Sloopy steering

[emanuelK]

Hi all
Earlier this year I converted my 67 convertibel to power steering. I bought used parts, looked good but at that time, now I'm not sure about the quality. The car has been very difficult to drive, it goes from one side of the road to the other and I need to stay on red alert during the drive session.

At the same moment as I changed the steering I also upgraded the wheels to 18" low profile because of a disc brake conversion. I did suspect them to be the bad guy until now.

Anyhow, I did some more research and found the play in the steering wheel to be at least 50-60 degrees (estimated) without the pitman arm moving at all. On the steering gear box is a tuning screw wich I turned until the play almost totally disappeared (I still have some but much less than before).

Now to the question: Is this a correct way to tune a gear box or shall I consider it as consumed and need replacement?

[68Zproject]

There's lot's of info on how to take play out of the steering box in the "Chassis Overhaul" or the "Service Manual".  The service manual is reprinted, but the overhaul isn't.  I got mine at a swap meet.  Chilton's has it too.

[rich69rs]

With that much play, you must have installed some used parts that had excessive wear.  Start over - use new including ball joints.  50-60 degrees of slop is usually outside of the steering box itself.  The adjustment for box play is a minor adjustment - your indicating a more serious issue.

[emanuelK]

Thanks guys for that. I drove the car today (it was freezing cold outside -winter is getting closer) and it was stable and nice to drive. The one thing I react to was that (and I noticed this earlier also) the steering movement is a little bit hard to start but as it's on the move it moves smooth. I checked the ball joints and they look and feel good. I consider to order a new gear box but have an eye on the possibility to upgrade to a rack and pinion system.

Do you have any experience of this? There is a system from Unisteer and one from Classic industries (known to me) - any other?. Anybody installed this? Whats your opinion?

Thanks /Emanuel