Hey guys and gals. I need some help on a repair and hope to get some solid advice/opinions on what to expect or repair options.

I notice a bit of noise when I turned the wheels left or right. At first I thought it was wheel bearings or tie rods. Turns out the problems is the steering box mounting.

There are 2 bolts I beleive that are holding the steering box in place. I noticed that the sheem metal where the steering box is mounted to essentailly ripped (yes ripped).

I want to start driving the car around but I need to get this repaired first. my question are:

What are the repair options?

What would the repair cost average?

What repairs should I not consider?

I imagine there may be some welding to repair the rip, but is that enough to prevent the same issue in the future?

What shops would you recommend for repairs?

Thanks all

 

I had the same problem on my car, but it was cracked, not totally ripped.
I ground out the cracks and had a guy weld it back up to fill in the holes. Then ground it flat again so that the gear box would sit flat.

That was about 8 years ago. So far so good.

Make sure you check where the idler arm attached to the frame rail on the other side. That had to be welded back together as well on my car.

IIRC, there are three bolts. If you only have two that probably has a lot to do with the problem.

 

do you have the "wonderbar"? given the year of the car i know it to be stock at that time but someone may have taken it off... they put that bar on there to fix that problem... i know of two shops here locally that can fix it but it won't be cheap and one of those shops may not still be in business ... i'd have to check...

 

I've had a "Wonder Bar" since 1985 when they first came out. Mine cracked anyway.

 

Not really sure if the wonder bar is there or not. From what I can tell, the car is has never been stripped of parts so it SHOULD be there...I just havent noticed.

Does the aftermarket wonderbar provide more reinforment than a stock peice?

If you all dont mind letting me know where you had the repairs done and a rough proximation of the cost....I would appreciate it. Hopefully I can have her ready for the spring meet.

thanks guys

 

My repairs cost me a case of beer. But the guy who did it is hard to get a hold of these days.