Hello everyone I'd like to announce my happy news that yesterday I finally got my 53 chevy on the road. Its been about a year in the making but its finally legal to drive. One question, there is play in the front end, I replaced the kingpins and idler arm bushings, as far as I can see everything else there is fine but there is still play in the steering. The steering wheel rocks freely about 2 inches left and right. I'm quite sure its the steering box because it doesn't feel like there is any weight behind the free play at all. It just bounces to and fro unaffected. Can I buy replacement parts or for it or is there a way of getting this thing reconditioned without spending too much $$. Thanks folks. Jordan
the steering box is adjustable. at the lower end of it theres a large 3" or so, thin jam nut that locks the bearing adjuster in place. loosen it (mines got notches and i dont have a wrench that big so i had to use a hammer, and a heavy screwdriver) and then tighten the adjuster until you need 1/2 to 1 1/2 pound of force to turn the steering wheel. use a fishing scale to measure the force. if the worm gear or sector shaft roller (i think thats what its called) are worn you'll know, itll feel rough when you turn the wheel. i dont know of anyone that makes replacment components, and i need some too, so let me know if you find any! good luck
What is the normal amount of free play a wheel should have? I thought the oldies had considerable more play than modern cars.
the only play should be from the tires flexing on the ground. the steering system should have very little, or no play
Some good info here, but no one has mentioned greasing the box. FYI, I think this is the same design steering box as 1956+ Fords, the best thing you can do is pack them full of moly grease and give them a proper adjustment. Then, provided the suspension bits are solid, you will be able to tell if the box is shot or not. A little play is normal, but it shouldn't have much. It makes the car a lot easier to drive, takes out quite a bit of slop and saves wear, and it should have grease in it anyway.
49-54's are the world's worst about free play,,you can adjust all you want,,,even rebuild the center link(most common worn out part) but they still suck,,
There's an adjuster under the inner fender. Adjust it like the manual says. Here's a link. The 53 has bearings instead of bushings so it should adjust out unless it is completely worn out.
The center link will produce a lot of play. When you turn the wheel, the center link wants to move up and down. Rebuilding it helps but doesn't get rid of it. I had mine pretty good for a few thousand miles and it was right back to its old sloppy self (till I went with a Mustang II front end).
here's what happened with mine:- http://www.nsra.org.uk/newforum/showthread.php?t=8622&highlight=taff http://www.nsra.org.uk/newforum/showthread.php?t=9839&highlight=taff and after that i gave up. I'm now about half way through a steering rack conversion. while i accept that there is a bit of free-play in a system such as this, I didn't like driving it like that.
BTW, when it's done I'll have a NOS steering shaft for sale. it's been fitted but has no driving miles on it.
Ok, now I think I've sussed the steering box out but then I can't test it now because I have petrol spewing out the carby. I took the thing apart and put some gasket glue between the fuel catchment and upper part of the carby, but when I put it back together its throwing fuel out a hole in the passenger side of the carby, up near the top. What's going on there???
Most likely your float is not shutting off the fuel. Dirt in the float needle or a float that has filled with gas. A float full of gas will be heavy feeling and you can hear/feel fuel shoshing around when you shake it. My bet is a bit of dirt in the needle/seat area. Got a fuel filter on it ??
Put it this way. I'm really quite stupid. To elaborate on that, I'd taken the carby apart to fix a slight leak, I wanted to put some instant gasket in there and bolt the thing up, this is what happened. I couldn't find any instant gasket so instead I opted for some selleys quick grip. What I didn't know is that petrol turns that stuff back into gooey chunks that made there way into the fuel and have.. I would predict that it has clogged up the needle. Oh well at least the steering is fixed.
Rule one repeat rule one !! Do NOT use any kind of sealer on carbs as 99% of it will come back to bite you in the ass !! I doubt that the sealer is in the needle/seat area unless you put some on where the line goes into the carb. A lot of times just disconecting the fuel line will cause a spec of dirt to get on the seat. Why ?? good f*((% question ,but it has happened to me more than once. I bet you have a Rochester carb ,and those are famous for the top warping. Try the web site thecarburatorshop.com as if I remember right he has a section telling how to un-warp those carb tops.
By the way those front ends LOVE grease ,do it every 1000 miles. Put many miles on a 54 210 back in the day.
You're right it is a rochester. I did plaster the sealer all over the existing gasket so with a bit of luck bits of it have ended up everywhere they shouldn't. I might just try and clean out the whole thing. Any ideas of how I could do that?
Take the carb apart and pick out the bigger chunks. Then blow through all passages backwards with high pressure air. Feeling lucky ? Pull the top and see what things look like. While the top is off pull the float and blow out the needle/seat assy., and see if the float is OK. Easy way to check float for leaks is to hold it under some hot water in a pan, water only needs to be 140* or so, any leaks you will see bubbles as the air inside the float expands. No bubbles = good float normally.
We took the carby apart today and gave it a good clean, put it all back together but its still pretty sus. The thing is, it revs a lot smoother than it ever did and starts up pretty good but as soon as you take off or put any load on the motor it dies. With a few adjustments it got a little better but its still no good for driving. Chances are the timing/advance is out? Though we only mucked around with the carby. Head scratcher. I don't want to run a kit in the carby if it doesn't need it, its too easy to waste dollars when you're confused.
Check the base to fuel bowl gasket - it's easy to get it backwards ... check the fuel pressure, too. Anything over 3 lbs is too much.
Touch wood I'm going to say that the gaskets are all in order, had a long hard look at them before bolting stuff on for the second time. After consulting the '53 workshop manual troubleshooting section I've found that just about every remedy is to 'disassemble and clean carburetor'. So I might just do that again and focus on ensuring the jets are gunk free.
Yep :Sounds like you still got some dirt etc in the main circut . It will idle OK and rev sitting still but no go under load. Old trick if you haven't pulled the carb yet. Rev it up good and fast with the air cleaner off, without closing the throttle use your hand to seal off the intake. This will cause a reverse vacumm on all internal passages ,hopefully sucking out any crud there.
Does anyone have a cross sectional or exploded view of these rochester single barrel auto choke carbys? Just want to make sure I put it back together properly.
Try this... http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1948_51truck/51ctsm0663.htm That might help. Brian
How bout a Saab rack??? Cant remember the dudes handle, but he put one in one of these cars... Think I saw somethin about a Cavalier rack as well too. Try a search, this has been covered lots.
Yep you're right that center link wants to move up and down the whole time. The problem is.. I just had new bushings put in it and it is still definitely where most (or all) the play is coming from. Does anyone have any ideas of how to stop this center link moving? Looks like I may have to put a rack and pinion set up in there at some stage.
Or you could used the third arm like the early Corvettes have, no bushings but a bearing instead . My car is tight and I guess the tin cars had a habbit of being sloppy. Bob
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