Hello to the entire community, I am asking this for my friend "Rich" who is not a member but indirectly asked me this - he needs some help. I will describe what he has .... This is a great smoothed and molded 1940 Ford coupe that was chopped by Don Lowe (?) about 35/40 years ago, has been in several magazines and also on the cover of an Eastwood catalog in the mid 90s. The car has a 350/350 combination, an 8" Ford rear end, a stock dropped front axle and lowered front spring, a Mullens Mustang steering box, and some unknown disc brake assembly that I don't recognize. Although Rich just turned 80 , he still drives all of his cars every opportunity (1966 Corvette, 1960 sedan delivery, 1972 Cheyenne P/U truck, 55 sedan delivery) the problem is that he has lost a lot of upper body strength and has difficulty in turning the 40 at slow speeds and parking it. I believe that the front end probably needs kingpins and bushings, spring shackle bushings, tie rod & drag link ends, and a serious rebuild of the original Mullens steering box? The mechanical issues I can probably take care of myself, and I have a friend that can ream and then hone out the king pin bushings etc, but I can not find anyone that can possibly rebuild the steering box/ Does anyone know of a reputable rebuilder that can handle this issue, or where might he find a new replacement for his 40? I searched out Mullens and found that they were bought out, but I have not found a replacement steering box for his car. Does my assessment of the steering difficulties seem reasonable based on what I found and the description I have given of the problem? I personally don't think that power steering is a possibility in this instance, and the fact that the car has been lowered and the front end is dropped, that there is any possible room for a power steering slave cylinder to adapted to his situation. I (we) are open to any and all suggestions . One last thing; the original Don Lowe build had permanently fixed the original seat location to the floor pan, and the steering wheel currently on the column is smaller than what I would assume would make the steering much easier if it were larger in diameter / more torque would yield much less effort to turn this front end steering & suspension combination. Thanks again, I know Rick will appreciate anything you offer up that I can look into further. Regards, Steve Hackel
If I remember correctly the Mullins steering box is based off the Vega steering box. HRP Southern Rods sells a new Borgenson box that is a replacement for the Vega type. https://www.southernrods.com/steeri...-manual-oem-saginaw-140-5-8-36-input-new.html
oh so a mullins box is a repop billet vega box? nothing to do with mustang, already has mounts for a vega box, well then there is this... CPP VEGA-PSB Vega Power Steering Box | eBay the styock vega pitman arm if 7 plus inches will be too long, plus it 1'' sector you need 1 1/16 no longer than 6'' - - saying that 12-1 ratio??? holy one finger steering! mega fast check and check again your spidles stop of the cotter pin acorn nuts or you will over travel your ball nut check the rake of the vehicle too, if you have jacked up all the caster from it, with a power box it will be as twitchy as frig and you have to run 'some' form of cooler on the return line.
Maybe a change to a 525 box would be something to consider. Sent from my Nokia 2.3 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
this what ever it is is masterful, as the size of this power box IS virtually the same size as a 525 the bigger outline is a 800 saginaw thats literally bolt in,
Get an adapter for a Saginaw box, put a Cadillac Power Steering unit and pump on it. How does it work? Like a sprint car, mon. Ask me how I know? I had one a '37 Ford Coupe. No regrets. Make sure and put an aftermarket regulator in the line or it will be somewhat squirrelly --- meaning almost too much 'easy'. Don't blush. Round track racers have been using power steering for years, so to me it's as traditional as a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of a nice warm piece of apple pie. Hmmm.
Talk about bad parts? some of the times it is,others ,it's bad adjustment. I'm retired for 20 years now,but fixed a good number of rods an custom that came in to my little speed shop Comp Tech. What you said about the size of steering wheel being small,that's one of the most screwed up things that are often done=adding a small steering wheel. That is done for many bad ideas of,"It looks good"=BS,an I'm too fat too drive with a bigger wheel= bad planning of seat, an ,or,wheel placement/column/angle/langth or dish. FACT; Stock size wheel was designed that size for good control.....Go back to stock size or close. Doing so may mean you need to move seat placement,or column some. Other goof up's that make rods hard to steer,;;Are too little front tire PSI<done for softer ride or wrong rim off set making lots of scrub,or tire too wide also high scrub making hard steering. Too much caster is hard to steer. Steering box adjusted wrong*, or pitman arm length wrong{too long is hard to steer]. Just ideas to look in too!.
My '38 Ford pickup (basically same chassis as your friend's '40) has had a manual steering box out of a '64 Chevelle for 30+ years. Steers easily with the stock Ford steering wheel. Tires are 215/70x15 on plain steel Chevy wheels. Wheel offset makes a difference in steering effort. I did have wheels off an S10 Blazer, replaced them with wheels off an '80s Caprice. The difference in offset made a difference in steering effort. The Caprice wheels put the center of the tire closer to the kingpin pivot point, made the steering much easier.
Borgenson bought Mullins in 2001. Need a picture to see what box is actually there, if it was a Mullins, then most likely a Vega box. A 525 box bolts to the same mount as a Vega box. Can always swap in a power steering box. Borgenson makes the best replacement steering boxes. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A follow up to some of the questions and suggestions. Yes, everything is greased, tight, adjusted, and the steering box is "supposed" to be a mustang (style ?) from Mullens when Lowe originally built it. Rich drove it to Florida at least twice, Atlanta several times and also the street rod nationals so I know that it ran and steered better than it does now. I had previously suggested a larger steering wheel, as I have lived through the 55/57 Chevys with my friends & the smaller wheels so I fully understand the concept and the drawbacks ..... All of the issues and suggestions go hand in hand, along with changing the fixed seat placement and a new steering wheel. I will try for something definitive on the steering box identification. A new box, larger steering wheel, seat placement, and the typical front end rebuild components will definitely improve things. I personally put king pin bushings in this for him in about 95, just prior to one of his Florida trips and it needed them back then so again it would not surprise me now. Thanks for all the help so far, Ill be back shortly. Steve
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