Need Help Identifying This Steering Box Please...

I was given a steering box, that looks and functions just like a Vega Box. I assumed it was a Vega Box. It was missing the Pitman Arm, so I ordered one from speedway. The OD of the output shaft on this box is much larger than the ID of a Vega Pitman Arm. Spoke to a knowledgable buddy and it is not a Vega box. I googled the name on the box "Gemmer France". I think it might be a box of off some european car. I need to find a place to order the correct Pitman arm, this box looks almost the same and functions just as a Vega box would for a Cross Steer set-up. Thanks in advance, I figure some HAMBer will regonized it and be able to help.

 

If it's European, it's probably metric. I doubt if you will find any aftermarket source for a pitman arm. Only hope is a restoration company dealing in foreign marks. Try Hemmings for a source.

 

I don't quite see how that looks anything at all like a Vega box.....but you might want to just look for a Vega box now that you have a pitman arm for one

 

yeah Squirrel I agree , it don't look like my Vega box.

 

Ok to clarify what I meant...the box is setup and functions like a Vega and would be a good cross steer box. It is a Gemmer box and has the numbers 50.5 or .6 or .8 hard to tell. I'd like to find a Pitman arm for it, the box is in great shape and has no slack in it.

Or can I measure the dia and count the splines and maybe the numbers would ring a bell as to a pitman arm that might fit. I just dont want to throw aside a perfectly good box, unless making this one work is gonna cost more than I can go buy a new vega for...

 

suggest you look on ebay, search for "steering gear" or something and include the name of a european car, do this for all the ferrin car names you can think of till you find one that looks like it.

 

There is a LOT of interchange of spline sizes for steerings, and some bigger euro cars like Volvos used same splines as many American ones. I'd look at a junkyard...GM manual, GM SMALL PS, etc. My impression is that there are only a small number of different splines out there, and yours will match up with something common.

 

listen to him, he's one of the few that knows of what he speaks...

 

not GM because it has all the splines, while GMs are missing four

But that's a good idea Bruce

 

Go here: http://www.borgeson.com/


They have quite a few steering boxes pictured.

 

I can't help with the identification, but I think Gemmer are international - I had a RHD F-100 steering box that was Gemmer (South African truck), and I think Model A's used Gemmer boxes? As Bruce said, you'll probably find that the splines are common to something over there.

EDIT: Thinking about it, aren't LHD F-100 boxes made by Gemmer as well? A quick search suggests they were used in all sorts of vehicles, including Citroen in France. Maybe it will be simpler as suggested above, to just buy a Vega box now you have the arm?

 

Gemmer boxes were used on most Ford and Chrysler products back in the day, plus Kaiser, Packard, et al.
www.MosesLudel.com rebuilds all these old boxes and they might help ID it.