I had to take my steering gear out again to correct a crap rebuild job which is a whole other story. Now I need to reinstall it. I had everything marked and now it it is gone with the latest rebuild. This is what I think and know.
1. The front tires have not moved. I pulled it into the garage straight.
2. The pitman arm has not moved so I need to put the shaft into the pitman arm.
3. Now I need to move the input shaft to get the gear tight against the frame.
4. I may need to try a time or two and reposition the rag joint so it lines up the original way or pull the column back to repositon the rag joint.

Is there a better way or the right way?

Unfortunately with manual steering boxes, they are evenly splined on the input shaft. Theres no flat spot, the rag joint can be installed in any orientation. I always make sure to grind a light mark on the input shaft on the box to align with the rag before removing.

Turn the steering box lock-to-lock, count the rotations and divide in half to get centered. That'll get you close, someone may have a way to get exact.

Hi Dave. I am not so worried about getting the rag joint on right. I can center it after the gear is in. I am trying to convince myself that all I have to do is bolt the gear up and it will not change the alignment. If the pitman arm can only go on one of 4 ways and it goes back on the way it came off with the gear close to center then I have not changed anything. Am I making sense?

Correct. Center the gear box, and you'll be right on the pitman arm. It won't change the alignment of the front suspension, you just might have to tweak the ragjoint to get the steering wheel centered again :thumbsup:

Thanks for the backup. The front steering was aligned with the gear centered so it should go back the same. JimL82 has a report on a Corvette site on centering the steering wheel. After the gear is back in I am going to follow his instructions on that to double check.:thumbsup:

If you need help Id be more than willing to come by and lend a hand. Im north of Ashlen and east of Minewawa. Im headed up to Wishn on Sunday but tomorrow and Sat are open.

Basically our 69 is running/driving so Im looking for excuses to drive it... :beers:


Chris:cool:

With the gear centered the stop pins on the flex coupling should be at 12 and 6 o'clock. The head of the pinch bolt on the flange that attaches to the steering gear input shaft should be pointing straight up. You seem to have a good grasp of the centering procedure. Here is the link to the First Gen Camaro centering procedure.

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/SteeringSystemCenteringC3Rev18MY062.doc

Have a great weekend!

Jim

If you need help Id be more than willing to come by and lend a hand. Im north of Ashlen and east of Minewawa. Im headed up to Wishn on Sunday but tomorrow and Sat are open.

Basically our 69 is running/driving so Im looking for excuses to drive it... :beers:


Chris:cool:

Hi Chris. I see that the link in your sig has pictures from Clovis High. I am located north of Gettysburg and east of Armstrong. Pretty close. Going to Wishon fishing?

I am OK with the steering. The problem was I had everything marked and now the marks are gone. If you have the time come by Chubby's at 1st and Gettysburg Saturday night.

Thanks for finding me Jim. I have your paper on centering and was going to recheck everything once the gear is in. I had to take the gear out again because the thing keeps getting sloppy. I don't have 1600 miles on it since the 1st rebuild. I found a reputable rebuilder in Oregon. He told me the bushing in the side cover was missing and the unit was not shimmed right. I hope it works now.

Hi Chris. I see that the link in your sig has pictures from Clovis High. I am located north of Gettysburg and east of Armstrong. Pretty close. Going to Wishon fishing?

I am OK with the steering. The problem was I had everything marked and now the marks are gone. If you have the time come by Chubby's at 1st and Gettysburg Saturday night.




I was a teacher there when those pics were taken. (Stay at home dad right now)

Chubby's sounds good. Would love to meet you and have somebody close to get Camaro advise from. ;)

We'll be in the Camaro so make sure you come up and introduce yourself!

See ya Sat :beers:


Chris:cool:

Chris,you must know Scott January the AS teacher at Buchanan HS. He lives down the street from me and helped early on with some things.:thumbsup:

Going out for a test drive to check the steering now.

Later that day......... It checked out just fine everything centered. My steering wheel is not original so the chisel mark is not perfectly matched to the steering shaft.

Yes I know Scott, he and I went to HS together although he graduated 2 yrs ahead of me. (He had his current even Camaro back then!) He was also my youngest brother's AS teacher.

You still going to Chubby's tonight with the rain? Weather will depend on if ours comes or not as we dont have the side glass installed.:( (You know how to put in 1/4 glass correctly? :D) hint hint...

Good to hear you got your steering done. Does it feel better/worse/same as before? Sounds like the guy that did the box O/H may have known what he was doing from what you described.

PM with ph# sent



Chris:cool:

Yes I know Scott, he and I went to HS together although he graduated 2 yrs ahead of me. (He had his current even Camaro back then!) He was also my youngest brother's AS teacher.

You still going to Chubby's tonight with the rain? Weather will depend on if ours comes or not as we dont have the side glass installed.:( (You know how to put in 1/4 glass correctly? :D) hint hint...

Good to hear you got your steering done. Does it feel better/worse/same as before? Sounds like the guy that did the box O/H may have known what he was doing from what you described.

PM with ph# sent

Chris:cool:

I am planning to go about 5:00. The weather says no rain then. I may only stay a couple of hours if the rain comes back.

The steering feels good. It did before, but loosened quickly. Yes, I learned about side glass on my car. I will be glad to help you. It just takes a little time and patience.