1956 power steering box reseal

[1956322]

I'm not having any luck finding a reseal kit for my 1956 power steering gear box...I found a listing for one from fusick but they're out of stock.. I've emailed them but no reply yet.. Any other ideas? Also can I replace the pitman shaft seal with the box in place?

[Beemon]

I believe you can replace the seal if you pick it out while the pitman arm is off. You just need to drive the new one back into place.

[VickyBlue]

I went through this last month. In my case, the seal failed because of an internal seal failure in the power chamber, which subsequently "dumped" 700 or so PSI into the pitman arm seal. Nothing could save the seal. I took it to a hydraulic shop for a rebuild, but after they opened it they found it was beyond repair and in my case I would need a core ( $300) to have the core rebuild (at $350). They were honest, told me upfront what I was up against and not only they did not charge me a dime, they put it together using new seals and gave it back to me for garage wall art. I found out the hard way, there is a reason the seal fails and unless you investigate further, a new seal will not fix the problem. This was my experience, yours might be different. Be careful of places they advertise they will fix it without opening it first, to see if you need a core or not, as cores are expensive... 

[Beemon]

5 hours ago, VickyBlue said:

Be careful of places they advertise they will fix it without opening it first, to see if you need a core or not, as cores are expensive... 

 

This is the most important part, because they will bleed you dry and unless you can drive up and raise a fuss, there's nothing you can do about it.

[NTX5467]

'sMany operatives might quote a price for what they general might see in their shop as "generally needed", BUT yours might be different and need more (which elevates the end price).  Some might "aim high" to cover worst case scenarios and stay at that level when less is needed, too.  Generally, though, going for the "full tilt gonzo" price AND getting that level of execution might end up being the best scenario.  That's JUST for the box rebuild, not any related remove/install labor.  THEN position that against the cost of upgrades as VickyBlue did.

 

Inside the gear box, there are the "gears" which cause the wheels to turn from side to side.  There can be wear points/bushings where those shafts operate inside of the main case itself (potential wear point).  There is a pressure cylinder which acts on hydraulic fluid pressure bias (seals which can get hard or fail, which seal against other metals, another potential wear point).  There is usually an input-side adjuster that can have some bushings and seals which are also potential wear points.  End result, several internal areas where softer items wear against harder items, with the softer ones being "sacrificial" in nature, but might also produce slight wear on the harder items with time and use.  How the rebuilder might address these areas can be important!  Ask about them and what the end result should be.

 

In some respects, the OEM gear boxes seemed to be over-designed when compared to the newer and smaller units which can replace them (as VickyBlue did).  I seem to recall that VickyBlue listed the cost of the conversion on his car in the recent thread on the upgrade to a newer gear box?

 

Just some things you might desire to  consider . . .

NTX5467

Edited February 26, 2017 by NTX5467 (see edit history)