I am trying to swap my F1 worm gear, I have one beautiful gear on a cut steering shaft and a nice steering shaft with a pitted gear. I took the parts to the machine guy whom does alot of little things for me and he said they would NOT budge. They are removable aren't they? Any tips?
I have done exactly what you are trying to do, this is how; Use a hydraulic press of sufficient size to press out the cut shaft from the good worm. using oxy-acetylene cutting gear, CAREFULLY cut through the pitted worm without marring the shaft. Now you will have the two components you wish to put together. Examine them and notice the orientation of the two; they only go together one way. Now, place the worm in a container of oil and heat the container; careful here too, do not set the oil on fire. You need to get that immersed worm gear up a coupla hundred degrees [celcius], in order it can expand sufficient to just drop onto the shaft. [shrink fit]. Having an ***istant certainly helps. Both of you should wear appropriate personal safety equipment, gloves, gl***es etc. Good luck
It's very easy to press the shaft out of the gear using a press. I think I used a 1/4" drive deep well socket. Pressing the new gear onto the old shaft gets a little hairy. The shaft wants to bow in the middle when supported from the other end. I ended up tack welding a spindle nut to the shaft 6" below the gear area. I could then support the shaft from the nut and easily press the new gear onto the shaft with no deflection. Cut the nut off and dress to suit. I did not want to heat the new gear. It probably wouldn't hurt it but I prefer doing it cold. You can make it complicated or keep it simple. It worked for me.
I bought a new worm gear from Mac's, I believe it was about $60. Then I put the shaft in the freezer overnight, baked the gear in the oven at 500 degrees, and "tapped" the shaft into the new gear. Rich
Just use a big press, 20 tons outta do it. I've done it a few times. And although I've never bothered, as others have suggested, temperature can be your friend if you've got a stubborn one.
Thank You for all the tips, doesn't sound to difficult. Odd but I was remembering last night that my Father had a cut off worm gear in the model A oil pan full of nuts and bolts etc that I used to play in when I was a kid.
Steering shaft with worm gear ***embly. Again, these are specific to year/model. There's also a 2 sector and 3 sector worm to throw some more confusion into the mix. And your worm gear is welded on, not pressed.
I also pressed one off/on with a 12 ton press, after shortening the shaft. Pesky little devils they are.
I have installed several new worm gears to get the old 1 off heat it red it will fall off .older guy that had an alignment shop his dad owned told me this and it works. never tried to save an old 1 to reuse. midwest early ford has them listed new $159
old HAMB moto about pictures or it didn't happen. Looked had an old 1 in a parts box not sure why I saved it
Or you could cut the shafts and weld the good shaft to the stub with the good gear. Just another option.
All of the worm gears I've messed with were pressed on and not welded. A 7/16, 1/4 inch drive deep socket works nice for pressing the shaft out of the worm. Instead of welding something to the shaft for installing the worm, you can use some s**** 2x4's stacked up the shaft. Drill holes through them, stack them up and slip the shaft through, secure them together so the shaft is plumb. I thread the steering wheel nut on until it's flush with the end and use a piece of copper under the shaft for protection while pressing the worm on. Some boxes don't have a way to punch out the worm upper race. A weld bead on it's face will cause it to shrink and fall out. Solid retention of the roller shaft can sometimes be tricky. A small tack weld on the ends works good for getting around that. J-D corn head grease is my preferred lube for the early boxes. Sall I got. Good luck!
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