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Steering Box Lubrication 1938 Buick Special

likeold

By likeold
in Buick - Pre War

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Kenneth Carr 2,500+ Points

Kenneth Carr

Posted
Posted

I have a 1941 Roadmaster. I suspect the steering is similar.

The grease I use in my steering gear
is called Oregon Grease.
Amazon no longer carries it.
I paid about $16 for a large container.
 
It keeps coming out under various names.
Oregon is a chainsaw supply company.
I think they first pushed this stuff as
a chainsaw lube.
 
It looks like Oregon now sells it in a small
You can pour it directly into the gearbox. It flows very slowly. Be sure to turn the wheel all the way in one direction and then the other. Otherwise you may not fill to capacity since the gears will close the hole in one direction. It seems to work well for me. No leaks. Wish I could say that about my transmission. LOL

B82758DB-EFEC-40EB-A33D-7455787CCF88.jpeg

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Gary W 10,000+ Points

Gary W

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I've been using Penrith Steering Box Lube.  It's a semi Fluid grease.  You can get it from Restoration Hardware

 

IMG_4872.jpg.82b4338c46af37b2d495b7efd5a1cada.jpg

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Bloo 25,000+ Points

Bloo

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On 8/1/2022 at 11:33 AM, likeold said:

What kind of fluid should be used in the steering box of a 1938 Buick. My book says a special fluid was put in at the factory and does not specify what.

Oh man... Do you want to go down the rabbit hole? Pontiac had something special, and a fairly lengthy description of what it was, but it sort of contradicted itself. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that Buick was using the same stuff. I believe the steering boxes themselves were of similar design from 1937 forward. Someone in the club (Early Times) went so far as to send the oil description off to a few oil companies. The answer was that it doesn't quite make sense, and going by the part that does make sense, there would be no modern equivalent.

 

Fortunately you are getting good advice in this thread. Use some semi-fluid grease about 00 in viscosity. The grease must flow. If it does not flow, it will not only fail to lubricate the gears, because it keeps getting wiped off and doesn't replenish, but it will climb the steering shaft eventually and come out at the steering wheel. It can't flow too well though, because there is most likely no seal where the pittman shaft comes out, and something like SAE 90 would just run out on the ground. The bushing is probably bronze so you would want a 00 grease that is safe for "yellow metals". I use the Penrite stuff in Gary W's post so I will vouch for that one. It is made for the purpose. Some member over on the VCCA forums researched this and decided that Penrite and a few other things people were using were a bit lacking in the extreme pressure rating. He settled on another product and bought some, but as is so often the case for any grease that is not #2, he had to buy a huge container of it. Last I heard, he is rebottling it and selling it. I'll go find the link if anyone wants it.

 

4 hours ago, Larry Schramm said:

 

Does anyone know the specific difference between this grease and corn head grease or 00 grease?

The Penrite is an 00 rated grease. I believe they used to say it was a specific formula meant to stay in the box better, but on some other occasion they may have said it was the same as their 00 grease. Either way, it's 00 grease. I don't know the specific difference between corn head grease and the others.

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  • 2 weeks later...
buick looks fine for 39 1,000+ Points

buick looks fine for 39

Posted
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Years ago, I rebuilt a steering box in my 39 coupe and I recently tore the box down to do a cosmetic restoration. Unfortunately the bushing in the top steering box cover was galled due to my poor choice of lubricants. My pitman shaft seal didn't leak but the lubricant was too thick and didn't flow adequately....lesson learned. Could I get more specifics on ordering Penrite steering box lube? I tried Restoration Hardware but they only wanted to sell me door knobs. I tried Restoration Specialties, but Penrite did not appear in their site search. Thanks Leif

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Frank DuVal 25,000+ Points

Frank DuVal

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Way too many companies with veerry similar names!😲

 

Restoration Hardware sells door knobs and broken furniture in the local outlet mall

Restoration Specialties sells hardware + for our old cars, but is not the company that sells lubricants.

Restoration Supply Company sells lots of stuff for really antique cars and is the company that sells Penrite lubricants.

 

I got almost there with a Google search:

 

https://restorationstuff.com/product/penrite-engineered-lubricants-2/

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Tom_S 1,000+ Points

Tom_S

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My take on it.  When i rebuilt the box on my 36, i used STP.  The gears in the box do very little turning and at a very slow pace.  You want to use something that is very sticky and will adhere to the slow movement of the gears and provide lubrication  STP does just that.  I'm sure there are other products that do that too that I am not familiar with.  As a kid in a garage my boss was an engine rebuilder.  All his bearings were set with STP.  His reasoning it gave the bearing good lubrication during initial start up untill the oil pressure built up.

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Buick35 10,000+ Points

Buick35

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 9/8/2022 at 9:28 AM, EmTee said:

I just topped mine off with the same stuff the other day...

 

I did the same thing,now I got a small puddle on the garage floor. Maybe it's over filled,I hope.I still have a grease fitting on my filler plug.I'll keep an eye on it.It might have been leaking for awhile by the looks of my side motor mount.

 

 

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Buick35 10,000+ Points

Buick35

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1 hour ago, EmTee said:

Mine also leaks, but I've gone about 150 miles since I topped it off and it hasn't dripped yet, but the shaft is wet around the seal.  I bought a new seal but am going to wait until later this fall to install it.

What shaft seal do you mean? Mines a 35 and not sure if it's the same.Where did you get the seal? Thanks.

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EmTee 25,000+ Points

EmTee

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9 hours ago, Buick35 said:

Do I have to remove the steering box or just the Pittman arm to change the seal?

Just the Pitman arm.  I had mine off last winter (before I realized the seal was leaking) and it was a bear...  It finally came off after I left my puller on it with tension over night.  Next day I found the puller on the floor and the arm was loose.  Hopefully it will break loose easier this time...

 

The STP is the 'motor honey' that I expected.  I suspect it would work OK in a steering box, as it does flow and as pictured, it is 'clingy'.

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Buick35 10,000+ Points

Buick35

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I had my Pittman arm off about a year ago to gain access to my front motor mounts so it should come off o.k. A funny story about s.t.p. A few years ago a guy got a call at work from his wife saying her car was making a clicking noise so he told her to add a bottle of s.t.p.to the motor oil,this was in the morning.That afternoon he called her to ask how it went.She said I'm still adding the s.t.p.and it's taking forever!It turned out she was trying to put it in through the dipstick tube.

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EmTee 25,000+ Points

EmTee

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On 9/15/2022 at 4:44 PM, Buick35 said:

Does anyone know if the Pittman arm deal is the same on a 35 forty series and a 37?

The new Pitman shaft seal I got from Bob's is marked as National Seal #50151.  I measured the OD as approximately 1.56 inches (1 9/16").  The shaft on my '38 is just over 1 inch in diameter (~1.1").

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