Stage 1 - gung ho! Man this is gonna be great!
Stage 2 - Holy Crap I had to take apart 2 or 3 times more than I thought - No problem I'm all over this!
Stage 3 - OK Where does this stuff fit in here? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. Too late to turn back now
Stage 4 - Man this looks perfect - I'm gonna call it a night & see how it looks in the morning! Glad I stuck with this.
Stage 5 - Man this looks like crap. What was I thinking - I should have never started this.
Stage 6 - Alright lets see if I can salvage this.
Stage 7 - Man this looks perfect (again) Hmnnnn I hope this isn't a repeat of the last time I thought it was good.
Stage 8 - Hey this STILL looks good - maybe this was a good idea.
Stage 9 - Hey I can see how all the other pieces fit in here - this is gonna be great!!!
Stage 10- Ooooh wee - I am so glad I stuck with this!!!!
Right now I am putting power steering in my '47 Ford truck - trying to use what I have laying around - Last night I was at Stage 4 - Today I'm at Stage 7. We'll see what tomorrow brings!!!!
I'm desperately trying to break out of the Stage 4 - 7 cycle!!!
Jacin
The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Moderators: MostMint, wxo, Fred32v, Basement Paul, ttamrettus
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
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The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Last edited by Racin'Jacin on Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
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Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
So today I spent whittlin' on some parts - well after diggin' thru my stash of old junk parts. Here's what I found:
One leaky 4 tab Saginaw Power steering box (looking for a good one, but will use this one for mockup).
A section of GM "Double D" steering shaft
A GM intermediate steering shaft piece - not "Double D" - just 3/4" round.
Some slippery plastic - delrin I think.
First I struggled and struggled to find the "right" place to mount the box - to do this I eventually bolted a TEMPORARY tab to the frame with a bunch of holes close to where I thought it might go.
As a point of reference it originally looked like this:
Next was step was to disassemble the factory column and cut the shaft - it was a little bit of a shame to cut this, but I needed to reuse the shaft. For those wondering what I am talking about - on these OLD Fords the steering shaft is INTEGRAL with the steering box - I had to cut the shaft off the factory box - oh well all in the name of progress!
Next was making the bushing - I teetered between going plastic bushing versus a roller bearing and in the end decided that plastic was sufficient if not superior to the roller bearing. I plan on adding a grease fitting to the plastic- just haven't got that far yet. The plastic will "bolt" to the column via 2 or 3 screws.
Then came the intermediate shaft. I machined 2 small flats on the solid shaft - the idea is to weld the "double D" piece to this , but thought that if I use the flats I would never be relying on the weld - not that I don't trust my welds - just thinking why if I don't have to - plus it makes it REAL easy to mock up the parts.
The only thing left is to add the FLATS to the original steering shaft - I probably could have finished that tonight, but I was getting tired (lazy) so I called it quits.
Tomorrow is another day.
Jacin
P.S> I think I may have moved to Step 9!!!!!! At least for THIS part.
One leaky 4 tab Saginaw Power steering box (looking for a good one, but will use this one for mockup).
A section of GM "Double D" steering shaft
A GM intermediate steering shaft piece - not "Double D" - just 3/4" round.
Some slippery plastic - delrin I think.
First I struggled and struggled to find the "right" place to mount the box - to do this I eventually bolted a TEMPORARY tab to the frame with a bunch of holes close to where I thought it might go.
As a point of reference it originally looked like this:
Next was step was to disassemble the factory column and cut the shaft - it was a little bit of a shame to cut this, but I needed to reuse the shaft. For those wondering what I am talking about - on these OLD Fords the steering shaft is INTEGRAL with the steering box - I had to cut the shaft off the factory box - oh well all in the name of progress!
Next was making the bushing - I teetered between going plastic bushing versus a roller bearing and in the end decided that plastic was sufficient if not superior to the roller bearing. I plan on adding a grease fitting to the plastic- just haven't got that far yet. The plastic will "bolt" to the column via 2 or 3 screws.
Then came the intermediate shaft. I machined 2 small flats on the solid shaft - the idea is to weld the "double D" piece to this , but thought that if I use the flats I would never be relying on the weld - not that I don't trust my welds - just thinking why if I don't have to - plus it makes it REAL easy to mock up the parts.
The only thing left is to add the FLATS to the original steering shaft - I probably could have finished that tonight, but I was getting tired (lazy) so I called it quits.
Tomorrow is another day.
Jacin
P.S> I think I may have moved to Step 9!!!!!! At least for THIS part.
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
IT STEERS!!!! OK I am gettin' ahead of myself - there's still no PS PUMP , but the box is mounted, cross link hooked up (needs adjusted) and there is still some welding and tapping plus I absolutely have to trim up the mount - can't have all these hillbilly sharp edges, but it's mounted - looks good and now I can start to work on figuring out the lines and pump! I am totally STOKED!!!!!
Oh yeah time permitting - I will eventually have to add some sort of slip ring to get the horn working. But that's another day....
Here's the new mount - still needs trimmed:
Jacin
Oh yeah time permitting - I will eventually have to add some sort of slip ring to get the horn working. But that's another day....
Here's the new mount - still needs trimmed:
Jacin
Last edited by Racin'Jacin on Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Basement Paul
- Posts: 3538
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- Location: In the dirt.
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Horn shmorn. Just yell obscenities out the window.
-BP
-BP
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
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Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
BP that's what I've done so far. 
Jacin
Jacin
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Eeek!
1 Step forward 2 steps back!!!
Worked all day to get back to where I THOUGHT I was yesterday!!!
Turns out while I did account for spring clearance I did NOT account for the SPRING CLAMP!!!! Ahhhhhrrrggghhh.
So I ended up whittlin' some and welding a bit to trim off the bottom of the bracket and weld an offset tab on there to give some extra clearance. Doesn't look like much but I spent hours and hours figuring it out!!
Oh well I am now looking good again... well until the NEXT thing!!! ha ha ha
Jacin
EDIT: After going back out and mounting everything back up - it dawned on me that there was a better way....I see a revision is in order.. Oh well the only thing it costs me is some time.
Worked all day to get back to where I THOUGHT I was yesterday!!!
Turns out while I did account for spring clearance I did NOT account for the SPRING CLAMP!!!! Ahhhhhrrrggghhh.
So I ended up whittlin' some and welding a bit to trim off the bottom of the bracket and weld an offset tab on there to give some extra clearance. Doesn't look like much but I spent hours and hours figuring it out!!
Oh well I am now looking good again... well until the NEXT thing!!! ha ha ha
Jacin
EDIT: After going back out and mounting everything back up - it dawned on me that there was a better way....I see a revision is in order.. Oh well the only thing it costs me is some time.
Last edited by Racin'Jacin on Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Basement Paul
- Posts: 3538
- Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:27 pm
- Location: In the dirt.
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
And while you're not yelling obscenities at people, you can yell at your bracket a little too. Sometimes it makes you feel a little better. OK, sometimes it makes ME feel better. Love the tenacity.
-BP
-BP
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Got the power steering pump mounted!
Need to do some research on the pump speed - as the Hemi lower pulley is pretty small - might be an issue there.
Here's a pic. Not real easy to see, but if you look close you'll see a 1" diameter round shaft behind a triangular piece. Basically there's a heavy plate hanging down off the rear of that round shaft - that plate is what the pump bolts to - the triangular plate up front keeps it from rotating.
Originally the pump mount didn't have that tab in front - I added that to hopefully stabilize it a bit better since my rear mount is hanging in the breeze so to speak. I think it looks like over kill which was exactly what I was shootin' for.
Jacin
Need to do some research on the pump speed - as the Hemi lower pulley is pretty small - might be an issue there.
Here's a pic. Not real easy to see, but if you look close you'll see a 1" diameter round shaft behind a triangular piece. Basically there's a heavy plate hanging down off the rear of that round shaft - that plate is what the pump bolts to - the triangular plate up front keeps it from rotating.
Originally the pump mount didn't have that tab in front - I added that to hopefully stabilize it a bit better since my rear mount is hanging in the breeze so to speak. I think it looks like over kill which was exactly what I was shootin' for.
Jacin
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Pulled the steering column back out to add the slip ring. Made that out of a piece of copper water pipe fitting. Most I've seen are brass, hopefully the copper will be fine - we'll see.
Still need to rig up the electrical contact at the horn button and the brush holder, but the column is back in!
Trans cooler lines need re-routed.
Exhaust is nearly done - minor tweaking was required.
Good times!
Still need to rig up the electrical contact at the horn button and the brush holder, but the column is back in!
Trans cooler lines need re-routed.
Exhaust is nearly done - minor tweaking was required.
Good times!
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
New Years UPDATE: The exhaust is DONE. Of course long term I'd like to rip it all out and redo it in stainless - maybe next year.
Measured up the hoses and got some fittings at the Parker Store on Lakeland Blvd - they bent me over price wise, but I was getting anxious so I paid the inflated prices and was on my way. Test fit the hoses and clocked the fittings - all looks well. Gave them to my buddy Stan who has a crimper at work - hopefully he can get to them soon - I can hardly wait to test this!
Today I was pretty much a SLUG on the couch all day, (my last official day off) but I finally drug my ass off the couch and got to the lathe.
I took a piece of delrin to make a brush holder - the column has a 1/2-13 nut welded to it - this will screw into the nut. I used an old motor brush I had laying around - I wasn't thinking I really needed to broach a square hole so I just hand filed the brush to fit the round hole I drilled. You can see an un-modified brush above the assembly in the pic. Time will tell if this proves to be a good plan or not - if not it's easily replaced!
In the middle of all this I decided I wanted to get a spare set of belts to throw into the toolbox - Ebay to the rescue - I paid 5 bucks apiece for belts - all Gates - and INCLUDING shipping! I'm in no hurry so this was a great (cheap) option!
Ohh wee - Stan JUST called - my hoses are done!!!! and on their way - oh yeah baby!!!!!!!!
To Be CONTINUED!
Measured up the hoses and got some fittings at the Parker Store on Lakeland Blvd - they bent me over price wise, but I was getting anxious so I paid the inflated prices and was on my way. Test fit the hoses and clocked the fittings - all looks well. Gave them to my buddy Stan who has a crimper at work - hopefully he can get to them soon - I can hardly wait to test this!
Today I was pretty much a SLUG on the couch all day, (my last official day off) but I finally drug my ass off the couch and got to the lathe.
I took a piece of delrin to make a brush holder - the column has a 1/2-13 nut welded to it - this will screw into the nut. I used an old motor brush I had laying around - I wasn't thinking I really needed to broach a square hole so I just hand filed the brush to fit the round hole I drilled. You can see an un-modified brush above the assembly in the pic. Time will tell if this proves to be a good plan or not - if not it's easily replaced!
In the middle of all this I decided I wanted to get a spare set of belts to throw into the toolbox - Ebay to the rescue - I paid 5 bucks apiece for belts - all Gates - and INCLUDING shipping! I'm in no hurry so this was a great (cheap) option!
Ohh wee - Stan JUST called - my hoses are done!!!! and on their way - oh yeah baby!!!!!!!!
To Be CONTINUED!
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Woo Whooo! So far everything seems to be working good! I can't be 100% sure just yet as I was (naturally) low on fluid! ATF is one of those items I can never seem to keep in stock! It seemed to have more resistance one way versus the other, but when I checked the level it was LOW so I will do some more evaluation tomorrow.
Also being the nitwit I am - I managed to put a small tear in the pump housing. Duh - I had no idea the return tube was welded to the housing - when I went to pry it over a bit I put a small tear in the housing. No big deal really - I had planned on taking the pump back off to reroute that line anyways. I was just impatient and wanted to try it tonight so I rushed and goofed a little No sweat - I'll fix it.
Very excited!
Jacin
Also being the nitwit I am - I managed to put a small tear in the pump housing. Duh - I had no idea the return tube was welded to the housing - when I went to pry it over a bit I put a small tear in the housing. No big deal really - I had planned on taking the pump back off to reroute that line anyways. I was just impatient and wanted to try it tonight so I rushed and goofed a little
No sweat - I'll fix it.Very excited!
Jacin
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Pump fixed, fluid topped off, trans lines redone, everything seems to be working great, but still no test drive until good weather.
I am extremely happy I finally decided to tackle this LONG over due project!! When will this SNOW go away - I am jonesin' for a test drive!!
Back to CHEAP BASTAGE rebuild for my other truck's motor!!!
Jacin
I am extremely happy I finally decided to tackle this LONG over due project!! When will this SNOW go away - I am jonesin' for a test drive!!
Back to CHEAP BASTAGE rebuild for my other truck's motor!!!
Jacin
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Went for a short test drive today ---- WOW so far it's awesome, but I may be a tad biased! Just went around the block a couple times, but so far so good!!!! Next up - a freeway jaunt and then hooking up to the dragster trailer and backing it up my narrow driveway - can't wait. woo hoo!
Jacin
Jacin
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Serious persistence, a cause to celebrate!
Fred32v
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
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Racin'Jacin
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:01 pm
Re: The Anatomy of a Project - 10 Stages
Took the '47 on a couple of short freeway jaunts - no problems whatsoever!
If I had any complaints now - it would be that it's TOO easy to steer! (ok not really a complaint!)
I'm so used to having to crank so hard - it's difficult to get used to. I might add some shims to the power steering pump to see if that will make it a little more drag - for lack of the right term.
All in all I am very happy with it - especially given how much $$ I got wrapped up in it.
The other night I added a relay so the factory horn button is actually functional now - very cool!
I may have to start gathering parts and convert my Rambler gasser to have PS as well! It also desperately needs it!
Jacin
If I had any complaints now - it would be that it's TOO easy to steer! (ok not really a complaint!)
I'm so used to having to crank so hard - it's difficult to get used to. I might add some shims to the power steering pump to see if that will make it a little more drag - for lack of the right term.
All in all I am very happy with it - especially given how much $$ I got wrapped up in it.
The other night I added a relay so the factory horn button is actually functional now - very cool!
I may have to start gathering parts and convert my Rambler gasser to have PS as well! It also desperately needs it!
Jacin