Steering

I was given an alloy A7 steering box and column as part of the parts purchase. I had it cleaned up by Aliblast Services. I then striped it down to clean all the cr..p out of it using a parts washer. The parts looked in good condition but the thrust washer was missing. I made a new one on the lathe.

The next task was to secure it to the body and chassis. This may tell me if the body belong to this chassis. The two critical dimensions are the distance from diff to rear tub (120mm minimum) and the position of the column as it attaches to the dashboard.

To facilitate a lowered steering column I had the Super Accessories mounting wedge. There was some evidence of a further rake beyond that as the lower part of the steering box flange had been  filed. I decided to make an additional 10mm wedge to match that shape as I am tight for the body fit on that chassis.


Steering box, SA wedge and my 10mm spacer

Subsequent to this experiment I made a custom fabrication as the steering box had a habit of flapping about a bit under load.



Steering box mounted

Steering wheel

The steering wheel looks a bit of a challenge. It is 15" in diameter and is of a nice vintage 3 spoke period design. It came with a rather nice wheel "tilter" mechanism and latch (to help get you in and out) but I have no idea how to fit it, in my application. It looks like you weld it on to the column directly but that would eliminate any servicing possibilities for the steering box. The diameter is a bit large without a "tilter"  to get in and out easily. More thought required.

Update 4th Aug 21

The original style steering wheel was sold off on ebay and The steering has been redesigned and converted to Hilman Imp rack and pinion the steering . The new steering wheel is now smaller and removable. See later postings.

 Here is an Index page for the build