Technical 1948 Chevy Coupe steering issue.

Hey y'all. I just picked up a 1948 Chevy Stylemaster coupe last weekend. While a lot of work has been done to the car (and done right) there are some issues that I need to address before I get it out on the street. The first issue is the steering. I'm not a fan of spontaneous lane changes, so this is my first priority. Lots of slop which I have mostly narrowed down to the steering box. The tie rods, stablizer link bushings etc look like they've been replaced recently, but the steering box is janky as hell. When looking down at the box while someone turns the steering wheel, I can see the pitman arm shaft shifting or popping like there is a missing bushing or something. I'm currently laid up from knee replacement surgery, so I can't get out there to really dig into it, but I wanted to get some opinions about my options. I can get the steering gearbox rebuild kit from chevys of the 40s, but it does not include the worm gear or the sector. Has anyone on here done this rebuild? How hard was it? any special equipment required (besides a pittman arm puller)?

Second option is swapping the stock gearbox for a vega gearbox. Is this a valid option? looking for input on the best direction to go. At this point, I'm not iunterested in swapping the whole front end out for later model gear, I just want to be able to drive the car safely.

Thanks for you time!

-g

 

Depends on your budget pain threshold really. Vega boxes from Speedway are going to run
$350-500 depending on various options. There are rebuilt parts available for the original box. I have had a 50/50 success rate rebuilding the old boxes. Just priced a Lares box from Oreilly...$1060.00. wow.

 

I found the biggest problem with a replacement vega type box was it becomes a snowball issue. You need to modify the column end, add a carrier bearing in the end of the column, cut the steering shaft and add machined flats for a u-joint (or weld one on). Then you have to modify the frame to get the box to sit securely. Another issues is the stock pittman arm has two holes one for each tie rod right next to each other. I could not find a arm with a spline count to fit a new box and have the two tie rod holes when I looked into this years ago. That would mean a cut and welded pittman to get the correct ends on both sides. Even with a "good" box and front end parts there is 1-2" of rotational wheel play before the tires start moving. In the end 15 yeas ago I went CE MII with mine though I still had to modify the column. It was not cheap and took lots of time but did make the car more useful and cut stopping distance by a lot. Lares steering box rebuilds are much cheaper if you ship yours direct to them. If I had known about them years ago I probably would have gone that rout as I am thrifty but I do not regret the MII at all and appreciate the brakes as much as the better steering and lowered stance.

 

I swapped in a saginaw power sterring box in my '47. Ended up having to have a custom pitman arm made to accept both tie rods. Still had a lot of bump steer, especially with the stock shocks. When you think about it, 1 tie rod is much shorter than the other. Jump up anddown on the front end andwatch mow much the left wheel turns in and out.

 

well, for budget's sake, I'm going to try and rebuild the stock box for now and see how it does. Eventually I intend to change out the whole front suspension to something a bit more stable, but that's down the road a piece. I'll have to get out there and see what's what. Thanks for the input!

 

MII just aren't an easy peasy installation in my opinion. I spent a lot of time getting the power steering pressure right, installed different springs than the ones that came with the front end kit. I had to change the way the power rack was installed and even had to get different shocks. But in the end, it finally drives like a regular car. All I really needed in the beginning was a rebuilt steering box, car tracked good but the steering wheel had lots of play. Would I do the Mustang all over again, probably not but power steering is nice when you get old with a heavy 48 Chevy.

 

I have a sedan with original steering and suspension. I installed rebuilt ft shocks and cut the front coil springs and it handles pretty good. If you eliminate some of the front bouncing it seems to help out.