I.D. this Cowl steering box/sprint car box?

Hey guys, I bought this steering box a while back (advertised as sprint car steering box) and have since disassembled it. I am hoping someone on the hamb can identify this steering gear. I have all the internals but would like to replace the bearings and seals, bearings I can find based on id, od, and width but some of the seals don't have numbers on them. Also the gear ratio is 6:1 and would like to find a more friendly 8:1 or 9:1 if someone makes it.

At first glance I thought it looked similar to the box in the Doane Spencer roadster but I'm not positive and I don't have any close up pictures of Spencer's interior. Is it a Schroeder box? some sort or Norden or Franklin? and if so what era is it from?

 

Nice looking piece, no idea who made it, but it looks to be based on the Franklin design. Franklin car from the 1920's, not Jimmy Franklin. Bob

 

Build this in (backwards) and you'll have 9:1:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Howe-Basic-Steering-Quickener-151-3-4-Inch-36-Spline,24447.html

This one, and you'll have 12:1:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Howe-Basic-Steering-Quickener-21-3-4-Inch-36-Spline,24460.html

 

Have you used/bought one? good/bad/ugly? please tell.

 

Yup. Almost everything I use, is used. They are easy enough to check. Smooth operation, absence of gear backlash (there is some adjustment possible), and overall external appearance (not too beat up, doesn't appear to have been stored underwater) is about it.

 

Still looking for a possible manufacturer of this steering box.

Yeah, I've looked into using a steering quickener as a reducer but have yet to find one that looks good/cast body or traditional. I'll have to look into using the guts from one and making my own box.

If anything I would like to have 8:1 gear and possibly reduce it to 16:1.

Does anyone have any close up shots of Doane Spencers roadster interior? or under dash area?

 

Ask Josh Shaw about the box.
He is into that sort of stuff.

 

Very simular to a Schroeder (but not) Call them and talk to Gary
schroedersteering.com

 

Hmmmm, That's a new one for me too. If I had to guess I'd say some model of ROSS. It's definately an OEM box out of something. But has been fitted for a Sprint car or Dragster.

Sorry, man.. My vote is to call Gary too. He's the Steering Guru. If you get ahould of his wife on the phone, ask her. She is just as sharp as he is..

J Shaw

 

Doesn't look like any Ross I ever saw, but I haven't seen everything they made.

Erlbacher out of Missouri?

 

Possibly a Casale. They make boat stuff nowdays but years ago they made race car parts, Q/Cs and such.

 

Not trying to hi-jack your thread, but since we have some knowledgeable guys on the subject of steering box id, I have this Ross unit, I also have 16 sets of new, extended worm and sectors. It has a large sector shaft (1.125") diameter. The ratio is 11 to 1, making it a great cowl steering for a hotrod. I am thinking it was from something industrial, like a fork lift. Any ideas or info would be appreciated, I could use some housings to make complete units.

 

you nailed it, it's from a forklift.

 

Those look like the ones Bob Higman (of USAC midget car fame) used to build. The story goes that they were, indeed, built by Midland-Ross for fork trucks. I think most were "back doored" out of the factory-in pieces. To use in a race car they needed a housing for the pitman shaft welded to the case and a dead tube attached to the opposite side. (I assume you've checked these out for "proper" action?) I've played with several Rosses including the ones used in Allis Chalmers/Baldwin combines. They have a pitman shaft that is actually TOO long but they also have to be reversed which is a nasty job on a Ross. The Ross gear of choice for a restored Champ or Sprint car seems to be one from a 1 ton International truck but it needs it's shaft extended, a housing and dead tube added as well.

 

Dale, They turn the right direction and seem to be easy to adjust, The bearings are "New Departure", or as my pal calls them "bicycle" bearings. Thanks for the info about Bob Higman.

 

I e-mailed Gary Schroeder and he said " I don't know who manufactured this steering box. It is not a Schroeder but similar."

Spent some time searching the internet for Doane Spencer pics. this is the best I can come up with. It sure looks similar to me.

 

New Departure was a division of General Motors, and is now an entity of General Bearing Company. Your friend must be old, they stopped making bicycle parts in the early 20th century.

My grandfather was a UAW member, shop foreman at the Meriden Connecticut facility.