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« on: January 06, 2023, 05:16:44 »
Dear Michael (and all),
First, thank you for your comments and suggestions. Some interesting developments to share... After a referral and a couple of additional phone calls, I was able to find someone to rotate the pin on the sector shaft 90 degrees. It was mere minutes from when I explained what I wanted to have done to when it was brought back out to me with the operation completed. After a quick back and forth between the brothers that owned the shop, it was handed back to me at no charge. I returned their generosity with a couple of bottles of wine later that day and everyone was happy (Merry Christmas to all).
I had every intention of pulling the steering box assembly for rebuilding but first wanted to see what effect, if any, the rotated pin would have. During the Christmas Holiday, and with the help of a friend, I reinstalled the sector shaft and put the original top plate back into service. We initially lowered the adjustment screw only checking the slightest side to side motion on the steering wheel for drag but quickly discovered that things tightened up considerably when the wheels were turned much more than that so we jacked up the front end of the car, made some additional adjustments which allowed the wheels to more comfortably achieve lock in either direction, and went for a ride. What's odd is that the alignment seemed off, with the car pulling a little to the right. Looking at the wheels, it seems as though the right front wheel is turned out slightly. This has me scratching my head because, other than rotating the pin, nothing was done to the tie rods. I need to look into this further and I also want to look at some further fiddling with the pin adjustment screw depth. What's really interesting what has happened to the free play. It's gone from 5+ inches down to 1 inch or maybe 1.5 inches (see attached official Q-tip test photos). And looking at the drag link arm when the steering wheel is being rotated shows immediate movement of the sector shaft, with that 1 to 1.5 inches of free play being absorbed into the steering linkage. Amazing! Needless to say I don't have any plans to pull the steering box assembly now. Could the alignment have been thrown off by things tightening up so much? You would think that any effect would have been uniform given the whole steering linkage is locked together. Regardless, I'm hoping a trip to the alignment shop solves things. More to come once our much-needed California rains subside.
Best,
Greg