This is one tool I would highly recommend you buy or make like I did. If you do not get the torque on the retaining nuts right you may up with a damaged power steering gear or if it comes loose an out of control one.

I made this out of a pipe nipple and a cheap Duralast socket welded to it. Probably the only good application of anything Duralast. Did I just say that?

torque specs

Torquing the main and lock nut down properly. Another note about these steering gears. I have noticed there is no more buy one and return yours as a core. The only options you have is rebuild it yourself or send it out. No more cores it seems. So if you think you can skimp by with a punch and chisel on these nuts and you damage it beyond use, you are now up a creek without a paddle. As it's probably going to get really expensive for you very quickly.

Next up assembling the rack. You should have 27 balls.

Then comes the seals. The round black O-ring goes in first, then the teflon square cut one.

Like so.

Next up lube up the housing bore and rack piston and assemble with the O-Rings.

If the Teflon seal doesn't want to compress enough to enter the bore you can attach the 4 screws to the control housing and into the case equally and use the input shaft to carefully drive the piston into the bore squarely.

Next install the Pitman (Sector) shaft.

Then the top cover

Just a note be sure to draw up the Pitman shaft set screw all the way up through the cap before torquing down the cap bolts as you could crack the cap.

Lock sealing nut and washer for the over center Pitman lash adjustment. The seal kit does not come with a new nut or washer. I bought this full size nut at Air Craft Spruce and you can also get this nut with sealing/locking end in half size also.

Just leave it loose for the moment.

Now you need a very sensitive low range torque wrench for this. This one only goes to 15 inch pounds.

You're looking for 9-10 inch pounds and this is the part I see so many try to adjust this portion by feel. Or they try to set this to alleviate other play in the steering parts. This adjust really critical, too much and you risk damaging the Pitman and rack teeth or cracking the gear case. Too little and you'll have excessive play. There is no way you can possible "feel" 9-10 inch pounds.

Plus this adjustment needs to be done at centre. This steering gear has a lock to lock of 4 turns so set to 2 turns in from either end to carry this out.

I will say this 1/2 turn of the Pitman shaft adjuster bolt makes a world of difference between too much play and binding. When finished tighten the locknut.

Completed and ready to install.

That parts done. The new Pitman arm is drying.

These are the old seals and boy some of them were rock hard. Bin food.

For those interested, this is the model of the torque wrench. Yes it's a bit pricy for seemingly a limited application. But if you really want to do it right, as they say you have to pay to play.

For those interested in blackening your own hardware, this is what I used. I just filled a salsa jar with it an then distilled water. Works fast.

Mind you this is not corrosion control you still have to clear coat the bolts for that.

Hope you found this useful.

Cheers

Power Steering Gear Follow up

The new Pitman arm was dry and installed. Now that the intense drag of the new ball joints, tie rods and the like were attached to the steering gear a new problem was noted. There is 4-5˚ of deadband in the input shaft of the steering gear. This is play before the torsion rod engages. There wasn't enough load on the bench to catch this.

It's either a loose torsion rod spring or more likely the spiral race in the worm gear and or rack is worn. Either way there is pretty much nothing you can do that's practical to correct this. I have 3 other spares of this '65-'68 steering gear, I shall rebuild another in the same fashion and see how that fares.

Sometimes no matter how well you prepare and try your best you can't win them all. However I should have known as this was the steering gear out the '66 galaxie 500 XL that I have yet find one single good part in. (sigh)

(grumbling) That car was such a pile of....... I should have known better. Agh well I'll condemn this gear to the parts shelf labeled as mediocre/parts.

Onto the sway bar......