carpeting that was removed from a car during it's restoration. I would bet at least one or two shops would have kept some original carpeting that was removed during a customer's restoration for comparison purposes. I know I would keep all that if I was doing a resto. Also, you see original pieces of carpeting on flea-bay from time to time. Also, put a post on the "other" vette forum...there are a lot of restorer's on there...you may get lucky. If you do find some, then it's easy. make a template of your holes and cut a piece to fit. I would use some type of backing under the carpet and repair piece to hold them together and at the same depth. 50 bucks says you won't get a deduct if done well. Good luck...ARA

[James B.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

Ara, thanks for the reply and suggestions, I will try sources you suggest.

[Jim S.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

Here is the top view from the casting drawing of the top cover.

[James B.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

Jim, great drawing and yes, that's what mine looks like. What is the date of the drawing and does it specify that it applies to Corvette? Thanks, Jim B.

[Jim S.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

The scan is of the Malleable Iron Cover Casting 5666723. The casting was machined into Cover 5666722. The casting drawing was made 3-12-53. The machined cover is called out on Corvette Steering Gear Assembly 5677641 (released for production 2-8-62) that was used in the 1963-1966 Corvettes. I have notes from Joe Lucia that indicate that the cast iron cover was used on Corvette steering gears through the 1968 model year and possibly into very early 1969 model year Vettes.
Jim

[James B.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

Jim, thanks, very helpful

[Joe L.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

Here is the top view from the casting drawing of the top cover.

Jim------


It's interesting that while the drawing clearly states that only the last 4 digits of the part number are to be included on the cover, most, if not all, of the 63-E69 covers that I've ever seen have the entire number.

While we usually think of parts drawings to be "definitive", I guess this demonstrates that even GM drawings have to sometimes be "taken with a grain of salt".

[Jim S.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

The photo of the cover in the first post has only the four 6723 digits. The 54 after those digits may be a pattern number.
Jim

[Joe L.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

The photo of the cover in the first post has only the four 6723 digits. The 54 after those digits may be a pattern number.
Jim

Jim-----


Yes, however that's the first one I can recall seeing with just the last 4 numbers. I may have observed others but I don't recall them.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

While we're still in this area of interest, can someone advise what torque to use on the three steering gear sidecover bolts ? Doesn't seem to be listed anywhere in the steering sections of the shop manuals. I see that for equivalent 3/8 - 16 used on the motor, the range given is 25 - 35 ft.lbs. That's fairly wide, IMO. Surprising that no torque is given for this gear cover, as it is a "maintenance" item with respect to lubrication.

I promise I'll write it down somewhere, this time .



c

[Jim S.]

Re: Steering gearbox cover PN?

Torque spec for the three top cover bolts is 25-35 ft-lbs after the bolt head was seated.
So much for only the last four part number digits as called out on the casting drawing.
My malleable iron casting drawing was Revised and Redrawn on 7-19-66 Rev T. So I do not have the revision history from the drawing date (3-12-53) up to Revision T. It is possible that earlier versions of the casting may have had the entire part number. There is a note "Date pad to be cast in this location." that is located right in the area of the first three digits "566". That pad could have been added sometime in the era between 3-12-53 and 7-19-66.
Jim