Steering ID and help please

[Troostr]

My new to me this soon heading to the paint booth for a color change on the body. I need to remove the aluminum firewall plate, but the steering runs through it. So I need to remove the steering rod from the box. There is no coupler, and with all the force I dare apply it doesn’t seem to spline out. I am not familiar with this steering box. It doesn’t look Corvair or Vega or mustang, but I could very easily be wrong. Please help me ID the kind of gearbox and any help with how to remove the steering rod would be great!

 

[Troostr]

So in digging through paperwork that came with the car, it seems a Maverick was the donor for at least the trans core and the rear end. Looking at Maverick manual boxes, it seems a match. Mostly. Possibly late 60’s early 70’s Mustang. It doesn’t look like the input shaft and box separate easily or maybe at all. An option that comes to mind is to cut the shaft just above the box, and trim the column end down and use a chrome or polished steering u joint to re-marry the two. Thoughts? Or is there a fairly simply way to pull the shaft and replace it without dropping the box out all the way through the steering column and out the firewall?

 

[LongJohn]

Sounds like a good time to look at rack and pinion.

 

[Hackerbilt]

Not sure what the other end of your column looks like, but you should be able to pop off the wheel and drop the steering box out thru the column fairly easily. Looks like you can get at all of it. Seems like a 30 minute job to me. Certainly a lot cheaper and easier than cutting shafts etc...

 

[Flyer]

I can't tell you what the gear is from, but it's at least 40 years old! Long ago the steering column shaft was a single piece that ran all the way from the steering wheel down to the box itself; it didn't come apart. The Corvair & Vega boxes that you buy today, aren't stock. The orignals had a looong one-piece shaft, the splining is totally after market stuff. In order to get your box out, you'll have to remove the steering wheel and possiblly dis-assemble the housing. Then pull the whole thing out the bottom. After you get the shaft out, you may find that it was shortened by cutting and re-welding. That's the way Dick Scritchfield did it on the 'Car Craft' T-bucket in 1967.

 

[LongJohn]

Looks like early Mustang.

 

[AltBantam]

Early to mid 60’s Ford’s steering boxes had the one piece steering shaft. Later Fords, after like 67 or 68 and beyond, used a splined coupler. If the shaft is 1” in diameter, it’s from an earlier Ford, probably a Mustang like LongJohn said above. The problem with this design is there is not give in the steering if you are involved in a front in collision. probably why Ford changed designs. To remove, you’ll have to unbolt the steering box from the frame and remove it by sliding it out from the bottom, after removing the steering wheel and pitman arm. Good news, if you decide to replace it but want to go with the same design, you can buy steering boxes from 22 to 1 to 16 to 1. Or, buy a later box with a 1 1/8” splined end. That will require more work and parts, though.

 

[Indycars]

Looks like I have the very same gear box. Below is what I have discovered.
Use the link to find your gearbox.

C6ZR-3550A is going to be the casting number (This number is exactly what I have)
My tag number is SMB A
6J19B (Box was built Sept 19, 1966)
67 Mustang SMBA Manual 19.9:1 4 5/8[Turns Lock to Lock]
6 =1966, J=Sept, Day=19 B=2nd Shift(Decoded my tag number from TBucket)

Steering Box ID Decoder

ID Decoding and Application for Ford Steering Boxes

www.stangerssite.com

Ratio ....... Type ...... Shaft ......Sector ......Year ............. Model
19:1 ..........M ......... 41 7/8 ........ 1 .......... 65/66 ..... Mustang/Fairlane

The date code follows standard Ford date decoding. The first position is a number indication the Year of build. Decoding the ID Code on the tag shown above shows that the box was installed in 1965-1966 Mustangs, so the first digit '6' means the box was assembled in 1966. The second position is a letter indicating the month the box was built.
Using the tag shown above as an example, the ID Code (HCC-AW) shows the application to be for a 1965-1966 Mustang with Power Steering and a 16:1 ratio.
A = January
B = February
C = March
D = April
E = May
F = June
G = July
H = August
J = September
K = October
L = November
M = December
On the example tag, the letter ' F ' indicates that the box was built in June. The third and forth positions are the day the box was built. On the example tag the numbers ' 17 ' indicate that the box was built on the 17th.
So, the box for the example tag was built June 17, 1966, during the ' B ' work shift.
FORD NEVER USED THE LETTER 'I ' IN THEIR DATE CODING SINCE IT WAS EASILY CONFUSED WITH THE NUMBER '

Her are some pics of mine. Please excuse the quality, I shot them by just sticking the camera under the car and hoping I got the gearbox. A couple of pics are after car had been sitting for 15 years.

NOTE: The cutout in the body to access the steering arm bolt.







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