Fellow Cognoscenti:
I am currently rebuilding my 1960 TR3A steering box, and have some questions
for you:
Should I replace the idler bracket and arm (the thing that hold the steering
arm on the right side of the car)? When I grab the idler arm and try to
move it side-to-side, I get no perceptible movement, but when I try to rock
it up and down(90 degrees from the normal side-to-side movement), I feel a
little bit of play. I suspect the answer is to replace it, but first I'd
like to know: is that slight up-and-down play normal?
There are shims between the bottom of the steering box and the bottom-end
cover. There's also a paper gasket to prevent leaks. That means that the
gasket fits between the last gasket and the cover. Why do we not get leaks
between the shims, or between the first shim and the steering box, since
this is all metal-to-metal contact? Or is there some trick to make these
areas leak-proof? (I know, I'm playing straight man using phrases like
"leak-proof" . . .)
How about torque settings? I assume the bolts holding the two covers onto
the steering box should be torqued at 15-20 foot-lbs. Is that right? How
about the big nut on the bottom holding the steering arm onto the big
thingie sticking out of the box (sorry - can't remember the name).I'm
guessing 80-100 ft-lbs. Any ideas?
There's a filler plug on the top cover for filling the box with fluid
(fluif??). There's also a rubber plug located several inches up the outer
column. Why are there two? Is the bottom one for ease of filling the box,
and the rubber plug for filling the column? Anything tricky here?
Finally, I bought a new fan fitting kit from TRF. I need it because my old
rubber grommets were in very bad shape. Is there anything to know about how
the metal parts go on? I have put them on just like the old ones were
installed, but I can't figure out their purpose, and can't be sure that they
were installed correctly before.
Thannks for all your help.
Warren Allen
1960 TR3A TS55177L
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