Hello everyone, I decided to rebuild my steering gear. So far here is what I have done

1) centered and locked steering wheel and marked rag joint to box and pitman arm to box, also I can’t remove the sector shaft, I tried centering the middle gear tooth by rotating the input shaft but it won’t go any further

2) I noticed one of the lines are completely collapsed probably from when the box was replaced at one time in the cars life or from the factory. Hope anyone can see a bolt head impression on the greasy line, I wonder if I could use a couple of double flare unions to make a new line to splice into the fitting that goes into the box which uses an o ring.

3) the duralast kit does not have the metal gasket, I told them that I don’t have a FE2 suspension


Here are some pics

 

Oh, I forgot to mention I also marked where the worm shaft goes in. Here is another pic that I highlighted some punched marks with gear marking compound

 

You will need to adjust the large "nut" thing with the 2 holes in it when you reassemble it. It will likely need to be adjusted slightly tighter. The most common reason for sloppy or "sticky" gearboxes, is simple misadjustment, or total lack of adjustment, of the end-play/preload of that part.

As you reassemble the gearbox, you'll put the entire worm shaft assembly including the spool valve, into the housing before the sector (Pitman) shaft assy. As you tighten that part, you will be compressing a Belleville washer that preloads the Torrington bearing (so many town names) right under it. I don't have a "torque spec", although I'm sure there is one; but like almost every bearing preload setting, you'll find that as you turn the worm shaft, there will be only slight resistance at first, then as you continue to tighten, the resistance will suddenly increase. If you imagine a curve, it will be like it reaches a "knee". You want to get it to where it's right on the very edge of that "knee", that being where all the end play is taken up and the Belleville washer is crushed flat, but before you pass the point of zero play. If you get it too loose it will still be sloppy when you're done; too tight, and it will have that weird "sticky" feeling, and won't center itself.

The big sheet-metal hex thing on the outside is just a locknut. You'll want to be careful that tightening it doesn't disturb your setting. You'll probably need to allow the big nut thing to turn just slightly as you tighten the lock nut, but probably not more than ¼" around the edge, if even that. Just enough to make up for the locknut pulling the big nut outwards against the threads.

Then when you put the whole sector shaft assy back in, you'll set the preload on it pretty much the same way. As you tighten down on the Allen in the cover, there will be less and less slop in it, until you get to the point where the worm teeth and the sector teeth are mashed hard together, at which point any further tightening will make it "sticky".

From memory, the "specs" in the FSM are for the box still installed in the car, and give so many oz of force on the steering wheel, measured at the rim. You could measure the steering wheel radius and calculate the correct in-oz on the worm shaft for each adjustment easily enough. But it works just as well to locate the "knee" of the curve, which is what the "spec" attempts to lead you to, just, by a different method.

You have a serious problem in your 1st photo, where the one steel line was crushed between the gearbox and the "frame". That line needs to be replaced, and more attention paid to putting the gearbox back on than whoever paid when it was last installed. If that was the factory, as it looks like it was, I doubt that car has EVER driven right, from day one. In fact that's most likely where that gigantic leak was. You should clean up all that mess before putting it back on. Yes you can use a flare union; or, just replace the entire thing. That's the "cooler", a loop that goes across the front of the car and back, below the radiator. You can just buy a piece of new line and bend it up to match. That's what I'd do.