2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

I'm having a 2-Tooth steering box rebuild for my coupe. It's a Feb '31 production. When the rebuilder was showing me the casing he was going to use, I noticed that the stampings were slightly different.

Mine is attached, but couldn't get pictures of his. The one he showed has additional stampings below the part number (a triangle and some additional numbers).

TLDR Does it matter what kind of casing/parts I use?

Re: 2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

Hello Mike--Your photo shows it is the correct part for your 1931 coupe. What is important is the number A-3550-C. Other markings are manufacturer markings and not important. This part is the correct part for all Model A's from January 1930 to end of production. I would need to see a picture of the other side of the housing to possibly refine the timeline.

Re: 2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

Thanks for the info Steve. The other side does not have any markings on it.

Re: 2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

The significant change in the 2-Tooth Steering is the angle of the worm gear bearing. My February 1931 Coupe had the early design worm gear ) & shaft (before August 1931) that I updated to conform to the December 1931 Service Bulletin, Page 517. I did this because the worm gear & bearings available from "A" parts dealers is the newer design. The first change was made by Ford prior to August of 1931. The next change is explained in the Service Bulletin of August 1931, Page 481. Also see the National Judging Standards. There are several visible differences in the 2-tooth gear box castings.

Re: 2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

I haven't seen many case "stampings". They were mostly casting numbers whether they are inset or protruding above the surface. Ford made their own 7-tooth models well after they contracted to Gemmer to build their 2-tooth design. Ford also manufactured the 2-tooth design and most of those have very few casting markings. Ford was building a lot of cars and Henry didn't want labor strikes to slow him down. Most all of his agreements with outside contractors included rights to build the component designs in house if need be.

Re: 2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

Bob--The steering gear in your 1931 coupe was changed prior to you owning it. Your two tooth steering gear with the different angles was only produced from Feb through May 1929. The Ford Service Bulletins (August 1930) show that a replacement bearing for the old obsoleted and the present shaft and worm assembly, which means the newer design had been used for some time prior to this reporting. Common sense also supports this time period change by looking at how few of these early examples exist, compared to the second design and later housing versions.

The first two housings shown in the Judging Standards, Area 8 p. 3 show the front and back sides of these special housings clearly. I am betting that your housing was of the second type, not the first type with the bold-raised casting information. It was during the production of the second type housing that the angle changed from 25 to 20 degrees (see FSB p.517, fig. 1039).

What is not common knowledge is how to identify the early vs. later housings externally. The housings are identified by looking at the width of the lubricator hole and the size of the various filler plugs used during production (1/8" versus later 1/4" ones). The Judging Standards did not make this important identifying feature known in the current revision--hopefully it will be in Revision 5. This has always been a point of confusion with some restorers. I hope this helps!

Re: 2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

Steve, have you done any articles on the identification of the various casting revisions similar to your carburetor articles? I finally managed to track down copies of the different issues of The Restorer containing your carburetor articles (thanks eBay!) and have thoroughly enjoyed studying them. If you've done any articles on the 2 tooth box variations, I'd sure like to add them to my library.

Re: 2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

Thanks Steve for info.

Re: 2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)
 

When I was on the MAFCA Judging Standards Committee (16 years) all of my research on steering gears was included in the most recent version. I continue to study them, and that is why I am hoping that the easy way to identify the early vs later housings info I shared in the above post here will be helpful to us restorers. My first love is shock absorbers!