So, this is on a customers 32 3 window that has to be done in a week or two for hot rod hill climb. it has original '39 running gear and this steering box that is supposedly '39 that he wanted to use. a standard Ford drag link wont fit the output shaft, so not sure what to source on off of since this box is already rebuilt and integrated into the car. hoping somebody can ID it. Sorry for the shitty pics, I have a flip phone.
It appears to be a stock 32 box. Why is it angled up so steep? A 32 or 33-34 arm should work. An F-1 arm should also work. Later arms will work if the blocking spines are cut out. I have some pieces that could be used. The odd angle will require a custom arm for the right geometry.
Customer gave you bad info. That's not a 39 box. Being there is a dead line I'd tell him HE needs to supply you with the rest of the parts. Keeps you from being at fault for not making the dead line. If you knew what to go shopping for you wouldn't be asking us what it is. The Wizzard
Definitely NOT a '39 box. Attached are photos of the box in my '32. The '32 box and the '33/'34 boxes were the same except for the clocking of the bolt pattern on the sector housing. My guess is that the frame had a '33-'34 box in it at one time which would account for the 3 extra holes in your customer's frame. I think I would be shopping for a stock '32 pitman arm and drag length. I would tell your customer to place want ads here, fordbarn and the Early Ford V8 club web sites. Then get on the phone and contact all of the major suppliers. I don't thing they repro these parts (repros are usually junk anyway). It looks like you have enough room to install a F100 pickup truck box if you want to upgrade the steering in the future. Charlie Stephens
Looks like a 34 box with new holes drilled in the frame to be able to mount it on a 32 frame....no problem, sector shaft is same 32-34 so all you need is a stock 32-34 pitman arm and a stock 32 length drag link (33-34’s are longer). Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A stock pitman arm and drag link will not work because of the increased angle of the box. The sweet spot in the box will be off to the side and it will make the box to seem to be worn out. You needs pitman arm clocked to be straight down at mid turns. I have a splined boss with the arm cut off that has the right clocking and a cut off arm. You could weld them back at the needed angle. $20 shipped
Any pitman arm from 32-48 passenger cars, and even up to 52 on pickups will work on that box. If you want to clock the arm slightly different, just use a pointed edge of a file and file the flat out spots of the pitman arm splines. Make it a regular spline and it will fit in any location.
Depending on what front spindles your customer is using it might be time consider an adjustable drag link. That would also let you put the pitman arm at the correct angle. Charlie Stephens
I can't believe that the customer has gone this far yet doesn't have the parts; let alone they haven't assembled everything into a rolling / steering body on chassis with suspension /steering fitted and working before stripping it down for paint and reassembly.
I think that it must be a commercial box, the splined output shaft is larger diameter than a standard Ford car. Can anybody confirm or deny this since I dont have one handy to try?
Could be a 32 BB big truck box. The larger spline was used on the big trucks. They are also slower steering. How many turns lock too lock? 32 pass was 3 1/4 turns.
The `32 big truck splines on the sector shaft where the pitman arm goes on are 1.200" diameter. The passenger car is 1.100", and the three bolt hole pattern is "clocked" differently also.
The 1932 33 34 boxes are the same but the 1932 box has a different nose that mounts to the box. The 33 34 mount is different the the 32 with a greater angle. So it may be a 32 column with a 34 mount on the box. What does the steering column drop look like that may tell us the rest of the story. The 32 is different then the 33 34 and easy wat to tell is the starter button on the far left on the drop or may have a hole or chrome button. My guess its all 33-34 with the elongated clocking holes
So you’ll need a 32 steering box mount just the nose it just unbolts and a 32 drag ling and arm. That should fix the issues
Its already mounted, just need to get a drag link. the column drop and everything in the car is all custom made, no bolt on stuff, it integrates with the roll cage. I know where I can grab a '39 ish drag link off a big truck so I'm going to try that. All of the running gear on the car is from a '39 standard and thats what the box was supposed to be, but its not.
Cool Do you know what length you need? Let me know if we can help on the steering arm and have two different NOS ones and interesting different size balls 1 inch and 1 1/8
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