My 1939 Ford Standard Coupe - The Restoration
I've tripped over this thing for over a year, and moved it back and forth in the garage. It's time to deal with the steering wheel and steering gear assembly!
We put the gearbox in a vise, removed the old cotter pin, and loosened the big hex nut that holds the sector shaft with the roller assembly. A simple two jaw puller accomplished the task of getting the steering arm off. It is held in place with a spline that has special grooves every 90° for locating purposes.
Also shown here is the horn button/light switch with its long hollow tube. This passes thru the center of the steering shaft and controls the lights with a switch located at the very bottom end of the steering gearbox. The pictures below show the retainer pieces that must be removed before the button and tube can be pulled out. This cannot be done with the steering assy mounted in place in the car. Usually, you have to loosen the gearbox mounting bolts and also the steering column mounting bracket under the edge of the dashboard. With the assembly lowered somewhat, you can pull the rod totally out. This rod MUST NOT GET BENT or you will create electric contact for the horn when you turn the steering wheel and the rod touches the inside of the steering shaft!
As you can see, the wheel has its share of cracks and will require some repair work. The headlight switch ring and the steering column will clean up nicely, and I will repaint them the same brown color.
To remove the horn rod you must depress the retainer against the spring. With a small screwdriver you can flick the U-clip out of a groove. Then everything comes free.
You can also see the headlight switch retainer bail. That's the wire bail (hanging out to the left in this picture) that holds the electric switch tight to this assembly. The retainer clip shown here has a square hole to lock onto the long rod. Its other side has two folded steel "ears" which engage the electric switch to activate the headlights.
The bushings that support this shaft were tight. The worm and roller assembly turned smoothly from lock to lock when we tested the steering before disassembling. I was advised by my friendly Ford expert (Herb) to clean up the parts, flush everything, and inspect the worm and roller for any chips, flaking, or other signs of wear. From what he could see in spite of the dark grease, things were in good shape. We drove out the old grease seal and I have ordered a new replacement, along with the gaskets.
This photo is not meant to show the order of assembly. The roller shaft assembly should actually be flipped if one were to reassembly the part into the gearbox housing.