I have seen some post but since it is tech week what are the modifications needed to use these boxes? Why in the old days did they extend a box out from the side of the frame to bolt the steering box too? Hope everyone is doing great.
I used a 1953 f-100 box in my '31 frame. It goes like this: 1 - Figure out where you want the center gear for your pitman arm mount to be located. 2 - Adjust the angle of your steering column to fit properly to your dash and interior 3 - transfer by marker the top edge and bottom edge of the frame rail to the 3 bolt flange of the steering box 4 - subtract from these lines the thickness of the material the rail is made of, and add a little to be sure 5 - use a cut-off wheel to remove this material from the steering box flange 6 - using the same clearance from the edge of the flange to the center of the bolt hols, redrill the upper and lower hols for new mounting locations. No big deal here, you just want enough meat on the flange equal to what was there to begin with. Hope this helps. I actually added a few washers to the rearward bolt between the rail and the steering flange to push the steering wheel away from my door and toward the middle of the car. you may or may not need to do this. I attached a pic of mine. It may not be so clear, so I'll try to find a closer view and from the inside as well. I did this AFTER I boxed my rails.
The way Vern Tardel does it is pretty damn sano... 1. Cut the three bolt flange off your F100 box. 2. Cut the two bolt flange off a Model A Box. 3. Slide Model A flange onto shaft. 4. Position in car at correct angle and weld together. The end result is super clean and looks factory. Sam.
Hmmmm... Can't mount the steering box till you see if it clears the head and exhaust. Can't mount the engine till you see if it clears the steering box. Can't mount either until you can sit in the car and see where the steering wheel needs to be. And what about pedal clearance around the column? God, I love this shit... No wonder they use Ididit tilt cloumns and U-Joints in street rods.
[ QUOTE ] Hmmmm... Can't mount the steering box till you see if it clears the head and exhaust. Can't mount the engine till you see if it clears the steering box. God, I love this shit... [/ QUOTE ] Thass what the tape measure was invented for! But even then you gotta know how to operate the "smart end" of it. BTW, did you know that 99% of all tape measures are "left handed". Try holding a pencil in your right hand and the tape in the other... hook the tape on to something, drag it over and ALL THE NUMBERS ARE UPSIDE DOWN!!! Sam.
It's about fucking time something worked better for left handers. I had to play Galaga cross handed all through the mid 80's. I'm still scarred from the special Kindergarten scissors. F-100 box is bigger than the F1 box, yes? Do most of the same rules apply to it - it still fits in basically the same place and the cut and weld still works with the Model A box? Don't forget you're probably going to have to rebush the box if you start cutting and welding.
The two boxes are substantially different, and anyone planning a rod should probably consider the two shapes as alternatives in allocating space in a crowded neighborhood. One has the main gearbox above and the other below the sector--I'd have to leave work and go home to the garage to remember which is which. The F-100 has a fairly bulky squared box while the F-1 casting wraps tightly around the gears. F-1 uses a normal splined pitman, interchangeable with all early V8 and many later cars, F-100 uses a strange clamp-on pitman which is fairly bulky and not interchangeable with anything else. A third choice, once popular, is early Econoline. I don't have one, but remember it as a smaller F-100 looking device.
The F-100 has a larger (diameter) sector shaft than the F-1. To make the adaptation Sam describes, the Model A flange must be bored to accept the F-100 sector-shaft bushings. Otherwise it's a simple as he describes. I have some illustrations from the Ford steering book Vern and I are doing, due to be available in a few weeks. I would post these on STARPHOTO and link them here, but STAR is just about stalled, so I'll do several posts here. The box shown is an F-1, but the work is essentially the same for an F-100 box, except for enlarging the bore in the Model A flange. First make certain the body is correctly installed on the frame, with all wood blocks, rubber insulators, and alignment shims in place and the body correctly adjusted and bolted down firmly. This is absolutely essential to ensure correct fit of the steering column relative to the body. Then: Cut the flange nose off of a Model A steering box extension, leaving about 1 inch of sleeve connected to the flange that bolts to the frame. Bore the flange to accept an F-100 sector-shaft bushing. To ensure good penetration during welding, chamfer the end of the sleeve at about 45 degrees.
Cut the flange off the F-1 box leaving about 1 inch of sleeve on the box. Chamfer the end of the sleeve just as you did the flange.
Bolt the Model A flange in the frame. Assemble the steering box, including the shaft and the mast jacket. Install it in the frame, with the sector shaft through the Model A flange. Locate the upper end of the steering shaft and steering column mast jacket by bolting the mast jacket to the steering column drop on the dashboard. Mark the sleeve stubs on the box and the flange for alignment, at a couple of locations around the perimeter. If possible, tack weld the two sleeve halves together in a couple of spots.
Remove the steering box and flange from the frame, re-install the flange on the box, line up the marks, and tack the pieces together. Heat the box and flange, but not so much that they begin to color. Weld the flange to the box with short passes in a zigzag pattern at 90-degree intervals. After each pass rotate the sector shaft to make sure the flange and box are still aligned. Allow the box to cool slowly dont quench it -- then grind the weld flush with the sleeve and check for and fill any voids in the weld and grind it flush once again. Remove the old bushing, install a new one, and hone it to fit the sector shaft. That's it!
I used a similar approach to the one described above to accomodate everybody that does not have model A steering boxes laying around the shop. Also, the following method is easier, allows for more mounting possibilities and is structurally less critical, but involves access to a lathe. 1) I cut off the triangular flange (hacksaw, sawzall..). 2) Turn a piece of round stock to the diameter of the sector shaft over a length of 2". Leave the rest of the bar at a slighly larger diameter. Use loctite or epoxy to glue the round piece into the sector shaft bore with the thick end sticking out a couple of inches from the box side of the steering box (opposite from snout). Mount the rod in the lathe and support the snout of the steering box with a live center. Turn the OD of the snout down just enough to get a clean cut all around for about 2" length. Remove rod from box by tapping out with drift and hammer. Use heat if you used epoxy. 3) Cut the new flange of your own design of 3/8" steel plate. Chamfer the hole for the snout to allow for angular adjustment of the sector shaft relative to the flange. 4) Cut hole in frame in desired location. Bolt flange in place. Mock up steering box with mast jacket, steering wheel, column drop etc. Once everything is the way you want it, measure angle between sector shaft and frame rail (template of flange). This is important if your frame tapers a lot toward the front end. 5) Tack weld snout of box to the new flange. Disassemble and weld flange solid. (I let the welding shop weld it up with nickel rod for a couple of bucks). Grind welds, assemble box with new bushings and voila! A perfect custom fit without the need for washers, spacers, etc. The advantages of this method are.: -No need for model a steering box. -no tricky alignment of the steering box and model A snout. Only the outside of the box is worked on. -Clearance (for headers, engine etc.) can be gained by having the snout protrude from the flange. -The box can be made to work with frame rails which are severely tapered towards the front end, without the pitman arm iterfering with the frame rail. Just cut the hole in the flange at an angle / cut it slightly eliptical. -Even a regular Ford cross steer box could be treated the same way and made into a more desirable side steer box. ( Haven't tried that yet) I did this modification on a f1 box for my '31 roadster on duece rails. Shimming the stock flange would have resulted in the pitman arm hitting the frame. It works great now! Sorry, I don't have any digital pics. Mike
Cool stuff,av8 in the second pic is that a F1 box or the F100?? Also is this a better way to go than a through the cowl style and can these boxes be used for cowl style??
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