Long Two Steering Box

[BarryCambs]

I just chanced across these photos while backing up the camera and as its so easy to upload them after Keith's amazing amount of work on the site, I thought they might be of interest.

Originally, the car had about an 18th of a turn free play on steering wheel, mainly due to the fact that at some stage, the threads had gone on one of the ball joint caps and it had then been brazed back on allowing the joint to just rattle about. It had obviously been like it for years and the drag link had been modified with a heavy hammer at some stage when the later engine was put in. We made up a new drag link from a shortened Bradford item, bending it using a pipe bender. I was slightly disappointed when after all this effort, there was still about a 16th of a turn free play on the wheel, but at least the driving experience had gone from 'absolutely terrifying' down to 'pretty dangerous'.

While all the ball joints were fine and there was no play in the box, it turned out the steering box was moving an inch either way on it's mount when under load. Looking at the parts list, it turned out it was missing it's stay bar. This later turned up in a box of bits which came with the car and had been left off as it wouldn't fit when the steering box was moved to accommodate the later engine. I still couldn't work out when there was so much movement though, but the parts list showed the box is mounted on a Metalastic bush, presumable to accommodate any twist on the chassis. When I removed the box, it was clear the bush had completely perished and fallen to bits. The bush seemed an odd size and I couldn't source one, so in the end, I salvaged the inner sleeve and used some polyurethane bar from a suspension specialist to make a new one. Dad reports it's a pig to machine, but I'm very happy with the end result. If anyone is suffering from steering wander, I'd recommend checking this bush.

I made up a new bracket and stay rod and the steering is now pretty good. Just the king pins to go and it could even be good as new!

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[Tony Fearn]

Hi Barry.
Lovely photos, and a great solution to the stay rod and steering box bush.
Looking at the photo with the brake rod adjuster at the front, I'm just worried that the front O/S brake pull rod has a bend in it.
Mine are straight, as are all the brake rods on my cars, so do you think you will be losing a bit of force due to the bend?
Tony.

[BarryCambs]

Hi Tony. I'd never noticed that! I haven't bent it and looking at the photo, it doesn't look to be bent to clear anything under the car. I'll have a look at the other side and see if it matches. Could it have been that shape to clear the original vintage engine and steering box?

Barry

[BarryCambs]

Hi Tony. Glorious weather this weekend, so we were using the Jowett rather than the Volvo. While it was out, I had a look at the brake rod and after pondering it a while, realised it was just plain bent. And now it isn't