Hey fella's, I'm in the middle of a steering box rebuild, and the used one I purchased from a guy is a 3 tooth sector. The one I pulled out of my car is a 2 tooth. He says his is from a 55. and the boxes are exactly the same. Why would they use 2 different sectors?
I was looking into this myself for rebuilding my 53 box and was offered an NOS sector shaft from a 54. However the 54 was different than my 53. For what ever reason in 1954 and 55 Ford went to a 2 tooth sector shafts and them changed back to 3 teeth in 56 on.
Like I said, the seller said it came out of a 55. He has a bunch of them that he parts out. I too, thought that the 3 sectors were from 56. Are the steering boxes the same? my only worry is if the sector shaft is a different height. I also bought a column from a 55. My original box and column were cut due to a failed attempt at the Jeep power steering conversion.
Well it could be from a late 55 with the upgraded 3 tooth sector. I can't speak for the 55/56 box personally but I can tell you that the 52, 53 & 54 are the same box and bolt up in either of the cars. The difference internally is the 54 sector and worm. The 54 shaft is the exact same size and length at the 54 but has a different worm for the 2 tooth sector. I measured up a 54 shaft and sector and they are the same as the 52 & 53 internals. I could have swapped all of the 54 internals into the 53 or vice versa and they would have worked. If I were to press the worm off of the 54 shaft and replace it with a 53 worm you would not know the difference and it could be used in the 53 box. If the 55 steering shaft and sector are the same lengths and diameters as the 56 then I would guess to say that you could swap the guts either way as long as you used all of the internals from one box or the other. Good luck and hope it works out for you.
The Jalopy Journal
