I rebuilt the box on my 53 3100 a while back. I bought the basic kit with bearings, bushings and seals. I did not replace the balls in the ball nut or the sector shaft or gear. The sector shaft was in nice condition and the sector gear had worn into a perfect mesh. My problem was that I had run out of adjustment length on the bolt that pushes the 2 together. There was plenty of material left on the gear and plenty of play to adjust it tighter. I just made a longer adjusting bolt. I got a little carried away and used a stainless ARP bolt and cut the head off a smaller ARP bolt and welded it on to adjust it with. A hardware store bolt and a file and hacksaw would do the same thing. I just made a new steering column and just finished painting it. Before I assemble it I'm going to check the balls in the ball nut. There is no grease on it right now and there is a very small amount of play in it. I don't know the specs on that. I want to check the balls for roundness and size. Maybe the balls and race have worn together and the old balls should stay in? I have new balls. Thank you for your time.
