1956 6409 part 17
This will be a short update. We did get back to the salvage yard on Saturday. It was with mixed results. We did get the manifold off as a unit. Carburetor and all. We were not as successful with the steering gear. We just could not get the pitman arm to break free of the splines. I had a brand new pitman arm puller, but it was starting to fail. I put a large C clamp on it to keep it from spreading, but the threads were starting to gall. Everything else is loose including removing the fender. So that was mixed results. Upon returning home, and cleaning the exhaust manifold up, it appears that it is cracked also. The cracks are not as large as the original, but this one has two of them. It does have the heat riser spring though. Also upon further inspection, the original intake manifold is cracked too. The salvage yard one is OK. I ended up bringing both exhaust manifold to a welder and he is going to try to weld them. We will see what happens.
As for the steering gear, I figured I would pull it apart and see what was up. The packing retainer on the sector shaft was not seated. This kept the packing to not seal against the face of the housing. It also would not stay in place. The rest of the gear was in very good condition. I think that the issue was the lash was too tight. It also had only wheel bearing grease, and old stuff at that in it. I reassembled it and set the lash and bearing load and she moves freely lock to lock. I inspected the packing, it was in good condition. New ones are not available, are least I couldn't find any. I used my body hammer to expand the retainer and reinstalled it. This time it went in with appropriate resistance. I put a small bead of JB Weld around the recess where the retainer seats to help keep it there and seal any chance of it seeping past the outside. I am going to fill the unit with gear oil and keep an eye on it for a week or so before I reinstall it.
Steve
