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53 power steering box removal

Started by kav, July 06, 2015, 08:10:16 AM

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kav

Hi people. After having gotten so close to getting my baby back on the road after a nut and bolt resto of the engine , and dealing with the mission creep that comes with it . I now find that the steering box seals that weren't good , have after 9 months given up the ghost and have left an unholy mess on the garage floor . So the steering box has to come out for a major rebuild . I have consulted the manual , and it has given me , heart palpitations . Holy crap , do I really need to remove the entire steering column assembly to get the box out . If this is the case I need to rejig my entire garage so as I can do this and then pull the car apart to get at the box . It may be just as quick to pull the engine out again . I believe that I should be able to separate the steering box at the cloth joint and just remove it . This in itself will be an operation with limited height  underneath and the engine in situ . I know some of you guys will have done this many times and that this subject will have been dealt with many times before . Unfortunately searches on these sites don't always bring up the mountains of info that has already been espoused by the boffins on these sites . So I'm appealing to those that have had to experience this annoyance . Any shortcuts ?  . To get this close to having her back on the road and refilling the steering reservoir and having it empty its contents on the floor is almost soul destroying . I'm yet to find out whether the gearbox or engine empties its contents onto the garage floor . Any help appreciated.
Cheers . Stuart.
1953 series 62
nicknamed  SERENA

dplotkin

My understanding is that pre 1956 boxes do not separate from the column without column removal. Before you get too excited see if you can narrow down from exactly where the leak comes. I'm only familiar with the 56 box, which was all new that year and for which the shop manual said nothing whatsoever about replacing a pitman shaft seal while the box remained in the car, but which I was able to do in an hour.

I would clean everything up, fill it, and see where it comes from first. Is it a line leaking? Is it a seal you can replace with the box in the car? Let's establish this before you commit the patient to invasive surgery.

Dan
56 Fleetwood Sixty Special (Starlight silver over Dawn Grey)
60 Buick Electra six window
60 Chrysler 300 F Coupe
61 Plymouth Savoy Ram Inducted 413 Superstock
62 Pontiac Bonneville Vista
63 Chevy Impala convertable
63 Ford Galaxie XL fastback
65 Corvette convertable 396
68 Chrysler New Yorker