Smokehouse69

I finished my Corvette Steering powersteering box Monday, but somehow I got my steering wheel off center. Right now with the wheels pointed dead ahead the steering wheel is half a turn off center.
I could pull the steering column again and try and realign the u-joint that connects the box to the column shaft, but that's a whole bunch of work!!
Hard work!! Would it be easier to take the steering wheel off and try and recenter it?

80TexasC3

Not sure if a 69 and 80 are similar in this respect... but I had the same issue when I replaced mine... chose to remove the steering wheel and just shift it one set of screws to correct the alignment. Was easy.

SanDiegoPaul

No. You have the sector shaft off center, and correcting it with the steering wheel is only going to introduce a new problem to the equation. It will be a lot tighter to lock on one side than the other.

Don't waste your time...do it right and recenter the sector shaft.

Smokehouse69

Paul,

I'm not sure that's the problem, according to the instructions from Corvette Steering, the box input shaft is aligned correctly. The the milled notches on the output shaft prevent the Pitman arm from being installed off index. So the box is centered, it is just the connection of the column to the input shaft that is off.
I broke out my chassis service manual and see that it doesn't take much to remove and reindex the steering wheel so I'm going to try that first.

PureSilver

Is it a full 180 degrees out? You could take the rag joint apart and turn the wheel 180, that would leave your steering box OK.

mrvette

Smoke, trying to read the symantics and so forth, and think/recall my rebuilding processes with my stock setup some years ago....

I think the rebuilder got the indexing of the sector/output gear RONG with the indexing of the input worm gear....off one tooth, like another guy allready suggested....don't ask me why, but it happened to me, and I fergit just exactly why, and who was at fault....

DO NOT bother to try flipping anything topside, as that affects the turn signal return cancell on wheel being straight...that cam is all off center and wonkey.....another hard lesson on my part......

just pull the top off the boxx, and the pitman off the shaft, raise the sector gear and align properly......I seriously thing there is a ERROR in some instruction manual somewhere........

GENE

page62

We'll be eager to hear your final opinions on the Corvette Steering install...and operation. It seems like it's been a LOT of work! We were able to do a Steeroids install on my car in 2 days...with the help of a lift and two guys working on it. About as fast as possible for people who've never done it before.

How much time do you estimate it would take for Corvette Steering given a similar scenario?

Jim Shea

Smokehouse,
The production C3 steering wheel bolts onto a hub. If all you do is rotate your steering wheel on the hub you will find that your turn signals cancel either out of phase, way too early, or way too late.

The standard (non-adjustable) steering column may allow the hub to be rotated one or two splines. The horn tower which is part of the turn signal cancelling cam sticks out through a slot in the steering column locking plate and only allows a limited movement of the hub.

If you have a T&T steering column, the hub can be rotated on any of the steering shaft splines. However, the cancelling cam is attached directly under the locking plate and cannot be moved.

Does your gear input shaft have serrations? Or does it have double flats? With the gear on center, the production Jeep Grand Cherokee gear input shaft has the flats at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock. The wider of the two flats is at 12 o'clock. There should be a notch at 3 o' clock.

Smokehouse69

Page,
It has been a lot of work, but I had no lift and I was working by myself. With help, I'm sure that I could have done it in a couple of days without any problem. The biggest problems I had were time to work on the car, my physical limitations due to health problems and missing a couple of key tools at key times.
The work prefacing the actual install of Corvette Steering system and Steeroids is very similar. Removal of the old steering box, collapse of the column, removal of the hydraulic ram and hoses from the PS pump.
With Steeroids more old hardware has to be removed and then replaced by the rack mounts and rack.
It will be a few more days (or weeks) before I get a chance to test drive the car, I still have half of the dash out (replacing heater core and resealing A/C ducts.) Plus, my battery is apparently terminally dead after setting for so long without running during my protracted illness and disability. So, I need to replace it shortly, then get the car inspected.

PureSilver

Thanks- I learned something new again!

Smokehouse69

Jim, I have the input shaft on the Grand Cherokee steering box with the widest flat at 12 o'clock and the notch at 3 o'clock (facing the engine) the flat spots on my steering column is postioned so that they are on the top and bottom of the shaft when connected to the Jeep steering box.
I have yet to figure out how the steering wheel indexing has gotten so far off. I was very careful not to move anything during the removal and install.

Jim Shea

The lower steering shaft on the production C3 steering column should have serrations all the way around with a 3/4 inch long notch at 12 o'clock. With the lower notch at 12 o'clock the upper steering shaft should have a ding mark also at 12 o'clock. The steering wheel hub should be assembled so that its ding mark corresponds to the steering shaft ding.

Jim